Written questions by Lowe.

How many people deported for criminal offences in the last five years had previously been granted (a) asylum and (b) humanitarian protection.

The requested data is not centrally held, and could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.Home Office data systems for collecting and processing data on foreign national offenders in the immigration system are currently being upgraded to improve the quality of information held by the department. For more information, please see this recently published note.

Whether her Department has recorded any instances of police investigating people for speech deemed offensive to religious groups in the last five years.

On the matter of guidance to the police, I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 16 May to Question 5882-84.On the matter of police investigation, the Home Office collects information on crimes and their outcomes recorded by the police but does not hold information on the nature of their investigations.

If she will issue guidance to the police on ensuring that peaceful expressions of (a) opinions that may cause religious offence and (b) other opinions are not treated as hate crimes.

On the matter of guidance to the police, I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 16 May to Question 5882-84.On the matter of police investigation, the Home Office collects information on crimes and their outcomes recorded by the police but does not hold information on the nature of their investigations.

Whether her Department has issued guidance to (a) immigration officers and (b) caseworkers on the compatibility of an asylum claimant's (i) views on (A) democracy, (B) free speech and (C) gender equality and (ii) other (1) cultural and (2) religious views with long-term residence in the UK.

All asylum decision-making guidance, including our policy on extremism (contained within Exclusion (Article 1F) and Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention guidance), is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/asylum-decision-making-guidance-asylum-instructions.

How many Prevent referrals related to Islamic extremism resulted in (a) prosecutions and (b) removals from the country in the last three years; and what steps her Department is taking to improve the enforcement of removal orders.

Prevent aims to intervene early to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Prevent Duty sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of harms. It helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes. A Prevent referral does not amount to an accusation of criminality.

How many people claimed asylum by religion in each of the last five years.

The Home Office publishes available data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to 2024. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.

What data her Department holds on the prevalence of (a) forced marriage, (b) domestic abuse and (c) educational disadvantage affecting Muslim women; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the (i) cultural and (ii) religious barriers that prevent these women from seeking (A) legal and (B) social support.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending March 2024 estimates that 5.2% of Muslim women experienced domestic abuse in the last year, compared to a prevalence rate of 6.6% for the adult female population as a whole. In 2023, the Home Office commissioned a feasibility study to examine whether it is possible to produce robust prevalence estimates for forced marriage. We are currently considering the next steps and will set these out in due course. The Home Office does not collect data related to the educational disadvantage.We fund a number of organisations for specific victim cohorts, including 'by and for' services supporting specific minority groups, including services for Black and Asian women.

What the cost to the public purse was of monitoring the MI5 watchlist in the latest period for which data is available.

The Chancellor confirmed in the Spring Statement on 26 March 2025 that the Single Intelligence Account, which provides funding for MI5, SIS and GCHQ, would increase this year to £4.6 billion. Funding for CT Policing, who work closely with MI5, also increased to £1.2 billion this year.It is a longstanding policy not to discuss the costs and resources associated with specific capabilities such as domestic and international watchlists. Detailed breakdowns of funding allocations for the UK Intelligence Community and CT Policing are not published for security reasons.

What information her Department holds on the number of asylum seekers granted leave to remain in the UK since 2010 who have returned to their country of origin for (a) visits, (b) holidays and (c) family reunions; and whether her Department takes steps in such cases to reassess refugee status.

The Home Office does not centrally hold the requested data, and could only collate it through manual searching of historic case files, at a disproportionate cost to the taxpayer. However, I can assure the Hon Member that, where someone has protection status in the UK, revocation action can be taken at any time if there is sufficient evidence to justify such action. All cases are considered on a case-by-case basis and protection status will be revoked in circumstances where there is no remaining protection need.

Whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that asylum seekers in publicly-funded accommodation do not (a) promote and (b) practise the (i) rejection of British law, (ii) subjugation of women, (iii) persecution of religious minorities and (iv) other forms of religious extremism.

No one in the UK is allowed to engage in conduct that breaks the law, regardless of the type of accommodation in which they live.

How many deportation orders have been issued to illegal migrants in Great Yarmouth constituency in the last year.

The requested information is not held on a constituency level, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Whether she plans to allocate additional police resources to tackle antisocial behaviour in Great Yarmouth town centre.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.​The Government’s Plan for Change details our commitment to reduce ASB, including the delivery of a dedicated lead officer in every police force in England and Wales working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan. We are also delivering on our commitment to restore and strengthen neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers are out patrolling in our town centres and communities to make streets safer. As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Norfolk Police have been allocated £2,237,478 for an increase of 31 police officers.These officers will be equipped with tougher powers, such as the Respect Order, which was introduced in the Crime and Policing Bill, to crack down on ASB and crimes blighting our high streets and town centres.The 2025-26 final Police Funding Settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement and includes an additional £200 million to kickstart the first phase of putting 13,000 additional police officers and personnel into neighbourhood policing roles.The Home Office is providing funding this financial year (2025-26) to police forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence and ASB. Norfolk Constabulary will receive £1m.

How many reported knife crime incidents were recorded in the Great Yarmouth policing area in each of the last three years.

The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on offences involving a knife or sharp instrument recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level.These data, including for Norfolk Constabulary, are available here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

What steps she is taking to tackle (a) knife crime and (b) gang activity in Great Yarmouth constituency.

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission. To do this, we have:Launched a Halving Knife Crime Coalition, including representation from Norwich, to agree how best to tackle youth knife crime.Implemented a ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes. It is now illegal to sell, manufacture or possess these weapons.Introduced new legislation in Parliament to ban ninja swords.Planned a surrender scheme in July to allow those who currently own these weapons to hand them in. From 1 August 2025 it will be illegal to sell or own these weapons.Allocated £66.3m nationally, including £1m for Norfolk, for the Hotspot Action Fund for 25/26, to deliver high visibility patrolling in hotspots of knife crime, serious violence and ASB.Launched a Knife-Enabled Robbery Taskforce to deliver new operational tactics to bring down levels of knife-enabled robbery.Started development of a new Young Futures programme to intervene earlier to ensure young people facing poorer outcomes and vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.Invested £1.5 million to support Violence Reduction Units to expand their Focused Deterrence Interventions to steer young people away from criminality.To deliver our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the gangs that run county lines through violence and exploitation.Through the County Lines Programme we will continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade. Between July and September 2024, policing activity delivered through the County Lines Programme has resulted in over 400 deal lines being closed, the arrest and charge of over 200 deal line holders, 500 arrests and 800 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people.Through the Programme, we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. In addition, we have a dedicated surge fund which provides local forces with additional funding to tackle county lines, including Norfolk Police.As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we are also introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring children into violence and crime, and we are providing specialist support for children and young people involved in county lines to exit safely.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an immigration red list of countries posing high (a) immigration, (b) security and (c) compliance risks.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting an analysis of the potential cost saving to the public purse of each deportation.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

If she will hold discussions with the Lord Chancellor on the potential merits of limiting the availability of public funds for people who have challenged immigration enforcement through the courts more than once.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and other stakeholders.

Whether she has considered the use of chartered sea vessels to support mass deportation of illegal migrants.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and other stakeholders.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a list of countries whose citizens exhibit high levels of UK visa (a) overstays, (b) fraud and (c) other abuses of process.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on building (a) dedicated runways and (b) transit facilities for mass deportation operations.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and other stakeholders.