Written questions by Lowe.

What proportion of refugees are (a) employed, (b) unemployed, (c) in receipt of Universal Credit and (d) in receipt of other social security benefits.

The Department does not hold the information to produce the requested calculation. Data on the total number of individuals with refugee status is held by the Home Office. For a) and b), it is not possible to produce this information using the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey (LFS). For part c), the Department is exploring the feasibility of developing suitable official statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish Universal Credit customers including refugees. For part d), the Department does not hold the requested information on refugees in receipt of social security benefits other than Universal Credit.

How many Foreign National Offenders eligible for deportation have been denied deportation as a result of holding refugee status in each of the last ten years.

The specific information requested is not readily available from published statistics, and could only be obtained for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and that, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportationAll foreign nationals, including asylum seekers and refugees, can and will face prosecution for criminal offences in the same way as any other individual in the UK, and will have their immigration status reviewed if convicted.

How many Foreign National Offenders in prison hold refugee status.

The specific information requested is not readily available from published statistics, and could only be obtained for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and that, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportationAll foreign nationals, including asylum seekers and refugees, can and will face prosecution for criminal offences in the same way as any other individual in the UK, and will have their immigration status reviewed if convicted.

How many complaints have been received by Ofsted from parents on teaching practices in schools in each of the last five years broken down by reason.

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

How many to asylum claims were (a) made and (b) refused in each of the last five years; and how many people who had made an unsuccessful asylum claim were deported in each of those years.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims and initial decisions on asylum claims by age group is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. Data on asylum-related returns is published in table Ret_05 of the ‘Returns summary tables’ and initial decisions on asylum claims from small boat arrivals is published in table Irr_D03 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed tables’.Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to year ending September 2024.

How many under 18 year olds have undergone gender reassignment surgery in each of the last ten years.

No individual under 18 years of age has received surgical intervention for gender dysphoria through commissioning arrangements put in place by the National Health Service in England.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's statistics entitled Social housing lettings in England, tenancies: April 2023 to March 2024, published on 5 December 2024, if she will breakdown other in table 3g by (a) home country left by refugee, (b) discharged from prison and (c) housed by national asylum support service in each year since 2007.

People are generally eligible for social housing if they have leave to remain in the UK and have recourse to public funds.Only individuals that are eligible can join housing registers and be given a social housing tenancy.The Home Office decides whether persons from abroad have leave to remain in the UK and whether they have recourse to public funds.Where foreign nationals are eligible, they will have their housing needs considered on the same basis as other eligible applicants in accordance with the relevant local authority’s housing allocation scheme.The government response to the January 2024 consultation on changes to social housing allocation tests can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's statistics entitled Social housing lettings in England, tenancies: April 2023 to March 2024, published on 5 December 2024, if she will make an estimate of the number of people from (a) EEA countries and (b) other nationalities who have purchased social housing through right-to-buy schemes since 2007.

Detailed information relating to sales of social housing, including Right to Buy, is collected on a voluntary basis by local authorities.The Department does not hold robust data on the nationality of those who have purchased social homes through Right to Buy.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's statistics on Social housing lettings in England, April 2023 to March 2024, published on 5 December 2024, whether her Department is taking steps to reduce the number of (a) EEA and (b) other nationals entering social housing.

People are generally eligible for social housing if they have leave to remain in the UK and have recourse to public funds.Only individuals that are eligible can join housing registers and be given a social housing tenancy.The Home Office decides whether persons from abroad have leave to remain in the UK and whether they have recourse to public funds.Where foreign nationals are eligible, they will have their housing needs considered on the same basis as other eligible applicants in accordance with the relevant local authority’s housing allocation scheme.The government response to the January 2024 consultation on changes to social housing allocation tests can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's statistics on Social housing lettings in England, April 2023 to March 2024, published on 5 December 2024, if she will make an estimate of the number of social housing properties in which the lead tenant was a (a) UK, (b) EEA and (c) other national in each year since 2010.

People are generally eligible for social housing if they have leave to remain in the UK and have recourse to public funds.Only individuals that are eligible can join housing registers and be given a social housing tenancy.The Home Office decides whether persons from abroad have leave to remain in the UK and whether they have recourse to public funds.Where foreign nationals are eligible, they will have their housing needs considered on the same basis as other eligible applicants in accordance with the relevant local authority’s housing allocation scheme.The government response to the January 2024 consultation on changes to social housing allocation tests can be found on gov.uk here.

To provide a breakdown of all religious festivals celebrated by the Department in 2023.

The Faith & Belief Network (FBN) supports DWP colleagues and managers and the department by providing insight into issues relating to Faith, Belief and Non-Belief. In 2023, DWP celebrated or signposted to the following faith festivals and events, via blogs, live events and podcasts: World Religion Day - 15/01/23Holocaust Memorial Day - 27/01/23World Hijab Day – 01/02/23Tu Bishvat and Imbolc (Pagan and Jewish colleagues reflect on the festivals of Tu Bishvat and Imbolc) – 06/02/23Month of Festivals (Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Paganism and Jewish networks as we celebrate Ramadan, Easter, Holi, Hola Mahalla, Spring Equinox and Purim) – March 2023Easter celebration – 04/04/23Jewish Passover – 05/04/23Eid-Ul-Fitr Celebration – 17/04/23Buddha Day – 26/05/23World Humanist Day - 21/06/24Summer Solstice – 25/06/23Hajj & Pilgrimage Event (Eid) – 03/07/23Pioneers Day (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) – 24/07/23South Asian Heritage Month – 18/07/23 – 17/08/23Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah – 15/09/23Autumn Equinox – 21/09/23Black History Month – 10/23Halloween and the Pagan New Year – 31/10/23Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM) – 11/23Interfaith Week - 12-19/11/23Diwali Celebration - 11/11/23Christmas Celebrations - 06/12/23Winter Solstice – 21/12/23

If she will make an estimate of the number of children who are (a) irregular migrants and (b) were on school rolls on 4 December 2024 broken down by age.

The information requested is not held centrally.All children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign national children, are required by law to receive a suitable full-time education. As such, the department does not collect, or hold, information on the migration status of school pupils.Guidance on school access rights for foreign national students is published on GOV.UK and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children.The guidance sets out how local authorities and admissions authorities in England should process applications from families living outside of England and foreign national families.

How many people are on the terror watchlist broken down by ideological motivation.

It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific information held on any security-related watchlist, the source of the information or how it is used. To do so would be counterproductive and harmful to the national security of the UK.

If he will make an assessment of the cost effectiveness of the covid-19 vaccine booster programme, in the context of the findings on the impact of vaccination take-up in care homes on resident mortality in the report by Sourafel Girma and David Paton entitled Using double-debiased machine learning to estimate the impact of Covid-19 vaccination on mortality and staff absences in elderly care homes, published in European Economic Review, Volume 170, November 2024.

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI considers the cost effectiveness of immunisation strategies, alongside a range of data, including epidemiological and vaccine effectiveness data, when formulating its advice. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's policy not to initiate fraud investigations under £5,000 on public finances.

The department is committed to using public money in an effective and efficient manner to pursue criminality where it is suspected. The value of the expected overpayment is one factor in considering whether to undertake a criminal investigation, but any case where there is a suspicion of fraud can be investigated. Aggravating factors, such as the use of false identification or previous offending, will initiate a criminal investigation regardless of the value. Where any overpayment has been identified, the claimant is required to repay all debts accrued.

How many incidents involving improvised weapons have been recorded at Manston Immigration Centre since February 2022; and what weapons were used in those incidents.

The Home Office has maintained readily retrievable records in electronic format for incidents of this kind at Manston since 2023. These incidents are rare.One improvised weapon was detected in 2023 and one was detected in 2024. These weapons were found on entry to Manston, as part of our multi-layered approach to physical security, and seized. No weapons are known to have been improvised within Manston, and none are known to have been used there.Incidents of this kind occurring at Manston before 2023 were subject to manual recording across multiple stakeholders and obtaining the requisite information for the period April to December 2022 could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16274 on Undocumented Migrants: Age Assurance, what the nature is of the further comprehensive age assessment.

Accurately assessing an individual's age is an incredibly complex and difficult task, and current methods and procedures for doing so are set out in detail in the Home Office's Assessing Age guidance, which is publicly available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/672e169e4f7608e424ffdab1/Assessing+age.pdf. The effectiveness of these and other potential methods and procedures for age assessment are kept under regular review, and any future changes will be updated in the usual way.

How many deportations have not taken place due to mental health concerns in each of the last five years.

The information requested is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.

How many trials have not taken place as a result of the defendant being deemed not fit for trial due to mental health conditions in each of the last five years.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data regarding ineffective trials due to a defendant being ill or otherwise unfit to proceed. However, it is not possible to identify specific instances where this was due to mental health concerns because this data is not held centrally. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.The published data on ineffective trials can be found in the “trials data tool” which is available as part of the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly which is available at the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: October to December 2023 - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16274 on Undocumented Migrants: Age Assurance, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using bone density testing for all undocumented migrants claiming to be children where there is reason to doubt their claimed age.

Accurately assessing an individual's age is an incredibly complex and difficult task, and current methods and procedures for doing so are set out in detail in the Home Office's Assessing Age guidance, which is publicly available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/672e169e4f7608e424ffdab1/Assessing+age.pdf. The effectiveness of these and other potential methods and procedures for age assessment are kept under regular review, and any future changes will be updated in the usual way.