Written questions by Davies.

How many hotels were used for asylum accommodation in Telford and Wrekin Local Authority area on 12 April in each of the last 6 years.

It is longstanding policy that the Home Office does not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the department.The Home Office does, however, publish statistics on a quarterly basis detailing the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found in at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

How much special grant funding was (a) provided to and (b) applied for by West Mercia Police for 2026-27.

West Mercia Police will receive up to £1.6m in 2026-27 to support the force with the additional costs of Operation Lincoln. Total additional costs were forecast as up to £2.6m.

What the was value of the special grant (a) applied for and (b) received by West Mercia Police in each of the last five financial years including 2026-27.

The Police Special Grant is contingency funding held by the Home Office to support policing with the additional costs of unexpected additional events or complex investigations.Home Office publishes the applications and decisions taken on Special Grant; data up to 2023/24 can be found at the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-funding-special-grant-applicationsIn 2024/25 the West Mercia PCC requested £3.3m of Special Grant funding for the additional costs of Operation Lincoln and was awarded £1.5m.In 2025/26 the West Mercia PCC requested £2.9m and was awarded up to £1.7m.A request for funding in 2026/27 has been received and a decision will be confirmed in due course.

How much money has been recovered from each provider of asylum hotels through the excess profit clause in each contract in each of the last four years.

Excess profits of £45.9m have been returned to the Department in relation to the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract’s profit share provisions.

What recent progress her Department has made towards its target of ending the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers over the course of this Parliament.

Exiting all asylum hotels as soon as possible is one of the Government’s top priorities and must be executed through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work. This plan involves reducing inflow, speeding up caseworking, maximising utilisation of our estate, continuing to increase returns and exploring the use of large sites as suitable alternative accommodation.We have already made significant progress. At the end of December 2025, 30,657 asylum seekers (29) were in hotel accommodation, 19% lower than at the end of December 2024. The number of hotels in use as asylum accommodation remains significantly below hotel usage at its peak under the previous government in summer 2023, when more than 400 hotels were in use. As of 4th January, there are 197 hotels in use and we will not rest until we close every single one.

How much special grant funding her Department plans to provide to each police force in England and Wales.

The Police Special Grant has an allocated budget of £49.6m in 2026-27, and increase of £0.6m compared to 2025-26.Decisions regarding applications for the coming financial year will be communicated to recipients in due course.

What assessment she has made of her Department's progress on reducing unauthorised migration across the English Channel.

The Government has taken significant steps to address illegal migration and its Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks which facilitate it. Since July 2024, nearly 50,000 individuals without lawful status have been removed from the UK. Our agreement with France means that those arriving by small boats can be detained and returned to France.The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and the overarching impact assessment for this can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-security-asylum-and-immigration-bill-2025-impact-assessment/border-security-asylum-and-immigration-bill-2025-impact-assessment-accessible#impact-assessment(opens in a new tab)The Government is continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our measures in place to tackle small boats. As stated in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the Border Security Command will be publishing an annual report, which must state the Commander’s views on the performance in the financial year of the border security system. This is set out in the Act here:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/31/section/4/enacted(opens in a new tab)Border security is fundamental to both our national security and economic security and evaluating our approach is a critical part of that.

What steps she is taking to support the financial sustainability of police forces.

This Government is committed to ensuring that policing has the resources it needs. In December 2025, we published the provisional police funding settlement for 2026-27, which proposes funding of up to £18.3 billion for territorial police forces. This is an increase of up to £746 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement, equivalent to a 2.0% real terms increase.More widely, the Home Office engages regularly with police forces, the NPCC, and APCC to discuss police finances and understand the pressures on police budgets.

What assessment she has made of her Department's progress towards its target of recruiting 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers over the course of this Parliament.

£200 million has been made available in 2025-26 to support the first steps towards delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament, including up to 3,000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026.The Government has committed to publishing neighbourhood policing numbers every six months, to align with the official police workforce statistics. The next update is due at the end of January 2026, which will set out the numbers in neighbourhood policing roles as at the end of September 2025.

What data her Department holds data on the number and proportion of people convicted of terror offences who previously had free school meal eligibility.

The Home Office does not collect or hold data on individuals convicted of terrorism-related offences who previously had free school meal eligibility. The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on the individuals convicted of terrorism-related offences in the UK in the quarterly statistical release titled Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation which is published on GOV.UK: Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 statistics - GOV.UK.This includes detailed quarterly and annual data tables for Great Britain, covering a range of individual and offence-related characteristics, such as age and the principal offence those individuals are convicted under terrorism legislation. The latest statistical release is available for the year ending June 2025: Operation of police powers under TACT 2000, to June 2025 - GOV.UK.

What plans her Department has to support wards receiving funding through the Pride in Place programme in a) Telford, b) West Midlands and c) England.

On 25 September, the Government launched its overarching Pride in Place Strategy, committing up to £5 billion in funding and support to 339 communities.The flagship Pride in Place Programme will provide up to £20 million in flexible funding and support to 244 places over the next decade. This will serve as the cornerstone of this Government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Phase 1 Plan for Neighbourhoods programme areas that were announced in March.The neighbourhoods selected to receive funding and support from the Pride in Place Programme include Woodside in Telford and 28 places in the West Midlands. In addition, 7 local authorities across the West Midlands have been awarded funding through the Pride in Place Impact Fund, with each receiving up to £1.5m over two years. In total, the Government is investing up to £570.5 million across the West Midlands through the Pride in Place Programme and the Pride in Place Impact Fund.Each area selected through the Pride in Place Programme will receive dedicated delivery support from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure the successful delivery of the programme. This support will be provided by the Communities Delivery Unit, which will work in partnership with Neighbourhood Boards and local authorities, and will include access to place-specific data, guidance and capability support tailored to local needs.The Communities Delivery Unit will establish a Network for Neighbourhoods across the UK to build connection and learning between community leaders, convene the partners that support and strengthen community organisations, groups and social clubs, and embed participatory approaches in how local decisions are made. With the Pride in Place Programme at its heart, the Network will share learning and best practice across the Neighbourhood Boards and beyond, to support strong, capable and empowered communities to lead change locally.The Communities Delivery Unit in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government will also work with other government departments to identify relevant programmes, data and support that Pride in Place neighbourhoods can draw on as they develop their local plans.

When she will determine West Mercia Police's requests for special grant funding for the next financial year.

Decisions on police funding for 2026-27 will be taken shortly. Any requests for additional funding will be considered in the round and decisions communicated to Police and Crime Commissioners in due course.

What estimate she has made of the outstanding profit share from asylum hotel providers owed to the home office, broken down by provider.

The Home Office has to date received £45.9m in excess profits from its Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract Providers.Discussions are currently underway with providers in relation to the return of remaining excess profits under the contractual terms.It is not possible to give any further breakdown.

How much her department has recovered from asylum hotel providers in excess profits in each year since the creation of the contract, broken down by provider.

Since the creation of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts the Home Office has recovered £45.9m in excess profits.It is not possible to give a yearly breakdown of the amounts. This breakdown covers the period to August 2024.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of a reduction in the number of civilian staff on (a) police forces and (b) warranted police officers.

The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. An effective, well-supported police service is central to achieving this.Police staff, alongside warranted officers, play a vital role in delivering an effective police service to communities across England and Wales. As at 31 March 2025, there were 81,996 full-time equivalent (FTE) police staff and designated officers employed by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. This was an increase of 1,080 (FTE) compared with 31 March 2024.We are committed to giving forces the resources they need to keep the public safe. The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.6 billion, an increase of up to £1.2 billion compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement – a significant increase, and more than the increase last year. This equates to a 7.1% cash increase, and 4.6% real terms increase in funding.It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. This includes how best to allocate the resources at their disposal to provide an effective service to local communities.

How many lower-layer super output areas are within Telford constituency; how those areas are ranked by top (a) 1%, (b) 5% and (c) 10% in the index of multiple deprivation; and what impact that data has on the allocation of funding by her Department.

The Office for National Statistics Open Geography Portal provides information on Lower Layer Super Output areas in England and Wales. This is available online at: https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/search?q=NAC_LSOA&sort=Date%20Created%7Ccreated%7Cdesc.In relation to deprivation, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the most recent iteration of the English Indices of Deprivation in September 2019. All data tables and resources are available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019. The Open Data Communities platform provides deprivation data at postcode level or at local authority level. This is available online at: https://imd-by-postcode.opendatacommunities.org/imd/2019.With regards to how deprivation relates to funding decisions by the Home Office, the Department is responsible for funding a broad range of functions, services and programmes across its policing, national security and immigration remit. Decisions on how funding is deployed may consider factors such as deprivation if that is relevant based on the specific purpose and objectives of the funding stream.

How much funding was allocated in cash terms to West Mercia Police in each of the last five financial years; what level of reserves that force held in each of those years; what the cost of (a) management and (b) administration of that force was in each of those years; and what the cost of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was for that force.

The total funding amounts for West Mercia can be found in the table below. This includes funding from government grants, precept and in year funding for pay awards. The table does not include funding relating to any crime programmes, such as hotspot policing and county lines, outside of the police funding settlement. 2021-222022-232023-242024-252025-26Total funding (£m)£249.3£264.4£279.5£300.8£318.9 The Home Office does not hold data relating to the management and administration costs of forces as well as the cost of the officer of the Police and Crime Commissioners. Decisions on how funding (including the holding of reserves) and resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.

How many asylum hotels there are within Telford constituency; what (a) month and (b) year those hotels were opened; how many people are staying within each hotel; and what the contracted end date is for each hotel.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found in at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.The Home Office does not publicly comment on individual hotels, or individuals being accommodated.

What estimate she has made of the total amount owed to the Home Office by companies that receive money to house irregular migrants in hotels since 2019; and what discussions she has had with those companies on the transfer of those monies to her Department.

The Home Office is currently conducting an open book audit covering the seven contracts with the three suppliers of Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts. Following completion of the audit, excess profits will be returned to the Home Office in line with the contracts’ profit share provisions.

How many applications for visas for business events her Department has received in each of the past 3 years; how many of those applications were successful in that time period; what the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest time was for a visa to be processed in that time period; and how much revenue was raised from those applications.

The requested data is not centrally held by the Home Office, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.