Written questions by Vaughan.

How many ECAA Indefinite Leave to Remain applications are pending.

Leave granted under the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) allows people, largely Turkish nationals, to work or establish businesses in the UK.The Home Office does not publish information specifically relating to the volume of applications pending or volume of applications decided under the ECAA route. However, from the immigration statistics published for the calendar year ending December 2025, it was noted that the published data on grants of Settlement under the Work Permit holder category largely relates to persons granted leave under the ECAA route.The latest statistics show that there were 6,367 Settlement grants for Work Permit holders, an increase of 72% on the previous 12 months.

How many ECAA Indefinite Leave to Remain applications have been decided in the last four months.

Leave granted under the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) allows people, largely Turkish nationals, to work or establish businesses in the UK.The Home Office does not publish information specifically relating to the volume of applications pending or volume of applications decided under the ECAA route. However, from the immigration statistics published for the calendar year ending December 2025, it was noted that the published data on grants of Settlement under the Work Permit holder category largely relates to persons granted leave under the ECAA route.The latest statistics show that there were 6,367 Settlement grants for Work Permit holders, an increase of 72% on the previous 12 months.

What steps she is taking to help support refugee integration.

Refugees can already access the labour market, benefits, employment support and funded English language support.After the introduction of our asylum reforms, we will create new work and study routes for those who are receiving protection, which will provide a faster path to lifetime settlement.And we will introduce new safe and legal routes – again, with a faster path to settlement – as we move away from unsafe and illegal routes into this country

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending temporary concessionary visas for sheep shearers on the total labour supply of sheep shearers for the farming sector.

Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA and the sector was informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.In addition, those in the UK on visas which allow general work rights, such as dependants or Youth Mobility Scheme visa holders, are free to take up work as a sheep shearer subject to the relevant visa restrictions.

Whether she will meet with representatives from the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium to discuss their report entitled Lost Childhoods: The consequences of flawed age assessments at the UK border, published on 4 March 2025.

Home Office officials are already engaging with stakeholders involved in the production of this report, and I look forward to hearing the outcome of these discussions. I am happy to meet the consortium for a discussion.

Whether her Department plans to implement stalking protection notices that would be issued by police officers pending a full application to court.

Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) are civil orders which can be imposed on anyone who has carried out acts associated with stalking and who poses a risk. They are available to the police on application to the court and can impose restrictions considered necessary. The police may also apply for an interim SPO, for example, if there is an immediate risk of harm but further investigation is required to meet the criteria for a full SPO, or when the court is unable to provide the full order in time.We are legislating through the Crime and Policing Bill to enable the courts to impose SPOs on conviction and acquittal of their own volition.

What proportion of people who come to the UK get citizenship after (a) five years and (b) ten years.

The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the Migrant Journey report. Data on those granted indefinite leave to remain or citizenship by year of initial leave can be found in dataset MJ_D01. The latest publication includes those granted initial leave up to the end of 2024.

What proportion of migrants are granted settlement after (a) five years and (b) ten years for which the latest data is available.

The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the Migrant Journey report. Data on those granted indefinite leave to remain or citizenship by year of initial leave can be found in dataset MJ_D01. The latest publication includes those granted initial leave up to the end of 2024.

How many sponsoring employers in the care sector had their sponsorship licence revoked in each year between 2022 to 2024; and what information her Department holds on the number of overseas care workers who have become unemployed following the revocation of their employer's sponsorship licence in that time period.

The Home Office does not routinely publish data on sponsor revocations for specific sectors. However, between July 2022 and December 2024, the government revoked more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector to clampdown on abuse and exploitation. More than 39,000 workers have been associated with these sponsors since October 2020.From our analysis we believe that up to 10,000 of these individuals are now in alternative sponsored work within the Health and Care sector.

What recent steps she has taken toward reaching the Government's target of halving violence against women and girls by the end of the decade.

Tackling VAWG is a top priority for this Government. We will deliver a cross-Government transformative approach, utilising every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. This will be underpinned by a new strategy to be published later this year.Recent measures have included developing a new package of six measures to tackle stalking and a step-change in approach to the way that policing looks at VAWG crimes, through a new National Policing Centre for VAWG and Public Protection. We are investing £13.1 million pounds next financial year (25/26) to stand up this new Centre from April 2025 and throughout its first year. This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to enable policing to better target these crimes.

Whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the use of education in schools to prevent violence against women and girls.

Prevention and education are fundamental to our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and that includes supporting our education system to teach children about respectful and healthy relationships and consent.As part of the Safer Streets Mission, I regularly engage with colleagues across Government including those at the Department for Education.

What steps her Department is taking to support organisations that help victims of (a) gender based violence and (b) domestic abuse.

Tackling Violence Agains Women and Girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse is a top priority for this Government. We will deliver a cross-Government transformative approach, utilising every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence.The Home Office has provided £2.025m for the national VAWG Helplines this financial year (24/25), which offer specialist support to victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence, victims of revenge porn, stalking and ‘honour’ based abuse.On 28th November 2024, the government announced a funding increase of £30 million, meaning a total investment of £160 million in the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant in 2025-26.We have been able to secure decisions on the majority of grants for the next financial year 2025-26. We have sought to protect frontline services and give them certainty, so they can plan for the next financial year ahead of the full budget-decision making process concluding.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) commencing the move-on period for newly-recognised refugees only after access to their e-visa has been confirmed and (b) extending the move-on period to 56 days.

The Home Office has recently introduced a time limited pilot giving newly recognised refugees 56 days’ notice to move on from asylum accommodation, in order to support local authorities as we seek to clear the asylum backlog and transition to eVisas.