Home Office

It is important that we support refugees to find work so that they can financially support themselves and their families. This programme was designed and implemented under the previous administration.

Onboarding ended in December 2024 and the programme is due to close in June 2025. An evaluation will be published alongside recommendations for how we work in the future.

It is important that we support refugees to find work so that they can financially support themselves and their families. This programme was designed and implemented under the previous administration.

Onboarding ended in December 2024 and the programme is due to close in June 2025. An evaluation will be published alongside recommendations for how we work in the future.

It is important that we support refugees to find work so that they can financially support themselves and their families. This programme was designed and implemented under the previous administration.

Onboarding ended in December 2024 and the programme is due to close in June 2025. An evaluation will be published alongside recommendations for how we work in the future.

uidance on the asylum support system is publicly available at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/asylum-support-asylum-instructions

The Home Office suite of digital status services ('View and Prove your immigration status', Right to Work and Right to Rent) support a range of individuals, including Ukrainians applying to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme, who have made an in-time application for permission to stay in the UK.

This means where a person has an existing digital immigration status (eVisa) and has submitted an in-time application for a further eVisa, they can provide third parties (such as employers or landlords) with a share code.

Where an in-time application to extend or vary leave is made and the application is not decided before the person's existing leave expires, section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 extends the person's existing leave until a decision is made.

The Home Office online checking service will provide confirmation of the person's right to work or rent and provide an employer or landlord with a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty, in the event they are later found to have employed or let a property to a person who is not permitted to do so by virtue of their immigration status.

This enables the employer or landlord to hire or extend the person's contract for six or 12 months respectively.  This is the standard duration of the statutory excuse when checks are carried out on those persons with a pending, in-time application for immigration permission.

For an employer or landlord to ensure they do not discriminate against anyone, they should provide reasonable opportunity to enable an individual to prove their right to work or rent.

The Home Office is in the process of transitioning its casework operations to the new ATLAS system. Until the transition process is complete, the availability of data in respect of the number of families, who have a condition on their residency in the UK and the number of children affected, will not be available.

The Home Office is in the process of transitioning its casework operations to the new ATLAS system. Until the transition process is complete, the availability of data in respect of the number of families, who have a condition on their residency in the UK and the number of children affected, will not be available.

The Home Office is in the process of transitioning its casework operations to the new ATLAS system. Until the transition process is complete, the availability of data in respect of the number of families, who have a condition on their residency in the UK and the number of children affected, will not be available.

The Government publishes economic assessments of policy measures implemented. Analysis undertaken to support changes to the immigration system are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-analysis-at-the-home-office.

This Government is taking a new approach, linking skills and visa policy to reduce the reliance on overseas recruitment.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on the gov.uk website. The data shows that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

Immigration statistics are published at Migration statistics. While these include statistics for child citizenship fee waiver applications, they do not identify the specific reasons why an application was rejected. The reasons for why an application is rejected is not recorded in a reportable format. It would require a manual check of each individual application to obtain the data, which could only be done at a disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on gov.uk.

The latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:

Immigration and protection data: Q3 2024 - GOV.UK.

There is no published service standard for child citizenship fee waiver applications. The data does show that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on the gov.uk website. The data shows that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

Immigration statistics are published at Migration statistics. While these include statistics for child citizenship fee waiver applications, they do not identify the specific reasons why an application was rejected. The reasons for why an application is rejected is not recorded in a reportable format. It would require a manual check of each individual application to obtain the data, which could only be done at a disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on gov.uk.

The latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:

Immigration and protection data: Q3 2024 - GOV.UK.

There is no published service standard for child citizenship fee waiver applications. The data does show that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on the gov.uk website. The data shows that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

Immigration statistics are published at Migration statistics. While these include statistics for child citizenship fee waiver applications, they do not identify the specific reasons why an application was rejected. The reasons for why an application is rejected is not recorded in a reportable format. It would require a manual check of each individual application to obtain the data, which could only be done at a disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on gov.uk.

The latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:

Immigration and protection data: Q3 2024 - GOV.UK.

There is no published service standard for child citizenship fee waiver applications. The data does show that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on the gov.uk website. The data shows that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

Immigration statistics are published at Migration statistics. While these include statistics for child citizenship fee waiver applications, they do not identify the specific reasons why an application was rejected. The reasons for why an application is rejected is not recorded in a reportable format. It would require a manual check of each individual application to obtain the data, which could only be done at a disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on gov.uk.

The latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:

Immigration and protection data: Q3 2024 - GOV.UK.

There is no published service standard for child citizenship fee waiver applications. The data does show that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

Under the previous Government, shop theft soared to record highs and it continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.

The Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.

Section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2024 has created the perception that offenders and would-be offenders can get away with shop theft of goods of and under £200. We will repeal the relevant provision relating to "low value shoplifting", ensuring the police treat shop theft of any value in the same way, whilst sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal. We will continue to work closely with the police to combat retail crime, including through our Retail Crime Forum.

As set out in the Autumn Budget 2024, we will provide £100k of additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics. We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime. This will build on funding provided this financial year to the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, for development of training materials for both police and retailers to help combat retail crime and promote partnership working.

Under the previous Government, shop theft soared to record highs and it continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.

The Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.

Section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2024 has created the perception that offenders and would-be offenders can get away with shop theft of goods of and under £200. We will repeal the relevant provision relating to "low value shoplifting", ensuring the police treat shop theft of any value in the same way, whilst sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal. We will continue to work closely with the police to combat retail crime, including through our Retail Crime Forum.

As set out in the Autumn Budget 2024, we will provide £100k of additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics. We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime. This will build on funding provided this financial year to the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, for development of training materials for both police and retailers to help combat retail crime and promote partnership working.

The Home Secretary has been clear that a consistent and common-sense approach must be taken with non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs). The Government has also been clear that its top priority for policing is delivering on the Safer Streets mission to rebuild neighbourhood policing and making progress on its ambition to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls.

The Home Office has agreed that the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), supported by the College of Policing, will conduct a review on the use and effectiveness of non-crime hate incidents.

The Government is working at pace to implement the scheme, which is expected to commence in Summer 2025.

The political influence tier of the scheme will enable transparency of foreign influence in UK politics while the enhanced tier will provide greater assurance around the activities of certain foreign powers or entities that may pose a risk to the UK's safety and other interests.

The proposed foreign entities to be included on the enhanced tier will be subject to formal debate and agreement by both Houses of Parliament in due course. Three months' notice will be provided to the public and business when a 'go-live' date has been confirmed.

All staff within the Home Office involved in immigration enforcement activity are provided with appropriate training and guidance for their roles. This includes, but is not limited to, training around Modern Slavery, the National Referrals Mechanism process and the Adults at Risk in detention policy.

The forensics market plays an important role in the provision of services in England and Wales and we have no plans to nationalise it, but we are looking at whether a new National Centre of Policing might include national capabilities such as forensics.

The Government has set an ambitious target to halve VAWG in a decade. To achieve this, we must reduce the current levels of offending and reoffending but also prevent abuse from happening altogether.

This focus on prevention also sits at the heart of the Young Futures Programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships.

Young Futures Prevention Partnerships will bring local partners together to ensure children at risk of being drawn into knife crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls are identified earlier and offered support in a more systematic way.

Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.

Officials across Government are working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape how the Young Futures Hubs will work in practice.

Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) are the first order to cover all forms of domestic abuse including economic abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour and are the first cross-jurisdictional order available in the family, civil and criminal courts to protect victims. They can impose notification requirements, electronic monitoring and attendance to a behaviour change programme. Breach of a DAPO is a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment. Greater Manchester Police was the first force to secure a custodial sentence for a breach of a DAPO.

We have commissioned an evaluation of DAPOs to gather evidence to understand how DAPOs are working in practice. The evaluation will include an assessment of how police are resourcing DAPOs.

This Government is working extremely closely with industry, regulators, law enforcement and consumer groups to close the vulnerabilities that criminals exploit in telecoms networks to stop scams reaching people. The Government and Industry are currently developing a second Telecommunications Fraud Charter to build on previous voluntary action taken by the country’s biggest Telecoms companies. This new Charter will go further in encouraging companies to identify, prevent, and disrupt high volume telecoms fraud.

In addition to this, we are also pursuing legislation that aims to ban ‘SIM farms’, which are technical devices which allow criminals to send scam texts to thousands of people at the same time. Additionally, this Government is working with Ofcom to stop more cases of number ‘spoofing’, where scammers impersonate UK numbers to persuade people that they are speaking to banks, telephone companies or other legitimate businesses.

The Home Office has a legal obligation to meet the essential living needs of asylum seekers or dependents who appear to be destitute or are likely to become destitute within a prescribed period, while their asylum claim is being considered.

Details of what is considered essential can be found in the annual asylum support rate review reports, published on gov.uk.

Border Force staff are provided with all the equipment that is necessary and appropriate to do their job.

Border Force’s paperwork is continuously assessed to ensure it is effective and appropriate for its purpose.

The total number of people employed by Border Force is routinely published within the annual Home Office annual reports and accounts, available at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.

In 2023, the previous government commissioned an audit of spending in this area, which provided a figure of 16.6 FTE Home Office staff working in central Human Resources roles relating to implementation of statutory functions arising from the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

On 22 May 2024, as part of the response to that audit, the previous government required all departments to consolidate any standalone PSED-related roles from individual work areas into their wider Human Resources functions, which increased the number of central PSED roles to 21.35 FTE.

Those numbers have not increased since the current Government came to office, and there are no plans to increase them.

On 6 and 16 January, the Home Secretary announced to Parliament a raft of measures to go further in tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation, including 'grooming gangs' offending.

The Home Secretary has written to the National Police Chiefs' Council requesting officers look again at these unsolved and closed grooming gangs cases, backed by £2.5m in funding for stronger investigations The remit of the Independent Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel has also been extended so that it covers not just historic cases before 2013 but all cases since to ensure victims of abuse have the right to an independent review

This includes appointing Baroness Louise Casey to oversee an audit to improve our understanding of the scale, nature and drivers of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse at a national and local level, and to make recommendations on what additional action is needed to improve our response.

We will provide stronger support for local areas which are interested in undertaking work to better understand and tackle local grooming gang issues and improve their own local responses going forward.

We will also be working across Government to set out a clear timeline for taking forward the 20 recommendations from the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse by Easter.

The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes statistics relating to the applications and outcomes of High Potential Individual visas in the immigration system statistics. This does not provide a breakdown by residence of the visa holder.

The Afghan Resettlement Programme, announced by the Defence Secretary on 18 December 2024, is not in itself an immigration scheme, but a single delivery pipeline to improve efficiency in the end to end relocation and in-UK resettlement of those arriving on our Afghan schemes.

The latest published statistics for arrivals under the Afghan schemes can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6745f99683f3d6d843be975e/asylum-summary-sep-24-tables.ods.

Skilled Worker visas are normally processed within 3 weeks. Priority services are available for those who require a faster decision.

Further details on the Skilled Worker visa can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

The Government recognises the serious threat posed by fraudsters targeting UK citizens from abroad. In October 2024, the UK played a pivotal role in helping pass the first ever UN Resolution on Fraud at the 12th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).

The resolution outlines a set of key recommendations that all signatories to the UNTOC (186 Member States) should implement to mitigate the threat of fraud to their citizens. These recommendations include codifying fraud as a serious crime, pursuing fraudsters, protecting victims, and collaborating closely with the private sector to design out fraud. By establishing these guidelines, the resolution sets a baseline of global standards for all member states to follow. This is a significant advancement in the global fight against fraud and underscores our shared commitment with international partners in combating this pernicious crime.

As part of the Government’s on-going work to tackle fraud internationally, we continue to work closely with our strategic partners including Five Eyes countries, Singapore, EU nations and INTERPOL, to target fraud and scams at source. Through these forums we are working with source countries (where transnational organised fraud and cybercrime groups operate) to build capacity in their law enforcement agencies, in order to tackle and disrupt overseas fraud before it reaches the UK.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response is as strong as it can be. I met the NPCC Vehicle Crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, recently and discussed this matter.

We work closely with policing and industry, via the recently formed National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the National Vehicle Crime Working Group. Through the working group a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.

We are also providing £250,000 funding this financial year to help support enforcement at ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment.

PRC data shows there was a total of 375,048 vehicle related thefts in year ending September 2024. 188,517 of these offences were theft from a vehicle and 127,874 were theft of a motor vehicle.   In the latest year, the CSEW estimates that vehicle related theft has remained relatively stable with a 1% increase against the previous year. The Home Office does not collect data at the parliamentary constituency level.

To identify the information requested would require a manual review of all transactions made in communications related account categories in the Home Office’s financial system since 5 July 2024, to confirm if they related to Crown Commercial Service agreement RM6125 and other agreements, and then to collate and verify relevant data.

This could only be done for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

While the Home Office has responsibility for overarching policy and legislative changes to the police pension regulations, the police pension scheme is locally administered by individual police forces. The Home Office is working with the policing sector to support the effective implementation of the McCloud remedy for all affected individuals.

It is for each Chief Constable, in their role as scheme manager for their force, to determine their administrative timetable, in accordance with the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022, including when remedy payments will be distributed.

The police have a fundamental duty under the Human Rights Act 1998 to act in a way that is compatible with human rights, including the rights to freedom of assembly and expression. The police also have a duty to ensure that public order and public safety is maintained. This is made clear to all police officers through police guidance, such as the Authorised Professional Practice on Public Order and Public Safety and the National Protest Operational Advice.

The police must therefore strike a fair balance between individual rights to protest and the general interests of the community.

The use of police powers to achieve this is a decision for the police, who are operationally independent from Government. As such, Government Ministers cannot comment on the use of these powers in a specific public order context, as to do so may undermine their operational independence.

This Government is determined to tackle crime irrespective of who has committed it. As part of the Plan for Change, our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will put officers and PCSOs back on the beat in every corner of the country, ensuring the police are visible, accessible and responsive to the communities they serve.

Our forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill will give the police the powers they need to crack down on the criminals who cause misery in our communities, and to tackle the scourge of serious violence on our streets.

The Home Office has routine discussions with commercial forensic providers on issues relating to the forensics market, including through the Association of Forensic Science Providers which represents companies including Eurofins Forensic Services.

The inaugural meeting of the ministerial advisory group for fire and rescue service reform was the first in a series of meetings that will take place quarterly. One of the group’s key aims is delivery of the manifesto commitment to work with all stakeholders in the fire and rescue sector to inform policy, including the establishment of national standards. This will form a core part of our work programme, alongside the Government’s other priorities for meaningful reform of the sector.

This will build on the work that the Fire Standards Board has already taken forward in publishing 19 different standards for the sector. These cover a range of topics relating to operational management, leadership and ethics.

Details of the contract including Statement of Requirements, Purpose and mode of transport, is published on Contract Finder at Emergency Transport for Staff and Illegal Migrants including Minors - Contracts Finder

Obtaining a breakdown of expenditure on the contract at the level of granularity requested is only something that could be done for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

This Government is committed to reducing crime and restoring public confidence in policing and we are getting on with this through our Safer Streets Mission, including through delivery of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. As part of this, each neighbourhood will have a named, contactable officer dealing with local issues that communities are experiencing.

In January 2025, the Government announced £200 million in the 2025/26 financial year to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 neighbourhood personnel, ensuring the police are visible in every community, deterring and preventing crime.

A key part of making acquisitive crime, including theft, less attractive to criminals is making stolen goods harder to sell on. We are working closely with policing and academic leads to examine what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the ability to profit from this criminality.

The Government recognises and values the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by special constables in their work. Special constables, along with the full range of volunteers in policing, make a vital contribution to keeping our communities safe.

As we announced in the Police Funding Settlement in January, the Government is doubling the funding available in 2025/26 to support the first steps in delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel, including special constables. This £200 million investment underlines our commitment to the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee as part of the Safer Streets mission.

PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions, as the locally elected representative for policing, are responsible for holding Chief Constables to account for their performance and that of their force. This government will continue to work with PCCs and chief constables to set clear expectations for policing on performance and standards to ensure that our communities have an effective and efficient police service within their force area.

The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) makes recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for chief police officers. This government values their independent and expert advice.

The Home Office does not currently centrally collate information on non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) recorded or investigated by individual police forces – this data is held by individual forces.

The Home Secretary has been clear that a consistent and common-sense approach must be taken with NCHIs. The Government has also been clear that its top priority for policing is delivering on the safer streets mission to rebuild neighbourhood policing, restoring public confidence, and making progress on the ambition to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls.

The Home Office has agreed that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), supported by the College of Policing, will conduct a review on the use and effectiveness of NCHIs, including looking at force-level data.