Written questions by Robinson.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29448 on Police: Workplace Pensions, what progress has been made on discussions with the Chief Constables in each of the devolved regions on the McCloud Judgement.

The Home Office has engaged with the National Police Chiefs’ Council in working to resolve issues related to the McCloud remedy in relation to England and Wales.As policing is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the policy and legislative responsibility for the police pension scheme in those regions lies with the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive respectively.

What recent discussions his Department has had with the families of people killed in the 1994 Chinook Helicopter Crash on the Mull of Kintyre.

The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died. The Chinook Justice Campaign, who represent many of the families of the Mull of Kintyre accident, have indicated their intention to bring legal proceedings against the Ministry of Defence. Given this ongoing situation, I am unable to comment further.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the tax-free threshold for pensioners.

The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast. The Government is also committed to keeping people’s taxes as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility, and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting a public inquiry into the 1994 Chinook Helicopter Crash on the Mull of Kintyre.

I want to extend my sympathies to the families of those killed in this tragic accident. Having lost personnel on operations myself, I know the pain that they feel. We have received a pre-action protocol letter from the Chinook Justice Campaign and are considering our response. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further.

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for the defence industry in Northern Ireland.

The UK Government, through the Strategic Defence Review will make defence an engine for growth ensuring that our defence spending boosting prosperity, jobs and security for working people across all nations and regions. This includes in Northern Ireland, where companies like Thales are at the forefront of both advanced manufacturing and our enduring support to Ukraine. In March, we announced a £1.6 billion deal to supply thousands of advanced air defence missiles to Ukraine, whilst creating 200 new jobs in Northern Ireland. It is the largest contract ever received by Thales in Belfast. We are committed to working with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that we have a thriving defence sector which supports jobs, skills and growth in Northern Ireland.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will strengthen the provisions of the Hunting Act 2004.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans in a generation to improve animal welfare and that is exactly what we will do. The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act and completely bans hare coursing. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. The Government has committed to a ban on trail hunting. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and further announcements will be made in due course.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with animal rights charities on phasing out the use of animal testing.

The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. To facilitate this Minister Vallance hosted a roundtable on 14.05.25 with representatives from animal welfare organisations, and officials have worked with animal welfare charities throughout strategy development. Minister Vallance also met with the Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research and representatives from Animal Free Research on 01.04.25, with representatives from Lush UK on 15.05.25, and with representatives from the RSCPA on 26.11.24.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 20971 on Aerospace Industry: Finance, what progress his Department has made on the allocation of the £975 million to boost the UK aerospace industry; and how much has been allocated to each devolved region.

Of the £975 million allocated to the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme between 2025/26 and 2029/30, £285 million has been committed so far. This funding is distributed across the Devolved Administrations as follows:RegionCommitted Spend from 2025/26England255,504,078Wales10,061,956Scotland6,383,129Northern Ireland13,284,097Total285,233,260 The Industrial Strategy announced ATI Programme funding of up to £2.3 billion over the next 10 years. With industry co-investment, this will result in nearly £3.8 billion of UK research activity—placing UK industry in a strong position to capitalise on growing demand for new technologies as the next generation of aircraft is developed.

What steps her Department plans to take to improve the asylum system.

I refer the Hon Member to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill introduced to Parliament on 30 January (Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 2025 - GOV.UK.) and the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May (Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper - GOV.UK), both of which will drive forward the Government’s objectives to restore order to the asylum system, and cut costs it imposes on the taxpayer.

How many applications were (a) received, (b) granted and (c) rejected for (i) asylum, (ii) Spousal Visas and (iii) Skilled Worker Visas in the last financial year.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa type, including Partner and Skilled Worker visas, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2005 up to the end of March 2025.The Home Office also publishes data on the number of people claiming asylum and the number of initial decisions is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025.

How many asylum applications were received in Northern Ireland in the last financial year.

Available data on people claiming asylum in the UK is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support by local authority is published in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum support detailed datasets’.The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025 and as at 31 March 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.

If she will take steps to ensure that decisions on third country asylum applications are dealt with within 6 months.

We always aim to process inadmissibility decisions as promptly as possible.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning the shooting of hares in their breeding season.

The Government considers the need for a close season for hares is justified more by animal welfare concerns than biodiversity and species conservation. In short, a close season should reduce the number of adult hares being shot in the breeding season, which runs from February to October, meaning that fewer leverets (infant hares) are left motherless and vulnerable to starvation and predation. A close season is also consistent with Natural England's advice on wildlife management that controlling species in their peak breeding season should be avoided unless genuinely essential and unavoidable. Defra Ministers therefore support the ambition to introduce a close season for hares in England and are considering how this can be brought forward.

If she will list by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) country the number of asylum claims granted protection to (i) asylum seekers who crossed the English Channel by sea and (ii) all asylum seekers in each of the last five years.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum, including by nationality, age and sex, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on initial decisions of asylum claims, by the date of the decision, is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. Data on initial decisions of asylum claims from small boat arrivals, by the date of arrival, is published in table Irr_D03 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed tables’ and by the date of decision in asylum summary tables Asy_02c and Asy_02d.Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025.

How many asylum seekers subsequently submitted an application for family reunion by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) country of origin in each of the last five years; and how many family members were included in each application.

The Home Office publishes statistics relating to family visas in the Immigration system statistics publication. Data on family visas can be found in the Entry clearance visa data tables. Table Vis_D01 relates to applications of entry clearance visas granted for family reasons, by nationality. Data on family reunion grants by age and sex can be found in the family reunion detailed dataset.The Home Office does not publish statistics regarding sponsorship detail.

What assessment she has made of the merits of the further submissions criteria in the asylum system.

All Further submissions must be considered in line with the UK’s obligations to assess whether the additional evidence means that an individual requires protection.We aim to deal with further submission claims quickly so that there is no incentive to lodge spurious claims to frustrate removal.

How many asylum seekers processed had an application for asylum granted in another country in each of the last five years.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

What steps her Department is taking to (a) enforce and (b) monitor the application of legislation on the rights of migrants to (i) rent and (ii) otherwise reside in Northern Ireland.

The Right to Rent Scheme (the Scheme) requires landlords and letting agents to check that prospective adult tenants have the relevant permission to access the private rental sector. The Scheme is in force in England only and has not been rolled out to the devolved nations and therefore does not apply to Northern Ireland. The Home Office continues to keep the Scheme’s operation under review.Immigration Enforcement teams are active in Northern Ireland as they are in the rest of the UK. As part of our Plan for Change, this government is cracking down on criminal industry at every level, including stepping up our visits to businesses where illegal working is taking place, and increasing our enforcement action both against illegal workers and the people who employ them in Northern Ireland.

How many outstanding calculations remain for retired police officer pensions arising from the McCloud Judgement within each police force in the United Kingdom.

Calculations for the police pension scheme, including those related to the McCloud remedy, are produced for each scheme member by the relevant scheme administrator.While the Home Office has responsibility for overarching policy and legislative changes to the police pension regulations in England & Wales, the police pension scheme is locally administered by individual police forces. The devolved governments have overarching policy and legislative responsibility in Scotland and Northern Ireland.It is for each Chief Constable, in their role as scheme manager for their force, to determine their administrative timetable.The Home Office is actively collaborating with policing to support the effective implementation of the McCloud remedy for all affected individuals.

With reference to the McCloud judgement [2018] EWCA Civ 2844, how many outstanding police pensions cases HMRC had yet to assess on 6 February 2025; and what HMRC's timetable is for the completion of this work.

HMRC is committed to providing a good customer service for individuals affected by the McCloud remedy. It is working closely with individual pension schemes to ensure they and their members have the support they need. For police, HMRC has received 662 and processed 136. HMRC has 526 police force cases which have been submitted and are yet to be processed. HMRC checks and processes the submissions based on the information provided and has 90 days in which to process a refund where applicable.