Written questions by Hayes.

How many people entered the UK through irregular means other than small boats in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of detected irregular arrivals to the UK across four routes of entry in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’.Data on inadequately documented air arrivals, recorded detections at UK ports and recorded detections in the UK, alongside small boat arrivals and can be found in Irr_01 of the ‘Irregular migration summary tables’. This data covers the period 2018 to September 2024.Data covering the period of October to December 2024 is due to be published on 27th February 2025.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

What steps she is taking to increase recruitment of firefighters in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) other rural areas.

While the Government is committed to ensuring fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work, is it individual fire and rescue authorities that are responsible for recruitment and decisions around deployment of resources.Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £53.3m in 2025/26; this is an increase of 3 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

How many instances of mobile phone theft have been reported in Lincolnshire since 2020.

The Home Office collects information on the number of theft offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. It is not currently possible to identify from these data which crimes involved the theft of a mobile phone. The Office for National Statistics publish estimates of mobile phone theft for England and Wales, but these figures are not available for smaller geographic areas. The latest Office for National Statistics estimates can be found at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtablesWe will shortly be holding a Home Office Mobile Phone Theft Summit, drawing together representatives from the mobile phone industry, including tech companies, and law enforcement to see what more can collectively be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.As part of our Safer Streets Mission, this government is determined to crack down on theft and other crimes that make people feel unsafe in our communities, including strengthening neighbourhood policing, tackling anti-social behaviour and restoring public confidence.

For what purposes (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have used AI in the last 12 months.

AI is being used for a range of purposes in the HO, including:to improve business delivery as part of overall digital improvements in the department with well-established systems such as e-Gates, to allow entry at the Border; in our passport service, to support online applications; triage tools, which route cases to the appropriate teams; and the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) Classifier, which helps police officers grade child sexual abuse material (CSAM) more swiftly and reduces their exposure time to harmful contentto assist the creation of documents and presentationsto research publicly available documentsto transcribe meetingsto summarise informationWe are also running several AI trials to test their potential for wider productivity and quality improvements in existing business processes.

How many (a) new and (b) replacement passports were issued in 2024.

In 2024, the number of passports issued to customers applying for their first British passport was 1,277,216.A further 6,442,605 British passports were issued in 2024. This figure includes renewals, and the replacement of passports that were lost, stolen or damaged.

When Ministers in her Department held meetings on grooming gangs in the last five years; and who the external attendees at those meetings were.

It is not for this Government to comment on meetings held by previous Government ministers, but I would refer the Rt Hon Member to the quarterly publications of transparency data on ministerial meetings available on the Home Office website.Since coming to office in July, current Home Office Ministers have been prioritising engagement with victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation, child protection organisations, law enforcement partners, members of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, and colleagues across Government to further strengthen the response to child sexual abuse and exploitation.Whilst not always published as some are internal meetings, I can assure the Rt Hon Member that I have taken meetings every single week on this subject since my appointment as a Minister. I have also convened the first dedicated cross-Government group to drive forward change in this crucial area.

How many people arriving on small boats died in the English channel in each of the last three years.

A total of 138 people are known to have died since August 2019 as a result of attempting to cross the Channel by small boat.Almost all of these fatalities have occurred in French territorial waters, and the records of these held by the Home Office are primarily from information shared by the French authorities. The numbers of fatalities known to have occurred in the past three calendar years are as follows:2022 – 42023 – 122024 – 78

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2024 to Question 8756 on Polygamy, if she will make it her policy to record data on polygamous marriages in the UK.

I refer the Hon.Member to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question UIN 15076.

How many (a) reports of and (b) convictions for shoplifting there were in (i) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (ii) Lincolnshire in each of the last three years.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of notifiable offences, including motor vehicle theft and shoplifting offences, recorded by the police in England and Wales, at the Police Force Area level and the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Area level. This information is published on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesThe Home Office does not collect information at the Parliamentary Constituency level.

How many of the extra 13,000 neighbourhood police will serve in Lincolnshire.

As part of our Safer Streets Mission we will restore neighbourhood policing by putting police back on the beat, with 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales.Every part of the country will benefit from this pledge, including Lincolnshire. Further details will be announced in the normal way in due course.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of vehicles stolen in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in each of the last three years.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of notifiable offences, including motor vehicle theft and shoplifting offences, recorded by the police in England and Wales, at the Police Force Area level and the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Area level. This information is published on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesThe Home Office does not collect information at the Parliamentary Constituency level.

With reference to her Department's plan to include a named, contactable police officer in each neighbourhood, how her Department defines neighbourhood.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This will set out what communities can expect from neighbourhood policing teams in every local area including intelligence-led and visible patrols.The Home Office is working closely with policing and other key stakeholders to implement the Guarantee, and is clear that everyone, wherever they are in the country, will benefit from it and will have a named officer to contact when things go wrong.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for Lincolnshire police force.

This Government is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need to tackle crime effectively.Lincolnshire Police’s funding will be up to £173.2m in 2025-26, an increase of up to £9 million when compared to the 2024-25 police settlement.The Home Secretary announced over half a billion for 2025-26 more funding for policing and confirmed that police forces will be fully compensated for the changes to employer National Insurance contributions.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the police allocation formula on (a) policing and (b) crime in Lincolnshire.

On 19th November, the Home Secretary announced that government funding for policing will increase by over half a billion pounds next year; this includes an increase of over £260m in the core grant for police forces, additional funding for neighbourhood policing, the NCA and counter terrorism.Force level funding allocations for the financial year 2025-26 will be confirmed at the police funding settlement. Funding for future years beyond 2025-26 will be set out in phase two of the Spending Review where we will want to consider police funding in the round.

How many age assessments of people arriving on small boats and seeking asylum have taken place in each of the last three years.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on age disputes for all individuals with asylum claims raised and resolved is published in table Asy_D05 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’.

What steps the Border Security Command is taking to assess the age of asylum seekers arriving on small boats.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Answer I gave on 4 December to Question UIN 16274.

If she will make an estimate of the number of people working illegally in nail bars in England and Wales.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman. Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

What recent estimate she has made of the number of people working illegally in the food and drink sector.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman. Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

If she will hold discussions with the Office for National Statistics on the reliability of its immigration statistics.

The development of the long-term international migration statistics are a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). The UK Statistics Authority oversees the quality and reliability of national statistics. The ONS’ migration statistics are ‘Official Statistics in Development’, meaning they are tested with a wide range of users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

If she will make it her policy to introduce a cap on annual net migration.

The Prime Minister has made clear the Government will not be introducing a cap on migration. Instead, the Government wants to see immigration come down significantly and we will take an evidence-based approach, linking migration policy to skills policy so immigration is no longer used at the expense of home-grown talent.