Written questions by Lowe.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22427 on Offences against Children, whether her Department holds information on how many deportations to Pakistan for convictions related to child grooming failed.

The information requested by the Hon Member is not currently held by the Department but we are committed to improving the collection and publication of data in this area, as confirmed by the Home Secretary in her statements to Parliament on the 6th and 16th January. That important work is in train and further details will be confirmed in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22417 on Offences against Children: Girls, whether the information requested is held by her Department.

The information requested by the Hon Member is not currently held by the Department but we are committed to improving the collection and publication of data in this area, as confirmed by the Home Secretary in her statements to Parliament on the 6th and 16th January. That important work is in train and further details will be confirmed in due course.

Whether her Department records an ideological breakdown of people in the Desistance and Disengagement Programme.

The Home Office does collect information relating to the ideology of participants of the Desistance and Disengagement programme. However, this information is considered to be protected information which we are unable publish as this constitutes personal data as defined in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).The Desistance and Disengagement Programme is an important tool used to keep the public safe from people who have been involved in terrorist related activity.Providing further granular detail around ideology could lead to the identification or presumed identification, of its participants which could have serious security implications and fundamentally undermine the effectiveness of the programme as a counter terrorism tool.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 21759 on Offences against children, whether the information requested is held by her Department.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and convictions at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including rape. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics. Information on the immigration status of defendants is not routinely collected by the courts.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 January to question 22418 on Offences against Children, whether this information is held by her Department.

The information requested by the Hon Member is not currently held by the Department but we are committed to improving the collection and publication of data in this area, as confirmed by the Home Secretary in her statements to Parliament on the 6th and 16th January. That important work is in train and further details will be confirmed in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to question 22422 on Offences Against Children, whether this information is held by her Department.

The information requested by the Hon Member is not currently held by the Department but we are committed to improving the collection and publication of data in this area, as confirmed by the Home Secretary in her statements to Parliament on the 6th and 16th January. That important work is in train and further details will be confirmed in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 22424 on Offences Against Children: Prosecutions, whether her Department holds information on whether family members (a) had knowledge of or (b) facilitated the crimes of people prosecuted for their involvement in Pakistani heritage grooming gangs.

The information requested by the Hon Member is not currently held by the Department but we are committed to improving the collection and publication of data in this area, as confirmed by the Home Secretary in her statements to Parliament on the 6th and 16th January. That important work is in train and further details will be confirmed in due course.

Pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 22429 on Offences against Children, whether her Department holds information on the number of (a) police officers, (b) officials of local authorities and (c) social workers that (i) lost their jobs, (ii) faced legal proceedings and (iii) suffered other punitive measures due to having knowledge of Pakistani heritage grooming gangs and not taking action.

The information requested by the Hon Member is not currently held by the Department but we are committed to improving the collection and publication of data in this area, as confirmed by the Home Secretary in her statements to Parliament on the 6th and 16th January. That important work is in train and further details will be confirmed in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to question 22421 on Offences Against Children, whether this information is held by her Department.

The information requested by the Hon Member is not currently held by the Department but we are committed to improving the collection and publication of data in this area, as confirmed by the Home Secretary in her statements to Parliament on the 6th and 16th January. That important work is in train and further details will be confirmed in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a review of sentences for people serving a custodial sentence for posting offensive remarks on social media.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. There are a range of communication related offences, both summary-only and triable either way, across different pieces of legislation with varying maximum penalties. For example, section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 which criminalises the sending of a communication that is either grossly offensive, or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character. This offence carries a maximum 6 months’ imprisonment and/or unlimited fine.The Government has launched an Independent Review of Sentencing chaired by former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke. The Review will examine options following three core principles: sentences must punish offenders and protect the public; sentences should encourage prisoners to turn their backs on a life of crime and we must expand and make greater use of punishment outside of prison.

What the cost to the public purse of legal aid for foreign national offenders was, broken down by nationality, in each of the last ten years.

This information requested is not held centrally.Where proceedings are before a court or tribunal in England or Wales, legal aid is available to individuals who qualify for services irrespective of their nationality or usual place of residence. As nationality is not a determinative factor in the availability of legal aid this information is not requested with an application for legal aid.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost to the public purse is of the campaign to advocate for family-based care for children across the globe, announced on 17 January 2025.

The campaign to promote family care for children globally has not spent any additional UK funding on staff or programmes to date. We are assessing future requirements for staff and programmes to support the campaign.

How many citizenships were granted to refugees in each of the last ten years.

The publicly available immigration statistics for the last 10 years include statistics for naturalisation as a British citizen for all relevant routes of entry. Migration transparency data - GOV.UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 January to Question 23582 on Undocumented Migrants, what information her Department holds on the number of irregular migrants defined as absconders.

The requested data is not readily accessible from published statistics, and could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at a disproportionate cost.Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 23578 on Undocumented Migrants, if she will make an estimate of the number of irregular migrants in the UK.

I refer the Honourable Member to the Answer I gave on 15 January to Question UIN 22990.

What the total cost to the public purse was of penalty payments to people who faced delays in the processing of their immigration case in each of the last five years.

Immigration Enforcement, UK Visas & Immigration and Border Force occasionally make ex-gratia payments to customers, beyond any legal or statutory requirements, as redress for maladministration. These payments are made at the discretion of the Home Office and depend on the individual circumstances of each complaint.Details of these payments are not routinely published and could only be collated for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating funding to the Vauxhall roundabout project in the context of the potential impact of that project on other infrastructure projects in Great Yarmouth constituency.

The A47 Great Yarmouth Vauxhall Junction scheme was cancelled due to a combination of cost increases and poor value for money. Great Yarmouth is benefiting from the Third River Crossing, a Norfolk Council scheme funded by DfT, and the National Highways scheme to improve Harfrey’s Roundabout. Given the poor value for money for the Great Yarmouth Vauxhall Roundabout scheme, there are no immediate plans for any funding allocation. Where areas are still experiencing issues with congestion, safety and the environment, we will continue to consider these issues in the context of other pressures and priorities for investment as part of future Road Investment Strategies.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Ministerial correspondence of 17 January 2025 with reference MC2024/24342/SB, when the consultation process on the review of the existing funding formula will (a) begin and (b) be announced; and whether stakeholders in Great Yarmouth constituency will be included in the consultation process.

This Government inherited an outdated funding formula for allocating money to proposed flood defences. That’s why we will launch a consultation in the coming months which will include a review of the existing flood funding formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection. The consultation will be open to all stakeholders, including community groups and members of the public in Great Yarmouth constituency.

What discussions she has had (a) farmers and (b) relevant stakeholders on the potential impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. The Government takes into account all representations, and HM Treasury officials and Ministers meet with stakeholders on a regular basis.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2024 to Question 23051 on Offences against Children, whether this information is held by her Department.

The information previously requested by the Rt Hon Member is not held by the Department. The Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce currently holds the best data available on police-recorded child sexual abuse and exploitation crimes, including group-based offending. And the Government has committed to improving our understanding of this offending, including on the data collected and published.The £10million funding announced by the Home Secretary in her 16 January statement to Parliament will contribute to taking forward our strengthened response to child sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as driving change at a local level. We are providing stronger national support for local inquiries, by providing £5million of funding to help local councils set up their own reviews. Funding will be made available to support Oldham and four other areas to pilot new approaches and conduct their own reviews. £2.5m will enable the increase of investigations, including through the Child Sexual Abuse Police Taskforce, and £2.5m will contribute to the implementation of the Home Secretary's other announcements, including the new Victims and Survivor Panel, and the Baroness Casey audit.We will continue to work at pace to prioritise protecting more children, finding more criminals, and getting justice for more victims and survivors.