Written questions by Lowe.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 December to Question 15294 on Undocumented Migrants: Public Opinion, if she will publish all polling results the Department holds on public opinion regarding irregular migration.

A polling contract is currently in place with Savanta Group Limited. This two-year contract commenced in August 2023 and is available online on Contracts Finder. Spend on irregular migration polling cannot be provided. The department polls on a range of policy areas and spend on irregular migration cannot be disaggregated from total spend. We have no plans to publish all polling results on irregular migration. However, the department does regularly publish a range of statistics, research and evaluation on migration, which is available on gov.uk.

What biometric system failures there were at UK borders in 2023.

We are creating a streamlined, digital immigration system which will be quicker and more secure for the millions of people who pass through the border each year, and will enhance the security of the UK.There are a number of biometric systems that are deployed at the border, primarily to ensure security, but also to facilitate a smooth flow of passengers. Examples include facial recognition performed at eGates, as well as finger-print checking by Border Force officers where a passenger is processed manually.The majority of the checks are performed utilising the Immigration & Asylum Biometric System (IABS) and, during 2023, there were no critical incidents logged against that service.There were a number of lower priority incidents, all of which were resolved within required timescales and appropriate business contingency measures were put in place to ensure that border security was not compromised. The specific contingency measures vary according by biometric system but, for example, where a Biometric Recording (BRS) machine is being used and it has lost connectivity to IABS, the data captured will be stored locally until it is reconnected to IABS.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 December to Question 15294 on Undocumented Migrants: Public Opinion, if she will publish a breakdown of (a) companies contracted by the Department for polling on irregular migration and (b) the cost to the public purse of this polling.

A polling contract is currently in place with Savanta Group Limited. This two-year contract commenced in August 2023 and is available online on Contracts Finder. Spend on irregular migration polling cannot be provided. The department polls on a range of policy areas and spend on irregular migration cannot be disaggregated from total spend. We have no plans to publish all polling results on irregular migration. However, the department does regularly publish a range of statistics, research and evaluation on migration, which is available on gov.uk.

Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2024 to Question 15393 on Undocumented Migrants: Hotels, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a breakdown of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 27 November to question UIN 15076.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December to question 16316 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Energy if he will publish data on each Department's energy use, broken down by energy source.

Defra publishes data on Government departments' overall and direct emissions within the Greening Government Commitments framework.

If she will take steps to ensure that Bovaer is not used within the school supply chain.

The Food Standards Agency has advised milk from cows given Bovaer, an authorised feed additive that is used to reduce methane emissions, is safe to drink. Bovaer has undergone a rigorous safety assessment and is approved for use in Great Britain.The School Food Standards defines the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted, and those which must not be provided. Beyond this, schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and how they source their food.

How many of her Department's staff have transferred from Work Coach roles to roles assisting irregular migrants with benefits claims.

Irregular migrants cannot access public funds benefits. To access public funds benefits, individuals are required to hold an immigration status which does not prevent them from accessing public funds, which irregular migrants will not hold. Since irregular migrants do not have access to benefits, DWP staff are unable to support irregular migrants with benefit claims.

How many and what proportion of individuals on the terror watchlist are (a) UK citizens, (b) Dual national citizens, (c) UK citizens with at least one non-UK parent and (d) non-UK citizens.

It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific information held on any security-related watchlist, the source of the information or how it is used.To do so would be harmful to the national security of the UK.

Which external companies are contracted by the NHS to provide training for staff.

This information is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England. Each National Health Service organisation, including NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, appoint their own suppliers for staff training purposes as required. There are several public sector framework agreements in place which offer services and suppliers for the training of staff in the NHS for a range of different purposes.

How many and what proportion of Universal Credit claimants have a note on their record saying that an interpreter is required when her Department contacts them.

Currently, we do not collect structured data on customers who need an interpreter within UC. However, we know of the 43,203,214 calls the department received last year that 865,299 needed an interpreter which is around 2%. The data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

In how many years the ONS estimates on immigration to the UK been revised upwards in each of the last 20 years.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 2 December is attached.

If the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum will meet the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth to discuss data release policies.

Home Office statistics comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics (“the Code”). This means these statistics meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value as set out in ‘the Code’. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) which sets the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. Further information about official statistics can be found on the (OSR) website.

If she will conduct a review of the accuracy of the methodology used to collect immigration statistics.

Home Office statistics comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics (“the Code”). This means these statistics meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value as set out in ‘the Code’. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) which sets the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. Further information about official statistics can be found on the (OSR) website.

If she will list all contracted services undertaken by Serco related to irregular migrants.

Information about contracts worth over £12,000 (including VAT) agreed by the Government and its agencies is available at: Contracts Finder - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

How individuals on the terror watchlist are monitored.

It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific information held on any security-related watchlist, the source of the information or how it is used.To do so would be harmful to the national security of the UK.

If she will publish a breakdown of the conditions that need to be met for an person to be placed on the terror watchlist.

It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific information held on any security-related watchlist, the source of the information or how it is used.To do so would be harmful to the national security of the UK.

If she will list all companies contracted by her Department to undertake work related to (a) irregular migration and (b) irregular migrants.

Information about contracts worth over £12,000 (including VAT) agreed by the Government and its agencies is available at: Contracts Finder - GOV.UK. Extracting the relevant information from this publicly available data source for the purposes of answering this question could only be done at disproportionate cost.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on trends in people’s quality-adjusted life years.

It is vital that we carefully consider all the impacts and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, both from the pandemic itself and the measures taken to address it. The intention of the lockdowns during COVID-19 was to save lives and protect the health of the population, and to protect the National Health Service, but it is also important to consider the other impacts on society and the public’s health.During the pandemic, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies commissioned and published a series of papers on the impact of the pandemic, including impacts on morbidity and mortality. These papers presented the net impacts of the pandemic and highlighted the difficulty in separating out the impact of infections, interventions, and voluntary changes in behaviour.It isn’t possible for any assessment to retrospectively attribute impacts specifically to lockdowns, in part because we don’t know what would have happened without lockdowns in place.

How many (a) churches (b) synagogues (c) mosques and (d) other places of worship were investigated for suspected ties to extremism in each of the last five years.

The Home Office does not conduct investigations into suspected ties to extremism for places of worship.It is for the police to conduct investigations if an alleged criminal offence is reported to them.

If he will provide a list of all contracted services from GTD Healthcare; and what the cost to the public purse of those services is.

Home Office does not hold any direct contracts with GTD Healthcare.