Ofcom has various powers under the Online Safety Act to obtain information from services, including information regarding their algorithms. However, Ofcom does not publish, or provide to DSIT, details of how many information notices they have issued.

In March 2026, Ofcom updated on its work on safer feeds for children. To inform Ofcom’s assessment of these systems, it issued legally-binding information requests to large platforms and has said it will publicly report on the responses in May.

The Government Office for Science commissioned an evidence review by an external academic group to synthesise the latest published literature on misinformation. It is a pre-registered study looking at the existing published evidence and is not therefore seeking direct contributions from organisations. The review will be published in due course. The findings from this desktop exercise will inform government's thinking on identifying and tackling harmful misinformation.

Detaining and removing people with no right to be in the country, with dignity and respect, is an essential part of effective immigration controls.

The future requirements of the detention estate, including its capacity and location, is kept under constant review.

The provision of internet access in immigration removal centres helps detainees to remain in contact with family, friends and legal representatives and to prepare for removal. It is a contractual requirement that all immigration removal centres provide detainees with reasonable and regulated access to the
internet and IT facilities. It is important that detainees can access legitimate websites including news, education, employment and legal sites, and we are taking steps to standardise internet access across the detention estate. This includes consultation with the voluntary sector on website access and the development of a new Detention Services Order to set out requirements for access and monitoring.

As of 31 December 2014, 143 people were relocated to the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme, 34 of whom were principal applicants (i.e. head of family) and 109 their dependents.

This is the latest publicly available figure, as numbers are released as part of the Home Office official statistics each quarter. The number of arrivals under the scheme up to the end of March 2015 will be published on 21 May.

By the end of March 2015 we are expecting to have spent over £650 million and will have spent the full £800 million before the end of 2015.

By the end of March 2015 we are expecting to have spent over £650 million and will have spent the full £800 million before the end of 2015.

An analysis of asylum claims made by Syrian nationals, in the eighteen month period ending November 2014, showed some Syrian asylum claimants were found to have abused the UK’s transit without visa provisions using a US issued visa. Applicants used their US visas to arrive in the UK to claim asylum rather than to transit to an onward destination as the provisions intend. The change made by HC1116 will stop this abuse.

Asylum seekers are supported under section 95 if they would otherwise be destitute. Failed asylum seekers are supported under section 4 if they would otherwise be destitute and there is a temporary barrier that prevents their departure from the UK.

The assistance available to both groups consists of accommodation (with gas, electricity and water provided free) and a weekly allowance to buy food and other essential items. They are also able to access healthcare and education.

The Home Office keeps these arrangements under regular review and is satisfied they are an effective way of ensuring people are not left destitute.

Application volumes, issue and refusal rates of visa applications from all nationalities are monitored on an ongoing basis.

All visa applications made by Syrian nationals are considered on a case by case basis, on their individual merits, and in accordance with the Immigration Rules.

Detention plays a key role in maintaining an effective immigration control and protecting our borders. We keep periods of detention to a minimum, consistent
with the need to detain in order to remove from the UK those with no right to be here and who do not leave voluntarily.

There are no plans to review the use of detention overall but on 9 February the Home Secretary announced that Stephen Shaw, the former Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, is to lead an independent review of the policies and procedures relating to the welfare of immigration detainees.

As of 31 December 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had referred 260 people for consideration under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons
Relocation (VPR) scheme. This data has not previously been published, is based on management information only, and has not therefore been subject to the detailed checks that apply to National Statistics publications.

In the same period to 31 December, as already published through the quarterly release of Home Office statistics, 143 people had arrived in the UK under the VPR scheme.

I refer my honourable Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement of the Home Secretary on 10 February 2015. Reference HCWS274.

The total number of main applicants supported under Section 4 is now well below the peak of 12,019 in the Quarter 3 of 2009, standing at 3,566 in the Quarter 3 of 2014.

The number of main asylum claimants receiving Section 4 support for more than two, four and six years is set out in the table below.

Appeals relating to Asylum Support are heard in the First-tier Tribunal Social Entitlement Chamber (Asylum Support) which is administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes official statistics on the operation of HMCTS which includes the number of Asylum Support appeals received in each of the last five years. These statistics are published on a quarterly basis and the most recent official statistical publication (covering the period up to the end of September 2014) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

HMCTS does not collate information on the volume of cases received broken down by decision type. This information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost by manually checking individual tribunal files for the period in question.

The Home Office does not return Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) whose claims have been refused, unless adequate reception arrangements are in place in the country to which the child is to be returned. If adequate
reception arrangements are absent, most unaccompanied children are granted UASC Leave (formally known as UASC discretionary leave) which usually lasts until their 18th birthday.

When a child passes the age of 18 and UASC Leave expires, they are no longer considered to be a UASC and are therefore required to take steps to voluntarily return or seek further leave to remain. If the individual does not seek to
regularise their stay through further applications or leave is not granted they may be removed in accordance with the Immigration Rules and Published Home Office policy should they fail to leave voluntarily.The table below outlines the number of individuals removed in each of the last five years who had previously been granted discretionary leave to remain as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child but has since passed the age of 18 and had
not regularised their leave or left the UK voluntarily.

As of 31 December 2014 there were 26,801,935 valid European Health Insurance Cards issued to people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, in circulation.

At Nigeria’s UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October 2013, the UK called on the Nigerian government to fully investigate reports of extra judicial killings and torture by the Nigerian security forces, to bring to justice those responsible and to establish a human rights monitoring system.

We continue to raise these and other human rights concerns with the Nigerian authorities, as highlighted at the UPR, such as the death penalty and LGBT rights.

When providing military assistance to another nation, the Ministry of Defence is required under the UK Government’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Human Rights Guidance to consider the possibility of that assistance directly or significantly contributing to a violation of human rights and to identify measures that mitigate this risk. We continue to follow these stringent guidelines. The UK Government has made clear to the Nigerian authorities at all levels that, whilst we support Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, we do not condone human rights violations.