Home Office to be questioned on UK-France small boats agreement

The House of Lords International Agreements Committee will tomorrow be holding a one-off evidence session on the UK-France Prevention of Dangerous Journeys Treaty with the Home Office. 

Giving evidence will be: 

• Alex Norris MP, Minister of State (Minister for Border Security and Asylum), Home Office  

• Dan Hobbs, Director General (Migration and Borders Group), Home Office 

Topics the Committee is likely to cover include: 

• How the Agreement has operated so far; 

• How many people have been returned to France so far, and how many have been admitted to the UK; 

•  Whether the Agreement is truly an “equal partnership”, given that France has considerable latitude to reject or time out applications and the costs are borne solely by the UK; 

• The role of the European Commission in monitoring the Agreement; 

• How many people deported to France have returned to the UK on small boats so far; 

• The suspension clause within the Agreement; 

• Whether the Agreement will be renewed after its termination in June 2026; 

• Parliamentary scrutiny of any amendments to the Agreement. 

The session will take place on Tuesday 16 December at 4pm and can be followed live on parliament.tv