Home Office written question – answered at on 11 November 2025.
Matt Vickers
Shadow Minister (Crime, Policing and Fire)
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that financial support offered to facilitate voluntary return does not incentivise future illegal migration.
Alex Norris
The Minister of State, Home Department
Financial support is designed to help with reintegration once migrants have returned to their home country, ensuring the return is sustainable, and not as an incentive to re-enter the UK illegally.
The various voluntary schemes operate under clear guidance to prevent misuse, including checks on eligibility and informed consent procedures. Individuals eligible for financial support through the Voluntary Returns Service receive a single payment on a card that can only be used in their home country. The Home Office monitors uptake and trends to ensure the different schemes remain cost-effective and are not abused.
Further details on eligibility are published on gov.uk at Get help to return home if you’re a migrant in the UK: Who can get help - GOV.UK
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
