Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many crimes were committed by foreign nationals in England and Wales in (1) 2023–24, (2) 2024–25, and (3) 2025–26; of those, what crimes were the most common; and in what counties they were most common.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions and sentences for a wide range of offences, including theft in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK
However, data held centrally does not include if the defendant is a foreign national. This information may be held in the court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 20 July (HL2218), why the logo on the UK Home Office account on X is in the square format which identifies it as a Premium paid-for account, rather than the round format which is used to identify free verified government accounts, even though the Home Office has stated that is has neither paid for such an account nor received one for free from X.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
At the time of previous responses, the Home Office Social Media Team understood that it held a standard verified government account and did not subscribe to, or pay for, X Premium.
Subsequent checks of the account's billing and subscription history have established that the Home Office does not pay for Premium services, but that the account has been provided with complimentary Premium status by X at no cost to the department because it is a government Department.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many authorised firearms officers were employed by each police force in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the total number of armed officers and operationally deployable armed officers (which excludes absences) in England and Wales in the “Police use of firearms statistics” publication. The latest data, covering the year ending 31 March 2026, can be accessed on GOV.UK (at the following link):
Police use of firearms statistics, April 2025 to March 2026 - GOV.UK
Data on the number of operationally deployable armed officers, by police force area, for the last 10 years are available in the accompanying open data tables at the link above. Data on the total number of firearms officers are available at the link above from 2021/22 and by police force area from 2022/23 only. Data on total armed officers were not collected prior to 2021/22.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many MP surgeries have Ministers in her Department had with MPs (a) in the period July 2024 to January 2025 and (b) since January 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Minister Jess Philips:
a.) 1, b.) 5
Minister Dame Diana Johnson:
a.) 1, b.) 2
Minister Seema Malhotra:
a.) 1, b.) 3
Minister Mike Tapp:
a.) n/a, b.) 8
Minister Dan Jarvis:
a.) 0, b.) 1
Minister Dame Angela Eagle:
a.) 2, b.) 4
Minister Natalie Fleet:
a.) n/a, b.) 0
Minister Alex Norris:
a.) n/a, b.) 17
Minister Sarah Jones:
None, instead regular engagement in a variety of ways.
Minister Lord David Hanson:
None, as he is not an MP.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the Prevent programme is not applicable to Northern Ireland; and what plans they have to extend it to there.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prevent is part of CONTEST, the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, which aims to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens and interests overseas. CONTEST addresses all forms of terrorism affecting the UK, except Northern Ireland-related terrorism (NIRT) in Northern Ireland, which is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland given the particular security context in Northern Ireland.
The Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 placed Prevent on a statutory footing across Great Britain, and the Government keeps all aspects of counter-terrorism policy under review and continues to work closely with partners across the UK, including in Northern Ireland, to manage the threat from terrorism and support public safety.
Most recently, Youth Diversion Orders (YDOs), introduced in the Crime & Policing Bill, will offer a new counter-terrorism tool for police to manage the risks posed by young people involved in terrorism-related activity, including online. The new legislation will apply across the whole of the UK. Furthermore, alongside the Online Safety Act, the Home Office works to influence industry partners to increase action to tackle online content used to radicalise, recruit and incite terrorism by providing threat assessment, insight and support.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what value for money assessment they have made of the use of polygraph tests by police forces.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect data on the number of police forces using polygraph tests, the frequency of their use, or their application in specific investigation types. Police forces are operationally independent of Government, and it is for chief constables, working with locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, to determine how best to deploy resources and operational tools.
The Home Office has commissioned research to explore the use of credibility assessment tools within offender management settings. This work identified that credibility assessment tools including polygraphs are being used in some policing and offender management contexts for risk management and intelligence-gathering, rather than evidential purposes. The research identified variation in adoption and use, as well as challenges relating to resources, training, validation and governance.
Through a focused law enforcement working group on Credibility Assessment, stakeholders from policing, the Ministry of Justice and the National Crime Agency have also discussed the need for robust validation, governance and standards surrounding the use of credibility assessment tools to ensure any wider adoption is evidence-led and consistent across organisations, helping to improve understanding of the key considerations associated with their use.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many police forces have used polygraph tests in each of the last five years, and on how many occasions for each police force, including (1) to inform investigations, (2) to use test results as evidence in court, (3) for risk assessment purposes, (4) in domestic abuse cases and investigations, (5) in sexual offence cases and investigations, and (6) in terrorism cases and investigations.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect data on the number of police forces using polygraph tests, the frequency of their use, or their application in specific investigation types. Police forces are operationally independent of Government, and it is for chief constables, working with locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, to determine how best to deploy resources and operational tools.
The Home Office has commissioned research to explore the use of credibility assessment tools within offender management settings. This work identified that credibility assessment tools including polygraphs are being used in some policing and offender management contexts for risk management and intelligence-gathering, rather than evidential purposes. The research identified variation in adoption and use, as well as challenges relating to resources, training, validation and governance.
Through a focused law enforcement working group on Credibility Assessment, stakeholders from policing, the Ministry of Justice and the National Crime Agency have also discussed the need for robust validation, governance and standards surrounding the use of credibility assessment tools to ensure any wider adoption is evidence-led and consistent across organisations, helping to improve understanding of the key considerations associated with their use.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of police use of polygraph tests for (1) informing investigations, (2) use as evidence in court, (3) risk assessment purposes, (4) domestic abuse cases and investigations, (5) sexual offence cases and investigations, and (6) terrorism cases and investigations.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect data on the number of police forces using polygraph tests, the frequency of their use, or their application in specific investigation types. Police forces are operationally independent of Government, and it is for chief constables, working with locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, to determine how best to deploy resources and operational tools.
The Home Office has commissioned research to explore the use of credibility assessment tools within offender management settings. This work identified that credibility assessment tools including polygraphs are being used in some policing and offender management contexts for risk management and intelligence-gathering, rather than evidential purposes. The research identified variation in adoption and use, as well as challenges relating to resources, training, validation and governance.
Through a focused law enforcement working group on Credibility Assessment, stakeholders from policing, the Ministry of Justice and the National Crime Agency have also discussed the need for robust validation, governance and standards surrounding the use of credibility assessment tools to ensure any wider adoption is evidence-led and consistent across organisations, helping to improve understanding of the key considerations associated with their use.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what national standards, governance processes and safeguards are in place regarding the use of polygraph tests by police forces.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect data on the number of police forces using polygraph tests, the frequency of their use, or their application in specific investigation types. Police forces are operationally independent of Government, and it is for chief constables, working with locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, to determine how best to deploy resources and operational tools.
The Home Office has commissioned research to explore the use of credibility assessment tools within offender management settings. This work identified that credibility assessment tools including polygraphs are being used in some policing and offender management contexts for risk management and intelligence-gathering, rather than evidential purposes. The research identified variation in adoption and use, as well as challenges relating to resources, training, validation and governance.
Through a focused law enforcement working group on Credibility Assessment, stakeholders from policing, the Ministry of Justice and the National Crime Agency have also discussed the need for robust validation, governance and standards surrounding the use of credibility assessment tools to ensure any wider adoption is evidence-led and consistent across organisations, helping to improve understanding of the key considerations associated with their use.
Asked by: Baroness Porter of Fulwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the funding and resources required to provide access to positive requirements as part of the implementation of the Domestic Abuse Protection Orders.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) can impose positive requirements on perpetrators, where appropriate, to address the underlying causes of abusive behaviour and better protect victims. These requirements may include attendance on behaviour change programmes which are funded locally or by the Home Office, substance misuse or mental health interventions which are funded by DHSC.
DAPOs are currently being piloted in selected areas of England and Wales. There is an ongoing independent evaluation of the pilot, which will aim to assess the process, impact and value for money. This includes consideration of how positive requirements are being used in practice. The independent evaluation is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
We recognise that provision of perpetrator interventions varies across England and Wales and that access to services is not currently consistent in every area. As set out in the VAWG Strategy, the Government has committed to work to establish a more consistent and comprehensive offer of perpetrator interventions across England and Wales. To support this ambition, the Home Office has launched a £74.5 million Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund, providing funding until 31 March 2029.