Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government on what date the role of the police commissioners in Wales will cease; whether the responsibility of the work of those commissioners will be transferred to the Senedd; if so, on what date; and if not, what plans they have for a replacement system, and when they will make a final decision on this matter.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government announced on 13 November 2025 that it plans to abolish the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) model across England and Wales at the end of their current term of office in May 2028.

Policing is a reserved matter. We are working closely with the Welsh Government, as well as other Welsh Stakeholders including Welsh local government, police forces and other partners, to ensure new governance arrangements provide strong and effective police governance in Wales. We will bring forward legislation to set out the new policing governance system for England and Wales when Parliamentary time allows.

We will continue to engage with Welsh Government and other Welsh stakeholders on matters relating to policing to ensure that Welsh priorities are fully considered within the existing devolution settlement.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure full compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, in respect of the conditions in which living animals used for scientific purposes before and during these procedures are kept.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is enforced by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) in the Home Office which operates a robust regulatory framework to ensure that animals used for scientific purposes are kept in appropriate conditions both before procedures take place and throughout the conduct of those procedures.

ASPA requires a three-tier system of licensing covering establishments, projects, and individuals. All licensed establishments must comply with standards for animal protections set out in ASPA and in the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes which governs the accommodation, care, monitoring and veterinary oversight of the animals.

Licensed establishments are also required to have key named individuals in place, including veterinary surgeons and animal welfare officers, who are responsible for the health, care and welfare of animals and for advising on their use before and during regulated procedures. Establishments must operate local ethical review processes to provide ongoing oversight of animal welfare, review care and housing arrangements, and ensure that licence conditions are met.

ASRU assures compliance with these requirements through a programme of announced and unannounced audits. Any instances of non-compliance are taken seriously and addressed in accordance with ASRU’s published compliance policy, which provides for a range of regulatory responses, including enforcement action where necessary.

In 2025, ASRU implemented organisational reforms to strengthen delivery of its regulatory functions including increasing the size of its inspectorate, further enhancing oversight of animal protections across licensed establishments.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent registered sex offenders from changing their names by deed poll.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The system for managing sex offenders and those that pose a risk of sexual harm is a crucial part of preventing sexual violence and delivering our mission to halve violence against women and girls.

The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a range of legislative changes which will strengthen the management of registered sex offenders. Where the police consider it necessary to protect the public or children or vulnerable adults from sexual harm, it will enable them to serve a notice on offenders requiring them to seek the police’s authorisation before applying to change their name on a specified identity document (namely, a UK passport, driving licence or immigration document). The legislative changes will also require RSOs to notify the police of an intended change of name at least seven days in advance of using it, or if that is not reasonably practicable, as far in advance of their using it as it reasonably practicable.

Our name change restriction focuses on ID documents, which are required for work, overseas travel, and accessing services, because that is where name changes can be monitored and a restriction robustly enforced.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 59 of her Department's document entitled Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls, Volume 1: Strategy, published on 18 December 2025, whether her discussions with stakeholders on the misuse of joint financial products will include domestic abuse service providers.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, HM Treasury undertook work with key stakeholders to explore how joint mortgages are used as a tool of abuse and how victims and survivors can be better supported.

The Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy considers economic abuse as a key theme in recognition of the particular challenges victim-survivors’ can face in accessing financial products and services. This includes exploring how joint mortgages are used as a tool of abuse and how victims and survivors can be better supported. As part of this, HM Treasury are working closely with charity Surviving Economic Abuse who have been appointed a member of the Financial Inclusion Committee going forward to help inform the delivery of key interventions.

In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also held lived experience sessions with victim-survivors of economic abuse as part of their Mortgages Rule Review which HM Treasury also engaged in.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff, broken down by grade, are in the Home Office adjudication team which considers matters relating to asylum accommodation and representations from local authorities.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has a dedicated function responsible for assessing matters relating to asylum accommodation and for considering representations made by local authorities.

Staff involved in this activity work across a range of grades and responsibilities, and their work forms part of wider operational roles rather than a separately recorded staffing group. As such, the Home Office does not hold a discrete breakdown of staff numbers by grade for this specific function.

The Department keeps staffing levels under regular review to ensure it can respond effectively and proportionately to operational demand, including the handling of local authority representations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety of Myanmar nationals deported back to their country; and whether it is their current policy to do so.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government keeps the situation in Myanmar under close review. The UK does not remove individuals where there is a real risk of persecution or serious harm, and all cases are considered on their individual merits.

We only seek to return those whose asylum claims have been unsuccessful, or who otherwise have no lawful right to remain in the UK. By definition, they do not need protection and are not at risk on return. Furthermore, we only seek to return those who have no lawful right to remain in the UK.

Returns are only conducted when it is safe and practical to do so.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many antisemitic hate crimes involving arson have been recorded in the last 12 months.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

In the year ending March 2025, the police forces in England and Wales recorded four arson offences that were identified as being religious hate crimes targeted at Jewish people.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of police vehicles are currently equipped with defibrillators.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many emergency police vehicles are not currently fitted with a defibrillator.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support is in place to help (1) victims of technology-facilitated abuse, and (2) the police, to secure evidence of victims' past reporting of such abuse from the relevant technology companies.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is investing £550 million over the next three years for victim and witness support services.

The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local support services for victims of all crimes, including victims of technology-facilitated abuse. PCCs allocate funding for victim services at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice provides Victim Support with grant funding to deliver a 24/7 Live Chat and My Support Space service, providing free online support to victims across England and Wales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 90565, on Fraud: Disclosure of Information, for what reason her Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential merits of creating a national online crime agency.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

As part of our new Fraud Strategy, we are establishing a new Online Crime Centre (OCC), backed by over £30 million of investment.

Led by the Home Office and the NCA, and working closely with the City of London Police, the OCC will unite UK policing, the UK Intelligence Community (including GCHQ, the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Cyber Force) alongside private sector partners from the financial, telecommunications, technology, and cyber industries.

The OCC will initially focus on fraud and high-volume cyber crime, by enabling data sharing, trend analysis and intelligence development across partners. Using this enhanced intelligence, the OCC will work nationally and internationally with its participating partners to deliver high-impact law enforcement interventions. It will also use this intelligence to reduce harm, undermine the tools and services used by offenders, support recovery, and prevent repeat victimisation.

As set out in the Police Reform White Paper, overall responsibility for fraud will, in due course, transfer to the new National Police Service.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2026 to Question 121394, on Radicalism, if the Government will make it their policy to ensure that (a) Departments, (b) working groups and (b) arm’s length bodies adopt a unified approach on non-engagement toward specific organisations.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

As set out in ‘Protecting What Matters’, we are embedding the 2024 definition of extremism across Government to ensure a consistent understanding of extremism. We are reviewing the existing engagement principles to ensure they are still valid and in line with current legislation and guidance and cover the full range of threats that exist. This will support due diligence capabilities to ensure partners can take evidence-based decisions about engagement, including participants on forums such as working groups, which are in line with the updated principles.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many organisations have applied for funding through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme in every year since it was established; and of these, how many have been successful in obtaining funding.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Protecting the right of all faith communities to worship in peace and without fear is fundamental. The Government continues to support the police in reviewing threats and strengthening protections for faith communities against terrorism and hate crime.

That is why up to £40 million is available through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme in 2026/27. This includes additional funding announced by the Prime Minister of £10 million to further strengthen security at mosques and other Muslim community sites. The scheme provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) to mosques, Muslim faith schools and associated Muslim faith community centres.

To protect the integrity of the scheme and ensure the continued safety of vulnerable sites, the Home Office does not publish data on processing of applications or the specific offers made to individual sites. Releasing this information could inadvertently disclose sensitive details about faith communities and their security arrangements.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2026, to Question 110397, on Public Order and Hate Crime Legislation Review, if she will make it her policy to set terms of reference to independent reviews that require them to follow the Government’s non-engagement principles.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

An independent review should provide objective, credible and evidence-based assessments of the subject matter which it has been asked to evaluate.

In line with the approach that has been taken by independent reviewers under successive governments, Chairs of independent reviews should determine which groups and organisations they wish to engage with in order to fulfil the terms of reference for their review. Direction from government as to appropriate engagement could impact the credibility and independence of a review.

Once a review concludes, it is for Government Ministers to carefully consider its findings and recommendations before determining whether to accept them.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) she or (b) any members of her Department met or corresponded with Lord Mandelson on Palantir.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

No such meetings took place.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many departmental employees were on performance management plans in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office is committed to thorough performance management and has in place robust processes to ensure that those who fall below the expected standards are supported to improve in a timely manner.

This can be either through an informal performance management process called Focused Support or through the formal Managing Poor Performance Policy. For most colleagues, Focused Support will help to improve performance. If an employee does not improve sufficiently, Managing Poor Performance policy will be used. Those who cannot improve their performance, despite this additional support, may be dismissed.

The table below provides the number of staff members who had plans in place to support them to improve their performance, either informally or through our formal managing poor performance process, or both.

1 Distinct Count of "First Conversation" Focused Support Documents uploaded to Metis with the status of "Completed " or "In Progress".

Focused Support is an informal process and is applied for a dip in performance which can include, but not limited to, the following reasons:

1) lack of training

2) lack of will or motivation

3) skills or knowledge gaps

4) misunderstandings about expectations

5) management style or relationship with the job holder

6) workplace relationships

7) environmental factors

8) health, personal life or other issues outside of work

2 Data is based on the count of Managing Poor Performance cases of Paid and Unpaid Civil Servants formally opened with SSCL in the Reporting Period.

3 Individuals may appear in both the Informal Focused Support and Managing Poor Performance counts, as these represent the informal and formal stages of the Performance Management process, respectively.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the total value of non-contractual severance payments across the department in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not publish details of the value of non-contractual severance payments separately.

However, the Home Office does publish overall special payments spending on a financial year basis and details of this can be found through the links below.

Pages 190-191 (pages 198-199 on the reader)

Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024 to 2025

Pages 190-191 (pages 194-195 on the reader)

Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023 to 2024

Pages195-196

Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023

Page 136

Home_Office_ARA_21-22_Final_-_Gov.uk.pdf

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to ensure that in instances where serious injury or death results from the distribution of illegal substances, the distribution itself is made an offence directly linked to the injury or death.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has no plans to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (“the 1971 Act”) in this way. The maximum sentences for unlawful supply of controlled drugs under the 1971 Act are life imprisonment, a fine or both for Class A drugs, and 14 years’ imprisonment, a fine or both for Class B and C drugs. The classification of drugs under the 1971 Act is broadly based on harm, so longer sentences are available for those drugs considered the most harmful.

When considering the appropriate sentence for a person who has been convicted for supply offences under the 1971 Act, in addition to any statutory aggravating factors, judges may consider a range of factors. In England and Wales these are set out in sentencing guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council. These can be found at this link:

https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/supplying-or-offering-to-supply-a-controlled-drug-possession-of-a-controlled-drug-with-intent-to-supply-it-to-another/

Factors increasing the seriousness of an offence, which may result in a longer sentence, include exposing a drug user to the risk of serious harm over and above that expected by the user, exposing those involved in drug dealing to the risk of serious harm and exposing third parties to the risk of serious harm. These factors are not exhaustive and judges may consider other factors, including those raised in victim personal statements.

In Northern Ireland judges rely on caselaw when considering sentencing in the Crown Court. Relevant caselaw can be found here: https://www.judiciaryni.uk/judiciary-decision-types/type/drug-offences-39.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for an application for a controlled drug licence to be decided.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office Drug and Firearms Licensing Unit (DFLU) considers applications for premises and company specific controlled drug licences. All applications are considered individually and on their merits, after undertaking a physical site visit- if one is needed- and reviewing the evidence submitted to support an application.

Application processing times can vary considerably depending on whether a site visit is needed or if the application can be decided with a paper-based review. Other factors, including site location and resourcing, company availability, timeliness of the submission of any additional information requested will also be relevant. On this basis, we do not publish average processing times as a statistical average may not be representative of the customer journey.

Operational pressures in DFLU have meant that there are currently higher caseloads than we would wish, which has resulted in extended lead times for consideration of some applications at this time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many racially and religiously aggravated offences against Christian people and places of worship have been (a) recorded, and (b) prosecuted in each year since 2020, broken down by the (i) ethnicity, (ii) nationality, and (iii) faith of the offender.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of religious hate crimes targeted at Christians recorded by the police in England and Wales. Information is not centrally held on the number of people prosecuted for these offences, nor the ethnicity, nationality or faith of the offender.

The latest published statistics on the number of offences recorded are available here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK

It is not possible to tell, from the data held centrally, whether or not an offence was committed against a Christian place of worship.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many mosques, Islamic centres and Muslim community centres have been subject to criminal damage in each of the last 5 years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of religious hate crimes targeted at Muslims recorded by the police in England and Wales. It is not possible to tell, from the data held centrally, whether or not the offences were committed against mosques, Islamic centres or Muslim community centres.

The latest published statistics are available here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds data on instances in which police forces have declined to investigate alleged serious criminal offences, including fraud, money laundering or organised crime, on the grounds of resource limitations or internal case-triage decisions; and whether any national guidance exists governing how such decisions should be made.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Operational decisions on case investigations are matters for operationally independent police forces. The Home Office does not issue guidance directing police forces on whether individual cases should or should not be investigated.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when Home Office ministers or officials last met with Peter Mandelson; and what was discussed at that meeting.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

No such meetings took place.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2025 to Question 90566, on Fraud: Disclosure of Information, whether she plans to publish the names of banks and other organisations that fail to prevent fraud or fail to reimburse victims of fraud.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

We work closely with the financial sector to disrupt fraud at its source and prevent financial exploitation. As part of the Strategy, the Government will work with industry to develop new metrics to better measure fraud origination, harm and outcomes. This will improve transparency and accountability across the ecosystem and ensure metrics focus on reducing the level and impact of fraud.

Data has also shown that banks are increasingly compensating victims following the introduction of mandatory reimbursement through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. In the first year of the Authorised Push Payment (APP) reimbursement scheme (from 7^th October 2024), 88% of eligible losses were reimbursed, with £173 million returned to victims (APP scams reimbursement dashboard for Q3 2025 | Payment Systems Regulator).

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published their third APP scams performance report in February, covering 2024 before the mandatory reimbursement requirement. The report show the sending fraud rates and reimbursement rates of the 14 biggest banks in the UK, putting a spotlight on firms that are the highest receivers of fraud: 2024 APP scam performance data – before the reimbursement requirement was implemented.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a multi-year ringfenced Economic Crime Fighting Fund to help ensure that assets recovered from the proceeds of crime and from related fines are reinvested into law enforcement agencies.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government recognises the significant harm caused by economic crime and remains fully committed to ensuring that law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to tackle this threat effectively.

The Home Office already provides substantial and sustained funding for economic crime enforcement through existing mechanisms, including the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) and the Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy. ARIS enables a proportion of recovered assets to be reinvested directly into frontline asset recovery work, while the Levy provides multi‑year funding to strengthen anti‑money laundering capabilities across the system. The Levy provides a sustainable source of funding to tackle economic crime, and was raised at Budget 2025 to provide an additional c.£110m annually.

In December 2025, the Government published its Anti‑Corruption Strategy, which sets out a whole of government approach to tackling corruption, illicit finance and kleptocracy. The Strategy includes a clear commitment to explore options for strengthening economic crime funding, recognising the importance of sustainable resourcing to deliver these objectives. The Government will publish the new Economic Crime Plan 2026–29 in Summer 2026, bringing together the Government’s economic crime strategies in a single strategic framework and setting out its approach to sustainable funding.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has taken steps to prevent the use of Chinese software connected vehicles by (a) police forces and (b) the security services.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

As noted in Question 121206 the Government prioritises national security and does not routinely provide details on operational matters or specific threats.

The Home Office works closely with the National Technical Authorities, Police Digital Service, National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), alongside other Government Departments, to fully understand and address cyber vulnerabilities, proportional to the threat. This collaborative effort covers all connected vehicles, including those using Chinese software

The government will continue to promote good practice in cybersecurity, support transparency on data collection and usage, and coordinate with the transport sector to strengthen the security of vehicles.

NPCC have shared guidance to all Chief Constables on understanding and effectively managing risks from Connected Vehicles. We will continue to work with partners to ensure the guidance remains up to date and that forces follow guidance appropriately.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces are currently using Chinese software connected vehicles within their fleets.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Police forces are operationally independent; this includes the procurement and use of vehicles. The Home Office does not routinely collect information on vehicle types within Police fleets.

The Home Office works closely with the National Technical Authorities, Police Digital Service, National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), alongside other Government Departments, to fully understand and address cyber vulnerabilities, proportional to the threat. This collaborative effort covers all connected vehicles, including those using Chinese software

NPCC have shared guidance to all Chief Constables on understanding and effectively managing risks from Connected Vehicles. We will continue to work with partners to ensure the guidance remains up to date and that forces follow guidance appropriately.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Defending Democracy Taskforce has made an assessment of the potential impact of convicted terrorists standing for elected public office on levels of national security.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Defending Democracy Taskforce coordinates work across Government to continually review and respond to the full range of threats to our democratic system, working closely with the security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and other partners.

I refer the Hon Member to the question answered by Minister McGovern on 9 March 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what work her Department has undertaken to date on the development of the Fraud Strategy; and what the planned timeline is for its completion and publication.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The ‘Fraud Strategy 2026-2029: Disrupting crime, supporting economic resilience and delivering justice’ was published on Monday 9 March 2026 and is available on gov.uk at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fraud-strategy-2026-to-2029

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support local prevention work in Yeovil constituency, including programmes focused on (a) men and boys and (b) reducing reoffending.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has allocated over £1.8m to Avon and Somerset in FY 26/27 to maintain investment in their Violence Reduction Unit, support delivery of the Serious Violence Duty and continue their Young Futures Panels pilot which is identifying young people at risk of being drawn into crime and intervening earlier with positive, diversionary support. This investment will include programmes aimed specifically at men and boys.

Early intervention and prevention also underpins the governments Turnaround programme which supports children on the cusp of the youth justice system across England and Wales and is being delivered through multi-year investment of over £15m a year to March 2029.

At the same time we have equipped policing with the powers they need to prevent reoffending including, the appropriate use of out of court resolutions, to address the underlying causes of offending and support effective intervention.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to address the disproportionate number of Black and Black mixed heritage young people who are reported missing in the UK.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is committed to working to ensure that children and young people are kept safe from harm, including when they are reported missing. This includes working to ensure that police forces are equipped to respond appropriately and working effectively with other multiagency safeguarding partners.

I recognise the concerns previously raised about unconscious bias in the police response to missing persons from BAME communities. Following NPCC research to explore disproportionality and discrimination in police missing persons investigations, forces across England and Wales continue to improve practice and responses to address this. The report can be found here:

Disproportion and decision: Ethnic minority overrepresentation and police risk assessment in missing persons cases

We will continue to work across government and with partners to ensure an effective whole-system response when someone goes missing, while also working to address the underlying harms that lead to these complex situations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of the potential merits of expanding the Police's right of disclosure to include incidents of animal abuse.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Police National Computer holds all relevant information for prosecutions made for animal cruelty offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Certain organisations, including non-police public bodies such as the Disclosure and Barring Service and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, have access to this information, where appropriate to fulfil their public function. This allows us to securely protect this important information from misuse, but also for it to be available for organisations with a justified need to access the information.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme covers all criminal convictions, and police forces may release information under their police common law powers relating to animal cruelty offences if they think this behaviour would pose a risk to the individual seeking the disclosure. We have committed to exploring the potential to expand the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme through the government's Violence Against Women and Girls strategy (VAWG) to other forms of VAWG.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department collects on (a) digital impersonation of children and (b) other forms of online crime.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office collects data on online crime recorded by the police in England and Wales, which is published as official statistics each quarter by the Office for National Statistics. It is not possible to separate out incidents of digital impersonation of children in data held centrally.

The latest information can be found in Table C5 of the Appendix tables to Crime in England and Wales at the link below:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables/yearendingseptember2025/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtablesyesep2025.xlsx

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support police forces in rural communities.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Our police reforms will end the postcode lottery of provision by setting central targets, increasing transparency so people can see how their force is performing, and taking robust action where forces are not performing.

With our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours.

Every rural area will be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 15 minutes in urban area or 20 minutes in rural areas.

We are ensuring forces have the tools and resources they need to deal with rural crime like equipment theft and livestock rustling. We are on track to deliver an additional 3,000 neighbourhood officers by March.

We are equipping those officers with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft and anti-social behaviour, and to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are finally implementing the Equipment Theft Act, which will make it harder to steal All-Terrain Vehicles and GPS units used in an agricultural setting and easier for the police to identify the owners when such items are recovered.

We are ensuring the police have the capability to pursue the organised criminal gangs behind some rural crime. This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000) to help them target organised crime groups stealing farm equipment and to disrupt networks exploiting endangered species in the UK and abroad.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the cost for providing potential redress to people who were arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation whose proscription was reversed; and clarify whether her department or individual police forces would be expected to cover any such costs.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, including determining whether an offence has been committed or not, is a matter for the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who are operationally independent of government.

Proscription decisions are not taken lightly. This Government will not shy away from taking decisions necessary to protect UK national security and keep the British public safe.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2025, to Question 70519, on Public Inquiries, what has been the total public cost to date of the Jalal Uddin Inquiry.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Jalal Uddin Inquiry reported on 10 July 2025, and it is now closed. The Inquiry's costs are £1,095,614.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a list of the companies her Department had contracts with between January 2025 - January 2026 to develop AI-powered tools that assist law enforcement in the recovery of the proceeds of crime.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provides funding, guidance and national support to encourage the responsible adoption of AI across policing, but procurement is undertaken directly by forces to meet local operational needs. This reflects the fact that operational decisions, including commercial arrangements for policing tools, are a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables and law enforcement agencies rather than Ministers.

As a result, the Home Office does not hold a central record of individual contracts or suppliers used by police forces or the National Crime Agency, including where AI services have been procured to support asset recovery or other law enforcement activity.

The Police Reform White Paper, published in January, set out the UK Government’s commitment to strengthen transparency around police use of AI. Through the establishment of the National Centre for AI in Policing and an investment of £115 million over the next 3 years, the UK Government will support the identification, testing and responsible scaling of AI technologies. As part of this the AI Centre will publish and maintain a public facing registry of the AI tools being deployed by police forces, alongside information on the steps taken to test and evaluate those tools prior to operational use, helping to build and maintain public confidence in policing’s use of AI.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the protest-related provisions in the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, how the Government will ensure that these powers are not used in a way that suppresses legitimate dissent; and what independent oversight and accountability mechanisms will be put in place to prevent disproportionate or discriminatory application.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy. It is a long‑standing tradition in the UK that people are free to gather and express their views, provided they do so within the law.

The Government is taking the Crime and Policing Bill through Parliament to equip the police with targeted powers to manage evolving protest tactics while safeguarding the right to lawful protest. All protest legislation has been developed in line with the UK’s obligations under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The use of these powers and the management of demonstrations are operational matters for the police.

The Government keeps all public order legislation under constant review and has also launched an independent review of public order and hate crime legislation, led by Lord Ken Macdonald of River Glaven KC. The review is underway and will report in spring 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil servants in their Department were found to have broken the Civil Service Code in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Civil Servants are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition and are expected to carry out their role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. As breaches of the Civil Service Code are not recorded separately these may be considered disciplinary matters. Therefore, please see table below for the number of formal cases taken against Home Office staff in 2024 and 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a security risk assessment for the use of Chinese drones by UK police.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what operating procedures exist to prevent (a) police and (b) non-police drones colliding with police helicopters.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of drones registered by the CAA are operated by the police.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of heating oil theft in West Dorset.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is introducing the most radical and comprehensive policing reforms in nearly 200 years. We will modernise policing in this country – equipping it to tackle more sophisticated, online, and cross-border crimes (like fuel theft, wildlife crime and organised equipment theft), while also restoring neighbourhood policing.

We are on track to hit 3,000 more neighbourhood officers in March – and our target remains 13k by the end of the parliament. With the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours. Every rural area will also be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 20 minutes in rural areas.

This financial year (FY25/26) we are providing £800,000 of funding to the National Rural Crime Unit and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, and we will be providing the same level of funding in 26/27. These capabilities play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime groups, which can pose unique challenges for policing in large and isolated rural areas.

The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a comparative assessment of the cost effectiveness of policing with (a) drones and (b) crewed helicopters.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued on the merits of drones versus police helicopters.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a breakdown of the value of assets recovered through confiscation, forfeiture and civil recovery orders between April 2025 - October 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The annual publication covering the assets recovered through different types of powers including confiscation, forfeiture and civil recovery orders for the financial year 2025/2026, including April 2025 - October 2025, has been pre-announced and will be released in September 2026.

The official statistical announcement can be found here: Asset recovery statistics: financial years ending 2020 to 2026 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a list of companies which provided AI services to Police Forces and the National Crime Agency between January 2025 - January 2026.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provides funding, guidance and national support to encourage the responsible adoption of AI across policing, but procurement is undertaken directly by forces to meet local operational needs. This reflects the fact that operational decisions, including commercial arrangements for policing tools, are a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables and law enforcement agencies rather than Ministers.

As a result, the Home Office does not hold a central record of individual contracts or suppliers used by police forces or the National Crime Agency, including where AI services have been procured to support asset recovery or other law enforcement activity.

The Police Reform White Paper, published in January, set out the UK Government’s commitment to strengthen transparency around police use of AI. Through the establishment of the National Centre for AI in Policing and an investment of £115 million over the next 3 years, the UK Government will support the identification, testing and responsible scaling of AI technologies. As part of this the AI Centre will publish and maintain a public facing registry of the AI tools being deployed by police forces, alongside information on the steps taken to test and evaluate those tools prior to operational use, helping to build and maintain public confidence in policing’s use of AI.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to police forces on tackling heating oil theft in rural areas such as West Dorset.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is introducing the most radical and comprehensive policing reforms in nearly 200 years. We will modernise policing in this country – equipping it to tackle more sophisticated, online, and cross-border crimes (like fuel theft, wildlife crime and organised equipment theft), while also restoring neighbourhood policing.

We are on track to hit 3,000 more neighbourhood officers in March – and our target remains 13k by the end of the parliament. With the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours. Every rural area will also be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 20 minutes in rural areas.

This financial year (FY25/26) we are providing £800,000 of funding to the National Rural Crime Unit and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, and we will be providing the same level of funding in 26/27. These capabilities play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime groups, which can pose unique challenges for policing in large and isolated rural areas.

The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent heating oil theft in rural communities in West Dorset.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is introducing the most radical and comprehensive policing reforms in nearly 200 years. We will modernise policing in this country – equipping it to tackle more sophisticated, online, and cross-border crimes (like fuel theft, wildlife crime and organised equipment theft), while also restoring neighbourhood policing.

We are on track to hit 3,000 more neighbourhood officers in March – and our target remains 13k by the end of the parliament. With the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours. Every rural area will also be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 20 minutes in rural areas.

This financial year (FY25/26) we are providing £800,000 of funding to the National Rural Crime Unit and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, and we will be providing the same level of funding in 26/27. These capabilities play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime groups, which can pose unique challenges for policing in large and isolated rural areas.

The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) training and (b) certification (i) police drone operators and (ii) drone operators in general are required to undertake.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police missions were carried out by (a) drone and (b) crewed aircraft in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual budget of the National Police Air Service was in each year for which records are available.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost was of the National Police Air Service Eurocopter programme.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what tasks crewed police helicopters can do that drones cannot.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office provided £10.6m to NPAS in FY2025/26. In addition, the Home Office has committed £34.5m to NPAS to support the replacement of 7 helicopters. For further information on annual grant information for NPAS, the Government via the Cabinet Office is committed to publish grant data on an annual basis for schemes and programmes that are funded by the Government, including the NPAS Capital Grant. This can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website under 'Government grant data and statistics'.

The procurement, operational deployment and recording of data on police use of drones and crewed aircraft are operational matters for police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public. The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of drones registered by the CAA.

The Home Office is currently funding and supporting the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Drones Programme, who were allocated £2.3m in FY2025/26. The programme is responsible for standardising and professionalising the use of drones across UK police forces. This includes developing a bespoke training and accreditation pathway for police drone operators as well as working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide the necessary oversight on the safety aspects of police drone operations.

Drones and helicopters are complimentary to one another, not interchangeable. Drones are valuable for close‑range, localised tasks, but may not always replace the speed, persistence, capacity and safety assurance of a helicopter. However, this is subject to ongoing research and analysis, continuously evolving as technology advances.

The Home Office is currently working with NPAS and the NPCC Drones Programme to assess, compare and evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of crewed and uncrewed technologies for operational policing and how this will support development of a future blended fleet model for police aviation, in line with the NPCC Aviation Strategy (2025-2035).

In addition, the Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes drones. The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones. In line with existing guidance, the NPCC Drones Programme is currently undertaking a review on the data and security risk implications associated with police use of drones.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of relaxing pub licensing hours in English pubs to also accommodate the World Cup football matches involving Scotland.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government recently announced plans to extend licensing hours on a national basis for the round of 32 and round of 16, quarter finals, semi-finals, bronze medal match and final of the FIFA World Cup 2026 for matches that involve any of the home nations, including Scotland, and kick off between 8pm and 10pm UK time. This will apply in both England and Wales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to sheet Ret_04 of the data release entitled 'Returns summary tables, year ending December 2025', updated on 26 February 2026, if she will publish a further breakdown of the nationalities currently grouped under "Other” for asylum-related returns in 2025.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

As you are aware, the Home Office publishes statistics on the number of returns from the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. The latest data on returns from the UK, by nationality and asylum and non-asylum is published in table Ret_04 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. The latest data goes up to the end of December 2025.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum-related returns there were in 2025 for people from (a) Bangladesh, (b) Afghanistan, (c) Iran and (d) Sri Lanka.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

As you are aware, the Home Office publishes statistics on the number of returns from the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. The latest data on returns from the UK, by nationality and asylum and non-asylum is published in table Ret_04 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. The latest data goes up to the end of December 2025.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2026 to question 121386, if she will list the asylum-related removals in 2025 by nationality.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. The latest data on asylum-related returns by return type and top 10 most common nationalities in 2025 can be found in table Ret_04 of the ‘Returns summary tables’.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what data they hold on (1) the number of applications for indefinite leave to remain made under Immigration Rules Appendix ECAA which are currently awaiting decision, and (2) the number of grants of indefinite leave to remain under that route in the most recent six-month period for which data are available.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Leave granted under the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) allows people, largely Turkish nationals, to work or establish businesses in the UK.

The Home Office does not publish information on ECAA applications awaiting decision.

The Home Office does not publish information specifically relating to grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain under the ECAA route.

However, from the immigration statistics published for the calendar year ending December 2025, it was noted that the published data on grants of Settlement under the Work Permit holder category largely relates to persons granted leave under the ECAA route. The published statistics for the year ending December 2025 show that there were 6,367 Settlement grants for Work Permit holders, an increase of 72% on the previous 12 months.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her department will publish its new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (AMLAR) strategy.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Following the completion of Economic Crime Plan 2, the Government will publish its new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (AMLAR) Strategy this summer. The strategy is being developed jointly by the Home Office, HM Treasury and in close partnership with the private sector, and will set out a series of ambitious measures to strengthen the UK’s response to money laundering and improve our approach to asset recovery.

The AMLAR Strategy will be published alongside the new Economic Crime Plan 2026–29, which will bring together the Government’s economic crime strategies in a single strategic framework and drive forward key cross‑cutting initiatives.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of AI chatbot systems to facilitate stalking and harassment; and what steps they are taking to ensure that existing online safety, data protection and criminal law frameworks remain effective in addressing harms arising from the misuse of those technologies.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government continues to take steps to protect the UK public from crimes linked to the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI). This includes when AI is used to aid or facilitate stalking and harassment.

The Online Safety Act already regulates many generative AI services. However, the Government acknowledges that gaps remain, leading to inconsistent coverage of certain AI chatbot services.

We are addressing these gaps as a matter of urgency through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill. Through a new delegated power, we will be able to bring currently unregulated AI chatbots into the scope of the Online Safety Act. This will ensure they are subject to requirements to protect users from illegal content and activity.

We are also taking action on so called ‘nudification’ tools, legislating through the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise the development and supply of tools for generating non-consensual intimate images.

Beyond these measures, we will continue to work closely with law enforcement to tackle the harms presented by AI. The National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP) continues to act as the subject matter expert on ongoing work relating to AI and VAWG in policing, to ensure that safeguarding is a core part of AI tools and models.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that the use of automated tools in asylum processes complies with data protection and equality legislation.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

An Equality Impact Assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessment were completed for both Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) and Asylum Policy Search (APS) before pilots commenced. An updated EIA for both ACS and APS is currently intended to be published after both tools have been operationalised.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Department intends to publish a DPIA for the APS and ACS tools after both have been operationalised. APS is now fully rolled out, while ACS is due to follow in April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will publish Data Protection Impact Assessments for the Asylum Casework Support and Asylum Policy Search tools.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

An Equality Impact Assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessment were completed for both Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) and Asylum Policy Search (APS) before pilots commenced. An updated EIA for both ACS and APS is currently intended to be published after both tools have been operationalised.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Department intends to publish a DPIA for the APS and ACS tools after both have been operationalised. APS is now fully rolled out, while ACS is due to follow in April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether an Equality Impact Assessment was conducted prior to the deployment of the ACS and APS tools.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

An Equality Impact Assessment and Data Protection Impact Assessment were completed for both Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) and Asylum Policy Search (APS) before pilots commenced. An updated EIA for both ACS and APS is currently intended to be published after both tools have been operationalised.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Department intends to publish a DPIA for the APS and ACS tools after both have been operationalised. APS is now fully rolled out, while ACS is due to follow in April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding announced under the Government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls will be provided directly to (a) local authorities and (b) Somerset Council to support delivery in areas such as Yeovil constituency.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. The cross-government VAWG Strategy, published on 18 December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver our unprecedented commitment to halve VAWG in a decade.

The Strategy is supported by at least £1 billion of government funding over the Spending Review period, alongside much wider investment across the whole of government. All commitments within the Strategy are fully funded and funding allocations will be announced by the departments leading individual policy measures in the normal way

In December 2025, the Home Office confirmed the continuation of funding for some of the current vital frontline support services to victims of VAWG, including improving the police response to VAWG and tackling the root causes of VAWG, ahead of anticipated future funding. Future funding will be dependent on the scope and eligibility criteria of the competitions. Further information about future opportunities for funding will be communicated openly, including on ‘Find Government Grants’ - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of funding announced under the Government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls is (a) new funding and (b) reallocated from existing budgets.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. The cross-government VAWG Strategy, published on 18 December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver our unprecedented commitment to halve VAWG in a decade.

The Strategy is supported by at least £1 billion of government funding over the Spending Review period, alongside much wider investment across the whole of government. All commitments within the Strategy are fully funded and funding allocations will be announced by the departments leading individual policy measures in the normal way

In December 2025, the Home Office confirmed the continuation of funding for some of the current vital frontline support services to victims of VAWG, including improving the police response to VAWG and tackling the root causes of VAWG, ahead of anticipated future funding. Future funding will be dependent on the scope and eligibility criteria of the competitions. Further information about future opportunities for funding will be communicated openly, including on ‘Find Government Grants’ - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed asylum and returns reforms on women.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Equality impacts will be considered for individual policies as they continue to be developed and will be kept under review to ensure there are no unintended impacts.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions Ministers or officials in her Department have had regarding the dispersal of asylum seekers or refugees in Grantham with i) South Kesteven District Council, ii) Lincolnshire County Council, iii) the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, iv) Lincolnshire Police, and v) other relevant local authorities.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

There are currently no refugees arriving via the UK's Safe and Legal Routes who are scheduled for resettlement in Grantham.

The Asylum Accommodation Plans are the mechanisms via which the Home Office works towards achieving Full Dispersal and thus a fair and balanced distribution of asylum accommodation across all local authorities nationally. The Asylum Accommodation Plans are underpinned by an indexing model which accounts for a multitude of pressures within local authorities, including availability of housing, levels of homelessness, availability of GP and dentists as well as levels of community cohesion. Development of the plans was informed by engagement with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders, to ensure that the evidence base was reflective of boarder local authority feedback.

Procurement and delivery of asylum accommodation, in line with the plans, is supported by regular engagement between the Home Office, accommodation providers, and local authority officials. Engagement is undertaken both via regular official forums jointly chaired by the Home Office and regional Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs), as well as via ad hoc meetings with individual local authorities where there is a need to discuss specific concerns and/or issues. I can confirm that there has been continued engagement between Home Office, South Kesteven and Lincolnshire officials, both via official forums as well as ad hoc meetings, not only in reference to the broader Asylum Accommodation Plans but also more specifically regarding Grantham.

Consultation with local authority officials forms a vital part of procurement of asylum accommodation; ensuring procurement of suitable accommodation that allows us to fulfil out statutory obligations whilst carefully considering any potential impacts on local areas. The Home Office and its accommodation providers operate a robust consultation process, which not only ensures that local authorities are aware of all ongoing procurement activity of Dispersed Accommodation in their respective areas, but also allows them to share local expertise and intelligence to inform procurement. This approach supports our commitment to ensuring that the provision of asylum accommodation is informed by local context and that any impacts on communities and services are minimised.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer provided to UIN 119503, on Asylum: Housing, which Asylum Accommodation Plan covers Dispersal Accommodation in Grantham.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

There are currently no refugees arriving via the UK's Safe and Legal Routes who are scheduled for resettlement in Grantham.

The Asylum Accommodation Plans are the mechanisms via which the Home Office works towards achieving Full Dispersal and thus a fair and balanced distribution of asylum accommodation across all local authorities nationally. The Asylum Accommodation Plans are underpinned by an indexing model which accounts for a multitude of pressures within local authorities, including availability of housing, levels of homelessness, availability of GP and dentists as well as levels of community cohesion. Development of the plans was informed by engagement with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders, to ensure that the evidence base was reflective of boarder local authority feedback.

Procurement and delivery of asylum accommodation, in line with the plans, is supported by regular engagement between the Home Office, accommodation providers, and local authority officials. Engagement is undertaken both via regular official forums jointly chaired by the Home Office and regional Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs), as well as via ad hoc meetings with individual local authorities where there is a need to discuss specific concerns and/or issues. I can confirm that there has been continued engagement between Home Office, South Kesteven and Lincolnshire officials, both via official forums as well as ad hoc meetings, not only in reference to the broader Asylum Accommodation Plans but also more specifically regarding Grantham.

Consultation with local authority officials forms a vital part of procurement of asylum accommodation; ensuring procurement of suitable accommodation that allows us to fulfil out statutory obligations whilst carefully considering any potential impacts on local areas. The Home Office and its accommodation providers operate a robust consultation process, which not only ensures that local authorities are aware of all ongoing procurement activity of Dispersed Accommodation in their respective areas, but also allows them to share local expertise and intelligence to inform procurement. This approach supports our commitment to ensuring that the provision of asylum accommodation is informed by local context and that any impacts on communities and services are minimised.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what allocation the Department has made for (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers that are to be dispersed in Grantham.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

There are currently no refugees arriving via the UK's Safe and Legal Routes who are scheduled for resettlement in Grantham.

The Asylum Accommodation Plans are the mechanisms via which the Home Office works towards achieving Full Dispersal and thus a fair and balanced distribution of asylum accommodation across all local authorities nationally. The Asylum Accommodation Plans are underpinned by an indexing model which accounts for a multitude of pressures within local authorities, including availability of housing, levels of homelessness, availability of GP and dentists as well as levels of community cohesion. Development of the plans was informed by engagement with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders, to ensure that the evidence base was reflective of boarder local authority feedback.

Procurement and delivery of asylum accommodation, in line with the plans, is supported by regular engagement between the Home Office, accommodation providers, and local authority officials. Engagement is undertaken both via regular official forums jointly chaired by the Home Office and regional Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs), as well as via ad hoc meetings with individual local authorities where there is a need to discuss specific concerns and/or issues. I can confirm that there has been continued engagement between Home Office, South Kesteven and Lincolnshire officials, both via official forums as well as ad hoc meetings, not only in reference to the broader Asylum Accommodation Plans but also more specifically regarding Grantham.

Consultation with local authority officials forms a vital part of procurement of asylum accommodation; ensuring procurement of suitable accommodation that allows us to fulfil out statutory obligations whilst carefully considering any potential impacts on local areas. The Home Office and its accommodation providers operate a robust consultation process, which not only ensures that local authorities are aware of all ongoing procurement activity of Dispersed Accommodation in their respective areas, but also allows them to share local expertise and intelligence to inform procurement. This approach supports our commitment to ensuring that the provision of asylum accommodation is informed by local context and that any impacts on communities and services are minimised.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Serco on the dispersal of asylum seekers or refugees in Grantham.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office maintains regular and ongoing engagement with all asylum accommodation providers, including Serco, to ensure contractual obligations are met and that accommodation is delivered in line with the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract (AASC).

These discussions take place on a frequent and sustained basis as part of routine operational oversight. Engagement focuses on performance, property standards, welfare provisions, and the quality of accommodation, ensuring services are delivered in accordance with Home Office guidance and statutory responsibilities.

While the Home Office and Serco work closely on these operational matters, decisions on the use of specific properties or locations - including in Grantham - are taken within the Home Office's statutory duty under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to ensure asylum seekers are not left destitute while their claims are processed. The Department retains overall responsibility for accommodation provision, with Serco delivering services and managing property portfolios in line with contract requirements.

We continue to work closely with local authorities, including those covering the Grantham area, to ensure dispersal is carried out fairly, responsibly, and with consideration of local capacity and public services.

In circumstances where concerns are raised by the local authority about proposed accommodation, these matters are considered through the Home Office's strengthened governance and oversight arrangements for asylum accommodation. Where agreement cannot be reached at a local level, issues may be escalated through internal decision‑making routes for further consideration, in line with the enhanced governance and contract‑management framework described in recent Home Office responses to parliamentary scrutiny.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 6 March (HL14995), what assessment they have made of the position set out in the Written Statement by the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on 7 March 2019 (HCWS1392) when considering whether the earned settlement proposals set out in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement (CP 1448), published 20 November 2025, should apply to individuals holding leave under Appendix European Communities Association Agreement.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are continuing to review and analyse the 200,000 responses received during the earned settlement consultation ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’ (CP 1448), which will help inform development of the final model, including consideration of any potential exemptions or transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.

Once that is decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many properties in i) South Kesteven and ii) Grantham will be utilised for the dispersal of asylum seekers.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

There are currently no refugees arriving via the UK's Safe and Legal Routes who are scheduled for resettlement in Grantham.

The Asylum Accommodation Plans are the mechanisms via which the Home Office works towards achieving Full Dispersal and thus a fair and balanced distribution of asylum accommodation across all local authorities nationally. The Asylum Accommodation Plans are underpinned by an indexing model which accounts for a multitude of pressures within local authorities, including availability of housing, levels of homelessness, availability of GP and dentists as well as levels of community cohesion. Development of the plans was informed by engagement with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders, to ensure that the evidence base was reflective of boarder local authority feedback.

Procurement and delivery of asylum accommodation, in line with the plans, is supported by regular engagement between the Home Office, accommodation providers, and local authority officials. Engagement is undertaken both via regular official forums jointly chaired by the Home Office and regional Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs), as well as via ad hoc meetings with individual local authorities where there is a need to discuss specific concerns and/or issues. I can confirm that there has been continued engagement between Home Office, South Kesteven and Lincolnshire officials, both via official forums as well as ad hoc meetings, not only in reference to the broader Asylum Accommodation Plans but also more specifically regarding Grantham.

Consultation with local authority officials forms a vital part of procurement of asylum accommodation; ensuring procurement of suitable accommodation that allows us to fulfil out statutory obligations whilst carefully considering any potential impacts on local areas. The Home Office and its accommodation providers operate a robust consultation process, which not only ensures that local authorities are aware of all ongoing procurement activity of Dispersed Accommodation in their respective areas, but also allows them to share local expertise and intelligence to inform procurement. This approach supports our commitment to ensuring that the provision of asylum accommodation is informed by local context and that any impacts on communities and services are minimised.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to use Prince William of Gloucester Barracks to accommodate asylum seekers or other irregular migrants.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Home Office officials keep the asylum accommodation estate under continual review.

As part of this estate management, operational adjustments are made on an ongoing basis to ensure sufficient and suitable capacity is maintained to meet expected levels of demand.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to to tackle county lines gangs targeting children to act as drug runners.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government is committed to halving knife crime and tackling violent and exploitative county lines gangs is crucial to achieving this. That is why we are investing more than £34 million in 26/27 in the County Lines Programme, to pursue violent line holders and safeguard children and vulnerable people.

The success and impact of the County Lines Programme is clear. Since July 2024, the Programme has resulted in more than 3,000 deal lines closed, 8,200 arrests, (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,600 deal line holders), 4,300 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 900 knives seized. More than 620 children and young people have also received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service in the same period.

Independent evaluation of the Programme has shown it is having a significant impact, reducing hospitalisations due to knife stabbings by 25% and drug misuse hospitalisations by 29% in the Programme taskforce areas. The latest Strategic Assessment by the National County Lines Coordination Centre also shows that the number of children involved in county lines has reduced by 17% since 22/23.

As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we have also introduced a new offence of criminal exploitation of children in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime. As part of this legislation, we are delivering new civil preventative orders to disrupt and prevent child criminal exploitation from occurring or re-occurring.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish information held by the Disclosure and Barring Service on DBS checks issued in the most recent year by (a) sector, (b) occupation and (c) Standard Industrial Classification.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is operationally independent and therefore responsible for the information it publishes.

The organisation currently publishes performance against its targets at DBS dataset 1: DBS checks, the DBS Update Service, and disputes - GOV.UK.

It does not publish information about the sector, occupation, or Standard Industrial Classification in relation to its checks.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to ensure that relevant local stakeholders, including i) local authorities, ii) local police forces, and iii) other relevant authorities, have access to information on asylum seekers, refugees, irregular migrants including but not limited to name and date of birth, gender, nationality, criminal record, health record, and previous residential history.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

An updated protocol has been produced, with support from police representatives and was shared in mid-October 2025.

For Asylum Accommodation, the agreement now includes Home Office data sharing commitments between NPCC and HO Asylum Support. A summary is highlighted below:

• In accordance with provisions of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, any request by police for sharing of personal data relating to current occupants of asylum accommodation premises must have a lawful basis and be necessary and proportionate to the proposed use of data.
• Enquiries or requests from police for one-off or small-scale data or information regarding personal details of individual service users, or occupants of individual properties should be directed to, and met by, the Home Office’s accommodation providers in the first instance.
• Where police forces encounter a concern with a Home Office accommodation provider’s service, compliance or reasonable timeliness of response to data requests, concerns can be escalated to the appropriate Home Office Service Delivery Team.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 121206 on Police: Vehicles, what guidance has been provided to Chief Constables by the NPCC on understanding and effectively managing risks from connected vehicles.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government prioritises national security and does not routinely provide details on operational matters or specific threats.

The Home Office works closely with the National Technical Authorities, Police Digital Service, National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), alongside other Government Departments, to fully understand and address cyber vulnerabilities, proportional to the threat.

Guidance provided covered proportionate risk-based measures on the in-life management, data handling, and disposal of Connected Vehicles. We will continue to work with partners to ensure the guidance remains up to date and that forces follow guidance appropriately.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she provide a breakdown of the value of the assets recovered from the five Unexplained Wealth Orders that were obtained in 2024-2025.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Of the five unexplained wealth orders reported in the 2024-2025 annual report, two have so far resulted in asset recovery outcomes.

In one case, following an order obtained by the Serious Fraud Office, a property identified in the order was sold for £1.1 million.

In a separate case, the National Crime Agency reached a settlement with the defendant, Binghai Su, which is expected to result in the recovery of around £20 million once forfeited assets are sold.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the APS tool is used to (a) generate and (b) inform casework decisions; and what human oversight mechanisms are applied.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Asylum Policy Search tool (APS) tool is an artificial intelligence (AI) search assistant. It is a chat-based interface which finds and summarises Country Policy Information Notes (CPIN) directly relevant to the inputted query, to provide the policy basis for decisions.

In line with the ‘human in the loop’ principle, APS was designed so that decision-makers cannot use the tool by itself to decide a claim. AI technology does not make decisions on Asylum applications; instead, it will help Asylum Decision Makers analyse data and provide insightful information that further informs outcomes.

The Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) tool uses AI to summarise asylum interview transcripts. The tool uses a Large Language Model to extract and summarise information from existing asylum interview transcript documents to provide decision-makers with a concise summary document. In line with the ‘human in the loop’ principle, ACS has been designed so that decision-makers cannot use the tool by itself to decide a claim. Instead, it acts as an aid in the usual decision-making process.

After APS was operationalised, a specific inbox was set up for Decision Makers to feed back any issues found with the tool. Subject Matter Expert (SME) testing continues after operationalisation, in conjunction with the CPIT (Country Policy & Information Team), for APS.

Whilst there is no standard operating procedure in place on the use of APS, all members of the Department were required to complete a mandatory ‘AI for all’ learning package in 2025. Furthermore, caseworkers were given comprehensive training on the use of APS before it was operationalised.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Department intends to publish a DPIA for the APS and ACS tools after both have been operationalised. APS is now fully rolled out, while ACS is due to follow in April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role the ACS and APS tools play in asylum decision-making processes; and what safeguards are in place to ensure equitable decisions.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Asylum Policy Search tool (APS) tool is an artificial intelligence (AI) search assistant. It is a chat-based interface which finds and summarises Country Policy Information Notes (CPIN) directly relevant to the inputted query, to provide the policy basis for decisions.

In line with the ‘human in the loop’ principle, APS was designed so that decision-makers cannot use the tool by itself to decide a claim. AI technology does not make decisions on Asylum applications; instead, it will help Asylum Decision Makers analyse data and provide insightful information that further informs outcomes.

The Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) tool uses AI to summarise asylum interview transcripts. The tool uses a Large Language Model to extract and summarise information from existing asylum interview transcript documents to provide decision-makers with a concise summary document. In line with the ‘human in the loop’ principle, ACS has been designed so that decision-makers cannot use the tool by itself to decide a claim. Instead, it acts as an aid in the usual decision-making process.

After APS was operationalised, a specific inbox was set up for Decision Makers to feed back any issues found with the tool. Subject Matter Expert (SME) testing continues after operationalisation, in conjunction with the CPIT (Country Policy & Information Team), for APS.

Whilst there is no standard operating procedure in place on the use of APS, all members of the Department were required to complete a mandatory ‘AI for all’ learning package in 2025. Furthermore, caseworkers were given comprehensive training on the use of APS before it was operationalised.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Department intends to publish a DPIA for the APS and ACS tools after both have been operationalised. APS is now fully rolled out, while ACS is due to follow in April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued (a) standard operating procedures and (b) internal guidance to caseworkers on the use of the ACS and APS tools.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Asylum Policy Search tool (APS) tool is an artificial intelligence (AI) search assistant. It is a chat-based interface which finds and summarises Country Policy Information Notes (CPIN) directly relevant to the inputted query, to provide the policy basis for decisions.

In line with the ‘human in the loop’ principle, APS was designed so that decision-makers cannot use the tool by itself to decide a claim. AI technology does not make decisions on Asylum applications; instead, it will help Asylum Decision Makers analyse data and provide insightful information that further informs outcomes.

The Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) tool uses AI to summarise asylum interview transcripts. The tool uses a Large Language Model to extract and summarise information from existing asylum interview transcript documents to provide decision-makers with a concise summary document. In line with the ‘human in the loop’ principle, ACS has been designed so that decision-makers cannot use the tool by itself to decide a claim. Instead, it acts as an aid in the usual decision-making process.

After APS was operationalised, a specific inbox was set up for Decision Makers to feed back any issues found with the tool. Subject Matter Expert (SME) testing continues after operationalisation, in conjunction with the CPIT (Country Policy & Information Team), for APS.

Whilst there is no standard operating procedure in place on the use of APS, all members of the Department were required to complete a mandatory ‘AI for all’ learning package in 2025. Furthermore, caseworkers were given comprehensive training on the use of APS before it was operationalised.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Department intends to publish a DPIA for the APS and ACS tools after both have been operationalised. APS is now fully rolled out, while ACS is due to follow in April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what if any, review process is available to Sudanese students currently holding UK university offers following the recent policy changes which impact their ability to obtain visas.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The decision to introduce a visa brake on the Student visa route for Sudan and three other nationalities was based on data-driven migration and border security considerations. There are no plans to provide exceptions for prospective students in scope of the brake.

By providing 21 days’ notice ahead of the implementation of the visa brake, any prospective Sudanese student who held an offer of study from a licenced student sponsor and a valid Confirmation of Acceptance of Study (CAS), was able to apply for a Student visa as normal ahead of implementation on 26 March.

Found: Lord Hanson of Flint Minister of State 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF www.gov.uk/home-office

Found: 7219 6083 hleuroaffairs@parliament.uk The Rt Hon the Lord Hanson of Flint Minister of State, Home Office

Found: PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Home Office should set out the arrangements

Found: PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Home Office should set out the arrangements

Found: PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Home Office should set out the arrangements

Found: PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Home Office should set out the arrangements

Found: PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Home Office should set out the arrangements

Found: PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Home Office should set out the arrangements

Found: We did the CADA evaluation, which was Home Office-funded and is not published yet.

Found: First, we have MHCLG’s devolution agenda, the arrival of elected mayors and the moves in the Home Office

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress the Government has made on strengthening the operation, consistency and availability of Out‑of‑Court Disposals, further to the recommendations on OOCDs set out by Sir Brian Leveson in Part 1 of his Review of Efficiency in Criminal Proceedings; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the analysis that a more effective OOCD framework could improve outcomes for racialised communities.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government is committed to improving early intervention and proportionality in the justice system, and Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts has been an important part of shaping that direction.

The Independent Review highlights the significant potential of Out of Court Resolutions to secure better outcomes by addressing the underlying causes of crime before offending can escalate. This subsequently benefits the community as it reduces the risk of reoffending, preventing future crime, and delivers quicker justice for victims.

We are working with the Home Office as we consider the best options for strengthening the use of Out of Court Resolutions and will respond to the recommendations in the Review in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what sentences have been imposed to date on ISIS members convicted in the UK; how many of those convicted are still serving their sentences and what steps they have taken to ensure that ISIS members convicted in the UK do not pose any continuing threat to their victims or society.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions across England and Wales for a wide range of offences in the Outcomes by Offences data tool available at: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK.

However, data centrally held does not contain information on specific terrorist organisation affiliation.

Data published by the Home Office in relation to the operation of police powers under TACT 2000, shows that, as of 31 December 2025, there were 267 prisoners in custody for terrorism or terrorism‑connected offences in England and Wales. Of these, 58% (155) were assessed as holding an Islamist ideology, 29% (77) an Extreme Right‑Wing ideology, and 13% (35) were categorised as holding other ideologies.

The Government takes robust action to manage the risks posed by terrorist offenders. In custody, the most dangerous and influential radicalisers can be held in Separation Centres, away from the mainstream prison population, while Close Supervision Centres are used to manage the most physically violent prisoners. Upon release, terrorists are subject to strict licence conditions which severely limit their activity. These can include extended periods of electronic monitoring, accommodation in Approved Premises and polygraph testing. HMPPS, Counter Terrorism Policing and the Security Service work jointly to manage the risk of terrorism-related releases.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish auditable cost records for Afghan resettlement schemes.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Afghan resettlement is a cross-Government effort, with costs incurred by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and other Government departments including the Home Office, Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

On 18 March 2026, the NAO published a report which detailed the costs of the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP) in response to the Department’s provision of information on MOD spending to the NAO. Part Three of this report sets out funding for the schemes, the costs incurred to date, and expected future costs. This report can be accessed via the link below:

https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/investigation-into-the-afghan-resettlement-schemes.pdf

The report lays out that, since 2021, His Majesty’s Government (HMG) has spent £3.1 billion on the ARP. HMG estimates a total cost of £5.5-6 billion on Afghan resettlement activity throughout the life of the programme. This figure is kept under review using the latest data available.

The MOD and its cross-Government partners will continue to update Parliament including the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee in line with usual processes throughout the course of the ARP.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a national standard or equivalent for defibrillator provision in emergency vehicles; and if so, whether they will publish that standard.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.

The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Defibrillators that all emergency service vehicles, including newly acquired emergency vehicles, be legally required to carry defibrillators.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.

The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given, if any, to centralised procurement arrangements to equip emergency vehicle fleets with defibrillators at scale.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.

The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Levitt on 2 March (HL Dec col 1066), what milestones they have established for the joint departmental team tasked with developing the delivery plan for online and offline pornography parity to ensure that the plan is published within six months of the Crime and Policing Bill receiving Royal Assent.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government recognises that there is a clear and urgent need for greater parity between the treatment of harmful pornography online and offline. Following Baroness Bertin’s independent review, a joint team, formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice, and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, will examine the evidence to inform the Government’s approach to pornography policy, including consideration of how best to achieve parity between online and offline pornography. This evidence will include the effectiveness of existing regulatory regimes, such as the on-demand programme services regulatory framework. The Government has committed to publishing a delivery plan within six months of the Crime and Policing Bill receiving Royal Assent, and further information regarding the delivery plan will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Levitt on 2 March (HL Deb col 1066), what assessment they have made of the existing regulatory framework for on-demand programme services as a model to deliver regulatory parity between online and offline pornography.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government recognises that there is a clear and urgent need for greater parity between the treatment of harmful pornography online and offline. Following Baroness Bertin’s independent review, a joint team, formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice, and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, will examine the evidence to inform the Government’s approach to pornography policy, including consideration of how best to achieve parity between online and offline pornography. This evidence will include the effectiveness of existing regulatory regimes, such as the on-demand programme services regulatory framework. The Government has committed to publishing a delivery plan within six months of the Crime and Policing Bill receiving Royal Assent, and further information regarding the delivery plan will be set out in due course.

Found: Policing reform On 26 January 2026, the Home Office published a white paper, From local to national

Found: Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint estimated that around 350 people would be affected by the

The UK suspended Sudanese study visas citing a surge in asylum claims. However, we believe most students are genuine and law-abiding. We think this blanket ban denies education, punishes lawful students, and disrupts futures. Parliament must reinstate visas and protect students’ right to study.

Found: The Home Office imposed a visa brake after student asylum claims surged 470% between 2021 2025.

To stop the tax payers from funding money for illegal migrants deportation.
No money should be paid to intice illegal migrants to leave.
This country should not help fund any migration for illegal migrants.
If we do not give them any money or housing they will leave.
This country is skint

Found: Stop the home office giving illegal migrant familys £40,000 from tax payers

We demand the reversal of the ban on Myanmar student visas, as it is discriminatory and unnecessary. Instead, we support changes to the asylum system, or even a ban on asylum applications from Myanmar students, rather than a blanket ban that disproportionately affects all Myanmar students.

Found: The Home Office claims this is due to a sixteen fold increase in asylum applications from Myanmar students

Found: office Jobs Prevent Work in progress Scheduled: Autumn 2026 Departments: Home Office

Found: Secretary of the Home Office Principal Accounting Officer Home Office Home Office Civil Service 205000

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Found: OfficeCivil Service180000 - 184999RomeoDame AntoniaPermanent Secretary/CEOPermanent Secretary of the Home Office

Found: This was again provided initially on a 50:50 basis by the Home Office and DBT, but latterly mainly by

Found: FCDO and Home Office officials are coordinating to ensure that the necessary updates to UK legislation

Found: Policy name: Foreign nationals in prison, Home Office referrals, repatriation, immigration, deportation

Found: from instructions on notifying embassies on reception, referring newly sentenced prisoners to the Home Office

Found: FWA enforces these criminal offences on behalf of the Home Office (in Great Britain) and the Department

Found: Secretary of State for Justice in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office

Found: acronyms have been used for providers: FCDO = “Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office”, HO = “Home Office

Found: 4351.16171499398 0.308983583057069 3733.66229873395 0.286403522384288 -617.499416260034 -0.141915988581198 Home Office

Found: departments and enforcement bodies: Department of Business and Trade (DBT), HM Revenue& Customs (HMRC), Home Office

Found: are: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Home Office

Found: them. 7 • Refer victims into the NRM (in England and Wales this includes notifying the Home Office

Found:

Found:

Found: Whilst we are not part of the remit of this initial review, I am engaging with the Home Office and

Found: This was again provided initially on a 50:50 basis by the Home Office and DBT, but latterly mainly by

Found: Page 1 of 40 Published for Home Office staff on 18 December 2025

Found: , Enforcement and Detention General Instructions Page 1 of 34 Published for Home Office

Found: Page 1 of 21 Published for Home Office staff on 03 May 2022

Found: Page 1 of 10 Published for Home Office staff on 24 February 2025

Found: Enforcement and Detention General Instructions Page 1 of 35 Published for Home Office

Found: Page 1 of 38 Published for Home Office staff on 11 November 2020

Found: Page 1 of 34 Published for Home Office staff on 10 May 2024 Safeguarding

Found: Page 1 of 12 Published for Home Office staff on 02 April 2025

Found: Returns, Enforcement and Detention General Instructions Page 1 of 35 Published for Home Office

Found: Immigration returns, enforcement and detention Page 1 of 14 Published for Home Office

Found: instructions Removals, enforcement and detention Page 1 of 13 Published for Home Office

Found: Page 1 of 13 Published for Home Office staff on 08 August 2019

Found: Page 1 of 11 Published for Home Office staff on 15 December 2025 Offence

Found: Page 1 of 41 Published for Home Office staff on 25 April 2025 Search

Found: Page 1 of 37 Published for Home Office staff on 5 November 2025 Warrants

Found: All employees are expected to comply with Home Office values and the Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination

Found: Page 1 of 36 Published for Home Office staff on 24 February 2025

Found: Page 1 of 25 Published for Home Office staff on 15 July 2024

Found: Page 1 of 14 Published for Home Office staff on 18 December 2025

Found: Page 1 of 9 Published for Home Office staff on 02 February 2026 Advertising

Found: Enforcement and Detention General Instructions Page 1 of 24 Published for Home Office

Found: Page 1 of 61 Published for Home Office staff on 13 April 2026 Enforcement

Found: Page 1 of 61 Published for Home Office staff on 11 November 2025 Marriage

Found: IE works to achieve the overarching Home Office priorities of controlling immigration, reducing and

Found: Enforcement and Detention General Instructions Page 1 of 30 Published for Home Office

Found: Returns, Enforcement and Detention General Instructions Page 1 of 34 Published for Home Office

Found: instructions Immigration Removals Enforcement and Detention Page 1 of 24 Published for Home Office

Found: Page 1 of 6 Published for Home Office staff on 10 April 2026 Implementing

Found: removed as it is restricted for internal Home Office use.

Found: Policy name: Foreign nationals in prison, Home Office referrals, repatriation, immigration, deportation

Found: from instructions on notifying embassies on reception, referring newly sentenced prisoners to the Home Office

Found: Immigration Officers, Entry Clearance Officers and all staff of the Home Office will carry out their

Found: FWA enforces these criminal offences on behalf of the Home Office (in Great Britain) and the Department

Found: Throughout you have approached the role with real vigour, creating momentum for the Home Office to examine

Found: another on tackling online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) content commissioned by the Home Office

Found: In the event that the individual has been found by the Home Office, relevant local authority and/or

Found: them. 7 • Refer victims into the NRM (in England and Wales this includes notifying the Home Office

Found: departments and enforcement bodies: Department of Business and Trade (DBT), HM Revenue& Customs (HMRC), Home Office

Found: In March 2016, the Home Office published its Modern Crime Reduction Strategy.