Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of British citizens who have been registered under the European Travel Information and Authorisation System at (a) airports and (b) the Port of Dover.

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

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System is not due to launch until late 2026.

Information on the number of travellers registered by the European Entry/Exit System is not recorded by the Home Office as it is a matter for the European Commission and French authorities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the decision on whether to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodate asylum seekers will be taken; by whom the decision will be taken; and what is is the mechanism for taking that decision.

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

It remains our intention to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodateasylum seekers, subject to the outcome of feasibility assessments. We areconfident that the level of due diligence carried out on alternativeaccommodation sites has improved, and we ensure that the relevantapprovals and assessments take place at the appropriate stage.The Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners for Crowborough,including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and will work withlocal authority and cross-government media teams to ensure ongoingcoordination and alignment to deliver consistent messaging and rapidresponse to emerging issues. Multi- Agency Forums chaired by Home Officewith key delivery partners will take place at least fortnightly pre-delivery, aswell as post go-live and we are working closely with key stakeholdersincluding local health partners to minimise the impact on the local community.Regarding Community and Equality Impact Assessments, assessments willbe carried out as part of the standard process for alternative sites and will bepublished as appropriate

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how local residents will be formally consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodate asylum seekers.

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

It remains our intention to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodateasylum seekers, subject to the outcome of feasibility assessments. We areconfident that the level of due diligence carried out on alternativeaccommodation sites has improved, and we ensure that the relevantapprovals and assessments take place at the appropriate stage.The Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners for Crowborough,including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and will work withlocal authority and cross-government media teams to ensure ongoingcoordination and alignment to deliver consistent messaging and rapidresponse to emerging issues. Multi- Agency Forums chaired by Home Officewith key delivery partners will take place at least fortnightly pre-delivery, aswell as post go-live and we are working closely with key stakeholdersincluding local health partners to minimise the impact on the local community.Regarding Community and Equality Impact Assessments, assessments willbe carried out as part of the standard process for alternative sites and will bepublished as appropriate

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department has allocated to Wealden District Council for each asylum seeker.

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

We are working closely with key stakeholders including local health partnersto minimise the impact on the local community. Total costs will be included inthe Departments Annual Report and Accounts in the normal way.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consult (a) Wealden District Council, (b) other affected local councils and (c) statutory service providers prior to a decision being taken on whether to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodate asylum seekers.

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

It remains our intention to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodateasylum seekers, subject to the outcome of feasibility assessments. We areconfident that the level of due diligence carried out on alternativeaccommodation sites has improved, and we ensure that the relevantapprovals and assessments take place at the appropriate stage.The Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners for Crowborough,including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and will work withlocal authority and cross-government media teams to ensure ongoingcoordination and alignment to deliver consistent messaging and rapidresponse to emerging issues. Multi- Agency Forums chaired by Home Officewith key delivery partners will take place at least fortnightly pre-delivery, aswell as post go-live and we are working closely with key stakeholdersincluding local health partners to minimise the impact on the local community.Regarding Community and Equality Impact Assessments, assessments willbe carried out as part of the standard process for alternative sites and will bepublished as appropriate

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the Drugs, Alcohol & Justice APPG entitled Action on Alcohol Harm – Priorities for Policymakers, published on 10 July 2025.

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

The Home Office has noted the publication of the Drugs, Alcohol & Justice APPG report and with the Department for Health and Social Care will consider its findings. We are aware of the role alcohol can play in criminal behaviour and are working across Government to address alcohol related crime when it happens and to prevent it from happening in the first place.

To support better outcomes for people experiencing harmful and dependent drinking, the government will shortly publish the first ever UK clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment. In 2025/26, in addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department of Health and Social Care is providing a total of £310 million in targeted grants to improve drug and alcohol treatment services and recovery support, including housing, employment and inpatient detoxification. In ‘Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England’ commits to continued expansion of Individual Placement and Support schemes for people with alcohol addiction to find good work.

The government is also progressing plans to introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will implement safeguards to tackle crimes being reported online to open-source AI services.

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

The Government has already taken steps to tackle crimes linked to the misuse of artificial intelligence, including open-source models, through the illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act (2023) and criminal measures to target the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images in the Data (Use and Access) Act (2025).

The Home Department has also tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to introduce a statutory defence for AI testers working to ensure that AI models do not create child sexual abuse material, non-consensual intimate imagery or extreme pornography when prompted. This defence will help the AI industry to test their models robustly and implement safeguards to ensure that their models cannot be used to create this appalling material.

Presently, there is no national online capability for online crime reporting to open-source AI models. Details of a crime submitted to an open-source AI model would not be submitted to the police. Members of the public who wish to report a crime online must access their local force website and submit details into an online form contained within. Some local forces use AI chatbots as an initial contact channel for the public, however, should details of a crime be submitted, the user will be directed to the local online crime reporting page.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance to police forces on the use of stop and search for weapons at hotels housing asylum seekers.

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

Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) governs the use of stop and search powers. Guidance on the use of stop and search is also issued to forces by the College of Policing in its Authorised Professional Practice.

The Home Office has issued no guidance to police forces specifically relating to the use of stop and search at hotels asylum seekers. Decisions on the deployment of stop and search powers are for chief constables and their officers, who have the appropriate operational expertise.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Police Chiefs Council guidance on releasing to the press the ethnicity and nationality of suspects for serious offences.

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

On Wednesday 5 November the College of Policing launched their public consultation of the Media and Communications Authorised Professional Practice (APP), formerly the Media Relations APP.This guidance advises police forces on the information that they provide to the media and the public, particularly with regards to high profile cases.

Earlier this year the College published interim guidance for police forces on the disclosure of suspects’ ethnicity and nationality in serious cases. This interim guidance is included in the new draft guidance for consultation. The public are invited to share their views on this updated guidance as part of this consultation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many residential burglaries were recorded in England and Wales in each year since 2015; how many of those resulted in an (a) charge or (b) summons.

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

The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on the offences and investigative outcomes recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis, including burglary, which can be accessed here:

Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) charge and (b) clear-up rate for residential burglaries was by police force area in the most recent year for which data is available.

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

The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on the offences and investigative outcomes recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis, including burglary, which can be accessed here:

Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) charge, (b) summons and (c) clear-up rate was for residential burglaries in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.

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

The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on the offences and investigative outcomes recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis, including burglary, which can be accessed here:

Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking with (a) retailers and (b) police forces to tackle organised shoplifting.

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

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level. We will not stand for this.

We are ensuring the right powers are in place. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are bringing in a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.

Additionally, we are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team – in partnership with the retail sector - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.

Tackling retail crime requires a partnership approach between policing representatives and business. The previous Minister for Crime and Policing launched the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy’, which was jointly developed by the police and industry and aims to provide a collaborative and evidence-based approach to preventing retail crime, including organised shop theft.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officers dismissed from the National Crime Agency have subsequently joined police forces in the UK since 2017.

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

Recruitment is managed locally by individual police forces, following national guidelines and the application, assessment, and selection framework set by the College of Policing.

The police barred list came into force on 15 December 2017 and contains the details of any police officer, special constable or member of police staff who has been dismissed from policing from misconduct or performance. Inclusion on the barred list is automatic at the point of dismissal and acts as a bar to joining police forces and other policing bodies.

The Government is strengthening this position and protecting wider law enforcement through the Crime and Policing Bill, with new barred lists for the National Crime Agency, as well as for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police. This legislation will ensure that those dismissed from the NCA are prevented from re-entering policing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on democratic accountability of abolishing Police and Crime Commissioners.

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

The Government is committed to transferring police governance functions to mayors, or to Policing and Crime Boards consisting of locally elected leaders where it is not possible to do so by 2028.

Moving police governance functions to locally elected leaders will bring better outcomes for the public and policing. They sit across a range of different public services and budgets and are better positioned to promote collaboration across services and drive a holistic approach to crime prevention.

Policing and Crime Boards will have a democratic mandate as they will be made up of locally elected leaders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many enforcement test purchases have taken place for underage knife sales in England (a) in person at premises and (b) online in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold data by year since 2015 of the number of test purchases online and at premises by trading standards undertaken for underage knife sales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employment tribunal claims relating to unfair dismissal have been lodged against her Department in the last 12 months.

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

The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the annual cost to the public purse of the Prime Minister’s official cars provided by the Metropolitan Police.

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

This is a matter of national security and therefore we cannot comment.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) offences, (b) cautions and (c) prosecutions have been recorded for civilian possession of (i) pepper spray, (ii) PAVA and (iii) other incapacitant substances under the Firearms Act 1968 in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold any data on the number or proportion of police officers in England and Wales that were authorised to carry Conducted Energy Devices or PAVA. However, to ensure transparency and accountability around police use of force, Home Office publishes annual statistics on police use of force.

The published data includes official statistics in development on the number of use of force reports that recorded that a Conducted Energy Device (Taser) was readily available for use during the incident. It is important to note that this data will only account for where a Taser was carried by an officer during a use of force incident and will not account for all instances in which police were deployed with Taser. The latest available data can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-use-of-force-statistics

This publication also includes information on the number of times a Taser was recorded as a tactic (both discharge and non-discharge uses). Data are available by calendar year for 2015 and 2016 and by financial year from the year ending 31 March 2018. The latest available data can be accessed at the link above.

Decisions around the number of Taser trained officers within a police force are operational decisions for Chief Officers to determine in line with their assessment of threat and risk.

The Home Office collects information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded under a broad category of ‘possessing or distributing prohibited weapons designed for discharge of noxious substances etc.’. However, it is not possible to separate identify possession offences and the type of substance related to these offences.

Table: the number of offences, charge/summons and cautions for the offence ‘Possessing Or Distributing Prohibited Weapons Designed For Discharge Of Noxious Liquid’, 2015/16 to the year ending June 2025, England and Wales (excluding Humberside police).

Note – figures are for England and Wales, excluding Humberside police who were unable to provide figures to the Home Office Data Hub for this period.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers (a) carried and (b) deployed a taser in each year since 2015; and if she will publish the latest aggregated dataset.

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

The Home Office does not hold any data on the number or proportion of police officers in England and Wales that were authorised to carry Conducted Energy Devices or PAVA. However, to ensure transparency and accountability around police use of force, Home Office publishes annual statistics on police use of force.

The published data includes official statistics in development on the number of use of force reports that recorded that a Conducted Energy Device (Taser) was readily available for use during the incident. It is important to note that this data will only account for where a Taser was carried by an officer during a use of force incident and will not account for all instances in which police were deployed with Taser. The latest available data can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-use-of-force-statistics

This publication also includes information on the number of times a Taser was recorded as a tactic (both discharge and non-discharge uses). Data are available by calendar year for 2015 and 2016 and by financial year from the year ending 31 March 2018. The latest available data can be accessed at the link above.

Decisions around the number of Taser trained officers within a police force are operational decisions for Chief Officers to determine in line with their assessment of threat and risk.

The Home Office collects information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded under a broad category of ‘possessing or distributing prohibited weapons designed for discharge of noxious substances etc.’. However, it is not possible to separate identify possession offences and the type of substance related to these offences.

Table: the number of offences, charge/summons and cautions for the offence ‘Possessing Or Distributing Prohibited Weapons Designed For Discharge Of Noxious Liquid’, 2015/16 to the year ending June 2025, England and Wales (excluding Humberside police).

Note – figures are for England and Wales, excluding Humberside police who were unable to provide figures to the Home Office Data Hub for this period.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police officers in England and Wales were authorised to carry Conducted Energy Devices in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold any data on the number or proportion of police officers in England and Wales that were authorised to carry Conducted Energy Devices or PAVA. However, to ensure transparency and accountability around police use of force, Home Office publishes annual statistics on police use of force.

The published data includes official statistics in development on the number of use of force reports that recorded that a Conducted Energy Device (Taser) was readily available for use during the incident. It is important to note that this data will only account for where a Taser was carried by an officer during a use of force incident and will not account for all instances in which police were deployed with Taser. The latest available data can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-use-of-force-statistics

This publication also includes information on the number of times a Taser was recorded as a tactic (both discharge and non-discharge uses). Data are available by calendar year for 2015 and 2016 and by financial year from the year ending 31 March 2018. The latest available data can be accessed at the link above.

Decisions around the number of Taser trained officers within a police force are operational decisions for Chief Officers to determine in line with their assessment of threat and risk.

The Home Office collects information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded under a broad category of ‘possessing or distributing prohibited weapons designed for discharge of noxious substances etc.’. However, it is not possible to separate identify possession offences and the type of substance related to these offences.

Table: the number of offences, charge/summons and cautions for the offence ‘Possessing Or Distributing Prohibited Weapons Designed For Discharge Of Noxious Liquid’, 2015/16 to the year ending June 2025, England and Wales (excluding Humberside police).

Note – figures are for England and Wales, excluding Humberside police who were unable to provide figures to the Home Office Data Hub for this period.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will regularly publish a single national table showing annual totals for (a) officers authorised to carry tasers, (b) officers authorised to carry PAVA/CS, (c) officers carrying or deploying Tasers and (d) civilian prosecutions for possession of incapacitant sprays.

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

The Home Office does not hold any data on the number or proportion of police officers in England and Wales that were authorised to carry Conducted Energy Devices or PAVA. However, to ensure transparency and accountability around police use of force, Home Office publishes annual statistics on police use of force.

The published data includes official statistics in development on the number of use of force reports that recorded that a Conducted Energy Device (Taser) was readily available for use during the incident. It is important to note that this data will only account for where a Taser was carried by an officer during a use of force incident and will not account for all instances in which police were deployed with Taser. The latest available data can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-use-of-force-statistics

This publication also includes information on the number of times a Taser was recorded as a tactic (both discharge and non-discharge uses). Data are available by calendar year for 2015 and 2016 and by financial year from the year ending 31 March 2018. The latest available data can be accessed at the link above.

Decisions around the number of Taser trained officers within a police force are operational decisions for Chief Officers to determine in line with their assessment of threat and risk.

The Home Office collects information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded under a broad category of ‘possessing or distributing prohibited weapons designed for discharge of noxious substances etc.’. However, it is not possible to separate identify possession offences and the type of substance related to these offences.

Table: the number of offences, charge/summons and cautions for the offence ‘Possessing Or Distributing Prohibited Weapons Designed For Discharge Of Noxious Liquid’, 2015/16 to the year ending June 2025, England and Wales (excluding Humberside police).

Note – figures are for England and Wales, excluding Humberside police who were unable to provide figures to the Home Office Data Hub for this period.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on detection rates for thefts (a) from and (b) of light commercial vehicles, broken down by police force area; and whether she is taking steps to support forces with low detection rates for such thefts.

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

The Home Office requires the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales to report trends in crime using aggregated categories such as theft of a vehicle or theft from a vehicle and we do not hold detailed data on the type of vehicles involved.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police, including working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on the issue, to ensure the strongest response possible to this damaging crime. Through the policing National Vehicle Crime Working Group, a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.

In the Crime and Policing Bill we have brought forward legislation to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them. This will support the changes manufacturers continue to make to prevent thefts. The Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Commons and is now at Committee stage in the House of Lords.

We provided £275,000 last financial year to help support enforcement work at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment. An additional £210k is being provided by the Home Office (totalling £485k) this financial year to build on and further bolster these efforts to tackle vehicle crime

Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners are responsible for understanding local crime patterns and for setting priorities which reflect the concerns of local communities, but we expect them to take all forms of crime seriously.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in freight-related crime; and what measures her Department are implementing in collaboration with (a) police forces and (b) industry to reduce theft from commercial vehicles and logistics facilities.

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

We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy. This Government is determined to crack down on it. The incidence of cargo theft, where criminals rip the sides of lorries and take the goods inside, is frightening for those dedicated HGV drivers across the UK, and the perception this crime is low risk and high reward is unacceptable.

Freight crimes are not currently separately identifiable in the centrally held police recorded crime data. Crimes involving the theft of freight are recorded by the police within broader vehicle-related theft categories. In order to monitor trends, we are piloting the use of a flag on police crime recording systems which officers can use to indicate that the crime they are investigating is freight crime. Set against police priorities and the need to ensure burdens on the police are proportionate, we will keep the need for a separate freight crime recording code under review.

We are working closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, which has multiple thematic desks, including a vehicle crime intelligence desk which covers freight crime. We have regular discussions with key partners, including Opal, about tackling organised freight crime.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the misuse of ketamine.

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

Tackling the harms caused by the use of illicit drugs is critical to delivering the Government’s key missions on safer streets and improving health outcomes, as well as contributing to the opportunity and national growth missions. We are taking an end-to-end approach to disrupt illicit drug supply chains, including working with law enforcement partners upstream and at the UK border to tackle the gangs responsible for drug trafficking.

Ketamine is a dangerous substance, which can cause irreversible bladder damage and in some cases death. Ministers are concerned about the harms ketamine causes and in January 2025 the Government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to provide an updated harms assessment of ketamine, and advice on reducing those harms, and in particular whether ketamine should be moved from Class B to Class A within the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The ACMD carried out a public call for evidence in August and we expect to receive its report soon. We will then carefully consider its recommendations.

This activity sits as part of our work across Government to monitor and respond to emerging trends and harms, including those related to ketamine use. For example, on 16 October 2025 the Department for Health and Social Care launched a campaign to alert young people to the dangers of this drug.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employment tribunal claims alleging breaches of the Equality Act 2010 have been lodged against her Department in the last 12 months.

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

The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of victims reporting spiking to the police.

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

Spiking is an abhorrent crime and illegal in any form, whether through food or drink, vape, or needle. It can affect anyone, at any time and in any setting, regardless of gender, sexuality or age.

Between January 2021 and June 2023, the police received 19,347 reports of spiking. However, it is important to note that the principal offence rule prioritises recording the most serious offence, which means cases of spiking linked to other offences are captured under that substantive category rather than separately in central data.

Additionally, we assess that spiking crimes are underreported for a range of reasons, including embarrassment, lack of trust in the police or assumption that the police could not help or would not believe victims. To help overcome this and encourage more suspected victims of spiking to come forward, including anonymously if they so wish, the Police have launched an online reporting tool, available on police.uk.

The government is enhancing how the police record and report spiking crimes. From April 2026, spiking will be part of the Police’s Annual Data Requirement which will improve both the quality and quantity of data, as well as the frequency of reporting.

The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

Tackling spiking is a government priority. We are implementing a comprehensive set of actions to strengthen awareness, prevention and detection, enhance support for victims and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, including:

• In line with our manifesto commitment, the Government has introduced new legislation on spiking, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.
• The Home Office continues to provide free training for staff in the hospitality sector to understand and tackle spiking, provide better support for victims, and assist police with evidence collection.
• The Security Industry Authority are also providing spiking training for their 368,000+ door supervisor and 11,000+ close protection licence holders. This has already been delivered to more than 228,000 licence holders since Spring 2024 as part of their mandatory licence linked qualification.
• We are funding two weeks of increased policing activity on spiking with the aims of raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and gathering more evidence to support spiking prosecutions. The first was on the week commencing 15 September to align with University Freshers weeks. The second week will be in December.
• We continue to fund research into the efficacy of rapid urine testing kits to assist with better detection of spiking crimes.
• We are also exploring options to enhance and make more convenient the process for collecting and processing urine samples from spiking victims.
• In July 2025 the Government published updated statutory guidance on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education for schools in England. In the new curriculum, to be implemented by September 2026, secondary pupils will learn about the risks associated with spiking, alongside consent, and other drug, alcohol, tobacco and vaping related issues.
• We have commissioned a leading University to undertake academic research to better understand some of the important driving factors that contribute to spiking incidents.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support victims of spiking.

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

Spiking is an abhorrent crime and illegal in any form, whether through food or drink, vape, or needle. It can affect anyone, at any time and in any setting, regardless of gender, sexuality or age.

Between January 2021 and June 2023, the police received 19,347 reports of spiking. However, it is important to note that the principal offence rule prioritises recording the most serious offence, which means cases of spiking linked to other offences are captured under that substantive category rather than separately in central data.

Additionally, we assess that spiking crimes are underreported for a range of reasons, including embarrassment, lack of trust in the police or assumption that the police could not help or would not believe victims. To help overcome this and encourage more suspected victims of spiking to come forward, including anonymously if they so wish, the Police have launched an online reporting tool, available on police.uk.

The government is enhancing how the police record and report spiking crimes. From April 2026, spiking will be part of the Police’s Annual Data Requirement which will improve both the quality and quantity of data, as well as the frequency of reporting.

The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

Tackling spiking is a government priority. We are implementing a comprehensive set of actions to strengthen awareness, prevention and detection, enhance support for victims and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, including:

• In line with our manifesto commitment, the Government has introduced new legislation on spiking, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.
• The Home Office continues to provide free training for staff in the hospitality sector to understand and tackle spiking, provide better support for victims, and assist police with evidence collection.
• The Security Industry Authority are also providing spiking training for their 368,000+ door supervisor and 11,000+ close protection licence holders. This has already been delivered to more than 228,000 licence holders since Spring 2024 as part of their mandatory licence linked qualification.
• We are funding two weeks of increased policing activity on spiking with the aims of raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and gathering more evidence to support spiking prosecutions. The first was on the week commencing 15 September to align with University Freshers weeks. The second week will be in December.
• We continue to fund research into the efficacy of rapid urine testing kits to assist with better detection of spiking crimes.
• We are also exploring options to enhance and make more convenient the process for collecting and processing urine samples from spiking victims.
• In July 2025 the Government published updated statutory guidance on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education for schools in England. In the new curriculum, to be implemented by September 2026, secondary pupils will learn about the risks associated with spiking, alongside consent, and other drug, alcohol, tobacco and vaping related issues.
• We have commissioned a leading University to undertake academic research to better understand some of the important driving factors that contribute to spiking incidents.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to raise awareness of spiking.

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

Spiking is an abhorrent crime and illegal in any form, whether through food or drink, vape, or needle. It can affect anyone, at any time and in any setting, regardless of gender, sexuality or age.

Between January 2021 and June 2023, the police received 19,347 reports of spiking. However, it is important to note that the principal offence rule prioritises recording the most serious offence, which means cases of spiking linked to other offences are captured under that substantive category rather than separately in central data.

Additionally, we assess that spiking crimes are underreported for a range of reasons, including embarrassment, lack of trust in the police or assumption that the police could not help or would not believe victims. To help overcome this and encourage more suspected victims of spiking to come forward, including anonymously if they so wish, the Police have launched an online reporting tool, available on police.uk.

The government is enhancing how the police record and report spiking crimes. From April 2026, spiking will be part of the Police’s Annual Data Requirement which will improve both the quality and quantity of data, as well as the frequency of reporting.

The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

Tackling spiking is a government priority. We are implementing a comprehensive set of actions to strengthen awareness, prevention and detection, enhance support for victims and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, including:

• In line with our manifesto commitment, the Government has introduced new legislation on spiking, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.
• The Home Office continues to provide free training for staff in the hospitality sector to understand and tackle spiking, provide better support for victims, and assist police with evidence collection.
• The Security Industry Authority are also providing spiking training for their 368,000+ door supervisor and 11,000+ close protection licence holders. This has already been delivered to more than 228,000 licence holders since Spring 2024 as part of their mandatory licence linked qualification.
• We are funding two weeks of increased policing activity on spiking with the aims of raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and gathering more evidence to support spiking prosecutions. The first was on the week commencing 15 September to align with University Freshers weeks. The second week will be in December.
• We continue to fund research into the efficacy of rapid urine testing kits to assist with better detection of spiking crimes.
• We are also exploring options to enhance and make more convenient the process for collecting and processing urine samples from spiking victims.
• In July 2025 the Government published updated statutory guidance on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education for schools in England. In the new curriculum, to be implemented by September 2026, secondary pupils will learn about the risks associated with spiking, alongside consent, and other drug, alcohol, tobacco and vaping related issues.
• We have commissioned a leading University to undertake academic research to better understand some of the important driving factors that contribute to spiking incidents.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment the factors that can prevent adults with positive reasonable grounds decisions from entering support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure all those eligible for support can receive it.

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

Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.

All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.

Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.

If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.

Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.

For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to ensure adults with a positive Reasonable Grounds decision can enter support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract; how many attempts are made to contact a person; and what happens if the person cannot be contacted.

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

Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.

All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.

Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.

If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.

Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.

For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the steps taken to ensure that adults who receive positive reasonable grounds decisions can enter support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.

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

Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.

All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.

Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.

If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.

Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.

For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many adults with a positive Reasonable Grounds decision do not go on to enter support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.

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

Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.

All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.

Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.

If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.

Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.

For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of victims of grooming gangs who will have convictions for prostitution expunged.

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

The Home Office is setting up a disregards scheme for convictions and cautions issued to under 18s for persistently loitering or soliciting in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution, contrary to Section 1 of The Street Offences Act 1959.

A preliminary search of centrally held digital records suggests that 352 individuals have been cautioned or convicted for this offence while under 18, since 1995. We are legislating in the Crime and Policing Bill to disregard and pardon these convictions and cautions.

However, it is not possible to calculate the proportion of the 352 individuals who were the victim of group based child sexual exploitation.

We are aware that victims of group based child sexual exploitation may have been convicted for other offences; the Ministry of Justice is working with the Criminal Cases Review Commission to ensure it is properly resourced to review the applications of victims of Child Sexual Exploitation who believe they were unjustly convicted when their position as a victim was not properly understood.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people reported spiking incidents to the police in each of the last five years.

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

Spiking is an abhorrent crime and illegal in any form, whether through food or drink, vape, or needle. It can affect anyone, at any time and in any setting, regardless of gender, sexuality or age.

Between January 2021 and June 2023, the police received 19,347 reports of spiking. However, it is important to note that the principal offence rule prioritises recording the most serious offence, which means cases of spiking linked to other offences are captured under that substantive category rather than separately in central data.

Additionally, we assess that spiking crimes are underreported for a range of reasons, including embarrassment, lack of trust in the police or assumption that the police could not help or would not believe victims. To help overcome this and encourage more suspected victims of spiking to come forward, including anonymously if they so wish, the Police have launched an online reporting tool, available on police.uk.

The government is enhancing how the police record and report spiking crimes. From April 2026, spiking will be part of the Police’s Annual Data Requirement which will improve both the quality and quantity of data, as well as the frequency of reporting.

The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

Tackling spiking is a government priority. We are implementing a comprehensive set of actions to strengthen awareness, prevention and detection, enhance support for victims and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, including:

• In line with our manifesto commitment, the Government has introduced new legislation on spiking, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.
• The Home Office continues to provide free training for staff in the hospitality sector to understand and tackle spiking, provide better support for victims, and assist police with evidence collection.
• The Security Industry Authority are also providing spiking training for their 368,000+ door supervisor and 11,000+ close protection licence holders. This has already been delivered to more than 228,000 licence holders since Spring 2024 as part of their mandatory licence linked qualification.
• We are funding two weeks of increased policing activity on spiking with the aims of raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and gathering more evidence to support spiking prosecutions. The first was on the week commencing 15 September to align with University Freshers weeks. The second week will be in December.
• We continue to fund research into the efficacy of rapid urine testing kits to assist with better detection of spiking crimes.
• We are also exploring options to enhance and make more convenient the process for collecting and processing urine samples from spiking victims.
• In July 2025 the Government published updated statutory guidance on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education for schools in England. In the new curriculum, to be implemented by September 2026, secondary pupils will learn about the risks associated with spiking, alongside consent, and other drug, alcohol, tobacco and vaping related issues.
• We have commissioned a leading University to undertake academic research to better understand some of the important driving factors that contribute to spiking incidents.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve reporting rates for incidents of spiking.

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

Spiking is an abhorrent crime and illegal in any form, whether through food or drink, vape, or needle. It can affect anyone, at any time and in any setting, regardless of gender, sexuality or age.

Between January 2021 and June 2023, the police received 19,347 reports of spiking. However, it is important to note that the principal offence rule prioritises recording the most serious offence, which means cases of spiking linked to other offences are captured under that substantive category rather than separately in central data.

Additionally, we assess that spiking crimes are underreported for a range of reasons, including embarrassment, lack of trust in the police or assumption that the police could not help or would not believe victims. To help overcome this and encourage more suspected victims of spiking to come forward, including anonymously if they so wish, the Police have launched an online reporting tool, available on police.uk.

The government is enhancing how the police record and report spiking crimes. From April 2026, spiking will be part of the Police’s Annual Data Requirement which will improve both the quality and quantity of data, as well as the frequency of reporting.

The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

Tackling spiking is a government priority. We are implementing a comprehensive set of actions to strengthen awareness, prevention and detection, enhance support for victims and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, including:

• In line with our manifesto commitment, the Government has introduced new legislation on spiking, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.
• The Home Office continues to provide free training for staff in the hospitality sector to understand and tackle spiking, provide better support for victims, and assist police with evidence collection.
• The Security Industry Authority are also providing spiking training for their 368,000+ door supervisor and 11,000+ close protection licence holders. This has already been delivered to more than 228,000 licence holders since Spring 2024 as part of their mandatory licence linked qualification.
• We are funding two weeks of increased policing activity on spiking with the aims of raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and gathering more evidence to support spiking prosecutions. The first was on the week commencing 15 September to align with University Freshers weeks. The second week will be in December.
• We continue to fund research into the efficacy of rapid urine testing kits to assist with better detection of spiking crimes.
• We are also exploring options to enhance and make more convenient the process for collecting and processing urine samples from spiking victims.
• In July 2025 the Government published updated statutory guidance on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education for schools in England. In the new curriculum, to be implemented by September 2026, secondary pupils will learn about the risks associated with spiking, alongside consent, and other drug, alcohol, tobacco and vaping related issues.
• We have commissioned a leading University to undertake academic research to better understand some of the important driving factors that contribute to spiking incidents.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to help victims of grooming gangs in Wales.

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

The Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The police will respond to all allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, ensuring that victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice.

The National Inquiry into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse will cover England and Wales. The Home Secretary has written to the First Minister to confirm this.

We will continue to work closely with law enforcement and safeguarding partners to address ongoing crimes and protect vulnerable children across Wales and the rest of the UK.

We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach. As part of the fund, this year we have provided £193,515 to Cyfannol Women’s Aid.

The Home Office also launched the invitation-to-tender for the national Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) Service contract in September 2025, which will expand coverage from two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales to all local authorities in England and Wales.

The service provides specialist modern slavery and child exploitation expertise to ensure child victims are protected from further harm, prevent possible repeat victimisation or re-trafficking, and promote the child’s recovery. It supports child victims of sexual exploitation and grooming who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and the professionals working with them.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) provides specialist support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been identified through the NRM in England and Wales. This includes adults who experienced sexual exploitation as children.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the point of contact is for the local inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham for victims and survivors; (a) when and (b) how the terms of reference for that inquiry will be consulted on; and what (i) safeguarding and (ii) wellbeing support is in place to support those victims and survivors.

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

In June this year, Baroness Casey published her independent audit into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, and the Government accepted every recommendation it made, including establishing a new national inquiry. The national inquiry, equipped with statutory powers under the Inquiries Act 2005, will direct targeted local investigations in specific areas.

The former Home Secretary previously committed in January to provide guidance and establish a £5 million fund which would have supported non-statutory local inquiries. Given that we have since committed to establish a national inquiry with statutory powers, undertaking local investigations, we have discontinued work related to the previously announced guidance and £5 million fund.

In relation to Oldham specifically, the former Home Secretary made a commitment to support Oldham Council in undertaking their own local inquiry. The Department has been in discussions with Oldham Council about the right approach for Oldham, in light of the Government’s commitment to a new national inquiry. We intend to confirm the proposed approach for Oldham alongside further details about the national inquiry in due course.

With regards to safeguarding and wellbeing support, we are committed to ensuring specialist support is provided to victims and survivors. We are currently engaging with victims and survivors participating in the consultation group supporting the establishment of the national inquiry, coordinated by the National Working Group (NWG) charity. This includes ensuring they are able to access support, including therapeutic support (via the NWG).

We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach.

The national inquiry, once established, will develop its own plans for engaging and supporting victims and survivors.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make (a) an assessment of the potential merits of launching a Wales-wide inquiry into grooming gangs and (b) it her policy to tackle ongoing crimes relating to grooming gangs in Wales.

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

The Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The police will respond to all allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, ensuring that victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice.

The National Inquiry into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse will cover England and Wales. The Home Secretary has written to the First Minister to confirm this.

We will continue to work closely with law enforcement and safeguarding partners to address ongoing crimes and protect vulnerable children across Wales and the rest of the UK.

We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach. As part of the fund, this year we have provided £193,515 to Cyfannol Women’s Aid.

The Home Office also launched the invitation-to-tender for the national Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) Service contract in September 2025, which will expand coverage from two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales to all local authorities in England and Wales.

The service provides specialist modern slavery and child exploitation expertise to ensure child victims are protected from further harm, prevent possible repeat victimisation or re-trafficking, and promote the child’s recovery. It supports child victims of sexual exploitation and grooming who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and the professionals working with them.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) provides specialist support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been identified through the NRM in England and Wales. This includes adults who experienced sexual exploitation as children

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure perpetrators of spiking are (a) detected and (b) arrested.

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

Spiking is an abhorrent crime and illegal in any form, whether through food or drink, vape, or needle. It can affect anyone, at any time and in any setting, regardless of gender, sexuality or age.

Between January 2021 and June 2023, the police received 19,347 reports of spiking. However, it is important to note that the principal offence rule prioritises recording the most serious offence, which means cases of spiking linked to other offences are captured under that substantive category rather than separately in central data.

Additionally, we assess that spiking crimes are underreported for a range of reasons, including embarrassment, lack of trust in the police or assumption that the police could not help or would not believe victims. To help overcome this and encourage more suspected victims of spiking to come forward, including anonymously if they so wish, the Police have launched an online reporting tool, available on police.uk.

The government is enhancing how the police record and report spiking crimes. From April 2026, spiking will be part of the Police’s Annual Data Requirement which will improve both the quality and quantity of data, as well as the frequency of reporting.

The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

Tackling spiking is a government priority. We are implementing a comprehensive set of actions to strengthen awareness, prevention and detection, enhance support for victims and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, including:

• In line with our manifesto commitment, the Government has introduced new legislation on spiking, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.
• The Home Office continues to provide free training for staff in the hospitality sector to understand and tackle spiking, provide better support for victims, and assist police with evidence collection.
• The Security Industry Authority are also providing spiking training for their 368,000+ door supervisor and 11,000+ close protection licence holders. This has already been delivered to more than 228,000 licence holders since Spring 2024 as part of their mandatory licence linked qualification.
• We are funding two weeks of increased policing activity on spiking with the aims of raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and gathering more evidence to support spiking prosecutions. The first was on the week commencing 15 September to align with University Freshers weeks. The second week will be in December.
• We continue to fund research into the efficacy of rapid urine testing kits to assist with better detection of spiking crimes.
• We are also exploring options to enhance and make more convenient the process for collecting and processing urine samples from spiking victims.
• In July 2025 the Government published updated statutory guidance on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education for schools in England. In the new curriculum, to be implemented by September 2026, secondary pupils will learn about the risks associated with spiking, alongside consent, and other drug, alcohol, tobacco and vaping related issues.
• We have commissioned a leading University to undertake academic research to better understand some of the important driving factors that contribute to spiking incidents.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assurances she has received from statutory service providers that they could meet the needs arising from the use of the Crowborough Training Camp site to accommodate asylum seekers.

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

As potential sites are identified and progressed for alternative asylum accommodation, a Stage Gate process, which builds on the lessons learned from the delivery of previous sites, is followed to ensure that any decisions made are informed by a comprehensive range of information. This includes, but isn’t limited to, site surveys and environmental audits.

Regarding Crowborough, the Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners, including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and we will ensure that the site operates safely, with mitigations for local impacts such as on local services.

All alternative accommodation sites, including Crowborough, will provide basic, functional, and humane accommodation while asylum claims are processed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what factors her Department has had regard to in making its assessment as to the suitability of the Crowborough Training Camp site to accommodate asylum seekers.

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

As potential sites are identified and progressed for alternative asylum accommodation, a Stage Gate process, which builds on the lessons learned from the delivery of previous sites, is followed to ensure that any decisions made are informed by a comprehensive range of information. This includes, but isn’t limited to, site surveys and environmental audits.

Regarding Crowborough, the Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners, including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and we will ensure that the site operates safely, with mitigations for local impacts such as on local services.

All alternative accommodation sites, including Crowborough, will provide basic, functional, and humane accommodation while asylum claims are processed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish all assessments made by her Department on the adequacy of the Crowborough Training Camp site for accommodating asylum seekers.

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

As potential sites are identified and progressed for alternative asylum accommodation, a Stage Gate process, which builds on the lessons learned from the delivery of previous sites, is followed to ensure that any decisions made are informed by a comprehensive range of information. This includes, but isn’t limited to, site surveys and environmental audits.

Regarding Crowborough, the Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners, including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and we will ensure that the site operates safely, with mitigations for local impacts such as on local services.

All alternative accommodation sites, including Crowborough, will provide basic, functional, and humane accommodation while asylum claims are processed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when (a) Wealden District Council and (b) local communities will be informed of the decision on whether to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodate asylum seekers.

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

It remains our intention to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodateasylum seekers, subject to the outcome of feasibility assessments. We areconfident that the level of due diligence carried out on alternativeaccommodation sites has improved, and we ensure that the relevantapprovals and assessments take place at the appropriate stage.The Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners for Crowborough,including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and will work withlocal authority and cross-government media teams to ensure ongoingcoordination and alignment to deliver consistent messaging and rapidresponse to emerging issues. Multi- Agency Forums chaired by Home Officewith key delivery partners will take place at least fortnightly pre-delivery, aswell as post go-live and we are working closely with key stakeholdersincluding local health partners to minimise the impact on the local community.Regarding Community and Equality Impact Assessments, assessments willbe carried out as part of the standard process for alternative sites and will bepublished as appropriate

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a community impact assessment and an Equalities Impact Assessment of the potential use of Crowborough Training Camp to accommodate asylum seekers.

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

It remains our intention to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodateasylum seekers, subject to the outcome of feasibility assessments. We areconfident that the level of due diligence carried out on alternativeaccommodation sites has improved, and we ensure that the relevantapprovals and assessments take place at the appropriate stage.The Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners for Crowborough,including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and will work withlocal authority and cross-government media teams to ensure ongoingcoordination and alignment to deliver consistent messaging and rapidresponse to emerging issues. Multi- Agency Forums chaired by Home Officewith key delivery partners will take place at least fortnightly pre-delivery, aswell as post go-live and we are working closely with key stakeholdersincluding local health partners to minimise the impact on the local community.Regarding Community and Equality Impact Assessments, assessments willbe carried out as part of the standard process for alternative sites and will bepublished as appropriate

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82448 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, what the cost is of (a) charter and (b) regularly scheduled flights to conduct returns under the new UK-France agreement.

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

I have been clear that we do not comment on costs for scheduledflights or charter flights, and this was made explicit in the answer to the original Question. These are commercially sensitive arrangements that can provide an insight into pricing structure. To do otherwise could deter the private sector from entering into contracts with the Home Office.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of whether an Environmental Impact Assessment is required for the use of the Crowborough Training Camp site to accommodate asylum seekers.

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

As potential sites are identified and progressed for alternative asylum accommodation, a Stage Gate process, which builds on the lessons learned from the delivery of previous sites, is followed to ensure that any decisions made are informed by a comprehensive range of information. This includes, but isn’t limited to, site surveys and environmental audits.

Regarding Crowborough, the Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners, including Health, Police and Fire Rescue, on this proposal and we will ensure that the site operates safely, with mitigations for local impacts such as on local services.

All alternative accommodation sites, including Crowborough, will provide basic, functional, and humane accommodation while asylum claims are processed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with airline companies to ensure passengers are informed of any potential passport validity issues prior to their trip.

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

It is for carriers to determine that they are satisfied their customer’s travel document meets the entry requirements of the country that they are travelling to on that day.

While the UK government is not responsible for guiding airlines on the entry requirements of another country, or on the advice that they provide to their customers in preparation for their journey, it does provide guidance to British travellers regarding the passport requirements of other countries through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s foreign travel advice on GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of travellers denied travel due to passport validity issues.

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

It is for carriers to determine that they are satisfied their customer’s travel document meets the entry requirements of the country that they are travelling to on that day.

While the UK government is not responsible for guiding airlines on the entry requirements of another country, or on the advice that they provide to their customers in preparation for their journey, it does provide guidance to British travellers regarding the passport requirements of other countries through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s foreign travel advice on GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of animals bred for scientific research that (a) were killed and (b) died without being used in procedures in each of the last 12 months.

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

The Home Office has previously published (2017) additional statistics covering the number of non-genetically altered animals that were bred for scientific procedures but were killed or died without being used in procedures; and the number of animals (genetically altered and non-genetically altered) subject to tissue sampling for the purposes of genotyping. These statistics can be viewed here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals#additional-statistics-for-2017.

The 2017 data collection was as a result of a requirement of the European Directive 2010/63/EU for additional statistics on animals bred for scientific procedures but that were killed or died without being used. After leaving the EU the UK was no longer required to collect and release additional statistics. Future publication of this data is presently under review.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of responsibility on (a) banks and (b) receiving firms to (i) share information quickly and (ii) freeze funds in cases of fraud.

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

The Home Office continues to work with financial institutions, regulators, and law enforcement to ensure responsibilities for preventing and responding to fraud are clear and effective.

The Payment Services (Amendment) Regulations 2024, effective October 2024, granted banks powers to delay and investigate payments suspected of being fraudulent for up to 72 hours. The change is designed to protect consumers from scams and ensure funds can be frozen before they reach fraudsters.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) introduced new provisions, effective January 2024, that allow anti-money laundering (AML) regulated firms to share customer information, provided UK GDPR safeguards are met. These measures aim to create a networked approach to economic crime risk, enabling faster detection and disruption of fraud.

The Government is working to develop a strategy for cross-system data sharing that brings benefits for the public and private sector. The strategy will enhance the exploitation of the vast datasets held across ecosystem by using modern technology, bringing together organisations and capabilities to better prevent, detect, and pursue economic crime.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the additional £10 million announced on 23 October 2025 to protect Mosques and Muslim faith centres is a permanent increase in annual funding or a one-off increase for 2025-26.

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

In 2025/26, up to £70.9 million is available to protect faith communities. This includes £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools. In addition, up to £10 million of emergency funding has been made available for Muslim communities to further strengthen security measures at their places of worship and other community sites.

This additional funding is available for financial year 2025/26 only.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she made of the trends in the numbers of imported mice used for animal testing in 2024.

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

The number of mice born outside the UK and used for the first time in experimental procedures in 2024 was 21,287. While this is an increase of 4.6 per cent from 2023, the overall total number of procedures involving mice fell by 2.3 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

The Home Office regulates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) to assure compliance with the robust protections afforded to animals used in science and to administrate the licensing framework. Licences to test on animals are only granted where applicants comply with the principles of replacement, reduction and refinement. Animals can only be used where there is no non-animal alternative, numbers are minimised, and where the most refined methods of testing are used to minimise harms.

The Government has published the strategy, "Replacing animals in science, A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods" which will accelerate the roll out of safe and effective alternatives to phase out animal testing in all but exceptional circumstances. Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing increased reimbursement requirements for victims of fraud.

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

Tackling the threat of fraud and supporting victims is a top priority for this government.

Reimbursement to victims remains an important way of mitigating the impact of fraud and incentivising industry to tackle the threat. The government and relevant regulators are continuously monitoring and reviewing the reimbursement regime to ensure its efficacy. More broadly, whilst reimbursement falls to payment service providers, we have used voluntary measures to work faster with tech companies to make sure their resources are deployed where the biggest difference will be made to disrupt fraud. This is in addition to underpinning telecommunications and online regulation enforced by Ofcom.

The government also recognises that the impact of fraud goes beyond financial losses, as victims can suffer serious financial and emotional harm. That is why we have taken various steps to improve the victim support system. This includes rolling out the National Economic Crime Victim Care unit to all police forces in England and Wales and improving the service victims receive. A revised fraud strategy will be produced in early 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support victims of fraud.

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

Tackling the threat of fraud and supporting victims is a top priority for this government.

Reimbursement to victims remains an important way of mitigating the impact of fraud and incentivising industry to tackle the threat. The government and relevant regulators are continuously monitoring and reviewing the reimbursement regime to ensure its efficacy. More broadly, whilst reimbursement falls to payment service providers, we have used voluntary measures to work faster with tech companies to make sure their resources are deployed where the biggest difference will be made to disrupt fraud. This is in addition to underpinning telecommunications and online regulation enforced by Ofcom.

The government also recognises that the impact of fraud goes beyond financial losses, as victims can suffer serious financial and emotional harm. That is why we have taken various steps to improve the victim support system. This includes rolling out the National Economic Crime Victim Care unit to all police forces in England and Wales and improving the service victims receive. A revised fraud strategy will be produced in early 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of preparedness for changes in the national terror threat level in (a) general and (b) Northern Ireland.

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

The UK National Threat Level remains at SUBSTANTIAL, meaning an attack is likely. The UK National Threat Level is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre who consider all relevant intelligence and information to produce an assessment of the threat from terrorism in the UK and overseas. Due to this, the Home Office regularly reviews its plans with Government departments to react to a change in threat level.

The threat to Northern Ireland from Northern Ireland-related terrorism is SUBSTANTIAL. The Northern Ireland Office are responsible for this threat level.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) training and (b) support her Department provides to police to investigate (i) coercive control and (ii) other non-violent domestic offences.

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

In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening training on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) for policing to ensure that all officers have the right skills to investigate all VAWG offences, including coercive or controlling behaviour (CCB) and other non-violent domestic offences.

The Home Office has already invested £13.1 million this year into the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP). This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to deliver a robust package of training improvements across public protection, including on domestic abuse and CCB.

Through the NCVPP, we are working closely with the College of Policing to develop strengthened, specialist training for officers across all operational levels - frontline, specialist, and leadership. Grounded in academic research and behaviour change science, new training programmes will ensure that all officers are well equipped to investigate these crimes and provide support to victims.

CCB is also covered extensively in the Domestic Abuse Matters training for police which has now been delivered to over 80% of police forces in England and Wales. This specialist domestic abuse training was created by the College of Policing in partnership with domestic abuse charities, SafeLives, Welsh Women’s Aid and Women’s Aid.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are on the violent harm assessment database by (a) age, (b) nationality and (c) ethnicity.

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

The Violence Harm Assessment database is an internal tool used by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to identify and risk assess individuals involved in violence in London.

The Home Office are not responsible for the database and the MPS publish summary statistics on the demographic background of those individuals on the database, which can be found here: Violence Harm Assessment | Metropolitan Police .

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2025 to Question 77070 on Demonstrations: Palestine Action, whether she has had discussions with the Metropolitan Police on the potential for using cautions rather than arresting Palestine Action protestors.

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

The management of protests are matters for the police, who are operationally independent from government.

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. We fully support the police to use all the powers available to ensure those who do commit offences face the full force of the law.

To be clear, those who want to oppose the proscription of Palestine Action can do so freely and lawfully – that is not itself an offence. It is an offence when protest is focused on showing support for an organisation that has been proscribed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many members of staff in her Department currently spend one or more days a week working from home.

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

On 24 October 2024 the Cabinet Office announced that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service. Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time and individual attendance requirement can be up to 100% based on business need.

Details of the exact number of staff currently working from home one or more days per week are not held centrally.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department did not retain employment following the completion of their probationary period in the last 12 months.

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

In the last 12 months 59 Home Office employees were dismissed during their probationary period for efficiency reasons.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that Windrush (a) claimants and (b) claimants' families can ask for their cases to be reviewed if they believe that the level of compensation they have been awarded is incorrect.

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

We continue to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders, including the Windrush Commissioner, to improve how the Scheme operates. We are committed to awarding the maximum amount at the earliest point possible and doing so with compassion and understanding.

On 24 October 2025, the Home Secretary announced a series of significant changes to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, including compensation for losses to occupational and personal pensions.

We are working at pace to implement these changes. Updated rules and caseworker guidance will be published as soon as possible. Once the new rules go live, all changes will be applied retrospectively. A dedicated team will review previously concluded claims to identify those who may benefit from the updates.

If a claimant or claimant’s family disagree with the outcome of their claim, they can request a review of the decision.

We will be launching a consultation on our earned settlement proposals later this year. Everyone will be welcome to participate. There are no plans to change eligibility for the right of abode in the UK. Members of the Windrush generation who do not have proof of their lawful status in the UK can continue to apply to the Windrush Scheme to obtain this.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason pensions were not included in the original Windrush Compensation Scheme.

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

We continue to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders, including the Windrush Commissioner, to improve how the Scheme operates. We are committed to awarding the maximum amount at the earliest point possible and doing so with compassion and understanding.

On 24 October 2025, the Home Secretary announced a series of significant changes to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, including compensation for losses to occupational and personal pensions.

We are working at pace to implement these changes. Updated rules and caseworker guidance will be published as soon as possible. Once the new rules go live, all changes will be applied retrospectively. A dedicated team will review previously concluded claims to identify those who may benefit from the updates.

If a claimant or claimant’s family disagree with the outcome of their claim, they can request a review of the decision.

We will be launching a consultation on our earned settlement proposals later this year. Everyone will be welcome to participate. There are no plans to change eligibility for the right of abode in the UK. Members of the Windrush generation who do not have proof of their lawful status in the UK can continue to apply to the Windrush Scheme to obtain this.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83494 on Drugs: Organised Crime, how much additional funding to help tackle county lines was provided to Cambridgeshire Constabulary in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26.

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

We are investing more than £43m this financial year (25/26) in the County Lines Programme, to target exploitative drug dealing gangs whilst breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade.

Whilst we have prioritised investment in the five police forces with the greatest number of ‘exported’ county lines (Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police), the Programme also provides funding for the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response and a dedicated fund which provides local police forces with additional funding to tackle county lines, referred to as the County Lines Programme ‘Surge Fund’.

The Surge Fund is allocated to forces through a bidding process, managed by the NCLCC on behalf of the Home Office. Funding is allocated based on NCLCC’s assessment of county lines threat and impact.

As one of the top importing areas for county lines, Cambridgeshire Constabulary have consistently received investment from the Surge Fund. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of individual police force allocations due to operational sensitivities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83494 on Drugs: Organised Crime, what the name is of the dedicated fund used to provide additional funding to tackle county lines.

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

We are investing more than £43m this financial year (25/26) in the County Lines Programme, to target exploitative drug dealing gangs whilst breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade.

Whilst we have prioritised investment in the five police forces with the greatest number of ‘exported’ county lines (Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police), the Programme also provides funding for the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response and a dedicated fund which provides local police forces with additional funding to tackle county lines, referred to as the County Lines Programme ‘Surge Fund’.

The Surge Fund is allocated to forces through a bidding process, managed by the NCLCC on behalf of the Home Office. Funding is allocated based on NCLCC’s assessment of county lines threat and impact.

As one of the top importing areas for county lines, Cambridgeshire Constabulary have consistently received investment from the Surge Fund. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of individual police force allocations due to operational sensitivities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2025 to Question 86746 on Roads: Accidents, whether her Department has received requests from the Department for Transport for data on (a) drug and (b) drink driving tests since July 4th 2024.

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

As a part of the Annual Data Requirement, the Home Office collects information on roadside breath tests for alcohol, carried out by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales.

The Home Office makes all information collected on roadside breath tests for alcohol publicly available as a part of its annual “Police powers and procedures: Roads policing” statistical publication. The latest release is available here:
Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK

Publication of this data makes it accessible for use by Other Government Departments, external organisations, and members of the public.

The Home Office does not collect data on tests conducted by police for drug driving.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce and (b) prevent equipment theft in Surrey Heath constituency.

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

We will be implementing the Equipment Theft Act, making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen vehicles and equipment and assisting the police with identifying the owner.

The Act’s secondary legislation will require forensic marking to be applied to new All-Terrain Vehicles and for the details to be registered on a property database, for forensic marking to be applied to all new GPS units for use in agricultural and commercial settings, and for the details to be registered on a property database. This provides an important additional tool to help police identify if an item is stolen and to return it to its rightful owner.

Additionally, the Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, which will help the police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.

This financial year we have provided the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit. This funding will enable the Unit to continue to increase collaboration across all police forces, including Surrey Police, to target the serious organised crime groups involved in crimes like equipment theft from farms.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83494 on Drugs: Organised Crime, how the amount of additional funding to tackle county lines was calculated for each police force.

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

We are investing more than £43m this financial year (25/26) in the County Lines Programme, to target exploitative drug dealing gangs whilst breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade.

Whilst we have prioritised investment in the five police forces with the greatest number of ‘exported’ county lines (Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police), the Programme also provides funding for the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response and a dedicated fund which provides local police forces with additional funding to tackle county lines, referred to as the County Lines Programme ‘Surge Fund’.

The Surge Fund is allocated to forces through a bidding process, managed by the NCLCC on behalf of the Home Office. Funding is allocated based on NCLCC’s assessment of county lines threat and impact.

As one of the top importing areas for county lines, Cambridgeshire Constabulary have consistently received investment from the Surge Fund. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of individual police force allocations due to operational sensitivities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times police forces in England and Wales have used stop-and-search powers in each of the last five years.

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

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of stop and searches undertaken by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales and the British Transport Police, on a financial year basis. The latest data are available here: Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK

Table 1 below shows how many stop and searches were undertaken by police forces in England and Wales in each of the last five complete financial years

Table 1 – stop and searches in England and Wales, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 66600 on Slingshots: Regulation, what information her Department holds on the number of criminal offences committed of using a (a) catapult and (b) slingshot to attack animals since 2020.

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

The Home Office does not hold information on the number of police recorded offences that involved hand-held catapults or slingshots.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 66600 on Slingshots: Regulation, what information her Department holds on the number of offences committed with hand-held catapults and slingshots against people in (a) Essex and (b) the UK.

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

The Home Office does not hold information on the number of police recorded offences that involved hand-held catapults or slingshots.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department had their probationary period extended in the last 12 months.

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

The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the news story entitled Windrush compensation scheme overhaul to deliver faster justice, published on 24 October 2025, when she expects pension losses to be added to the awards of Windrush Compensation Scheme claimants.

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

We continue to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders, including the Windrush Commissioner, to improve how the Scheme operates. We are committed to awarding the maximum amount at the earliest point possible and doing so with compassion and understanding.

On 24 October 2025, the Home Secretary announced a series of significant changes to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, including compensation for losses to occupational and personal pensions.

We are working at pace to implement these changes. Updated rules and caseworker guidance will be published as soon as possible. Once the new rules go live, all changes will be applied retrospectively. A dedicated team will review previously concluded claims to identify those who may benefit from the updates.

If a claimant or claimant’s family disagree with the outcome of their claim, they can request a review of the decision.

We will be launching a consultation on our earned settlement proposals later this year. Everyone will be welcome to participate. There are no plans to change eligibility for the right of abode in the UK. Members of the Windrush generation who do not have proof of their lawful status in the UK can continue to apply to the Windrush Scheme to obtain this.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to exclude Windrush claimants from her proposed changes to the eligibility criteria for (a) Indefinite Leave to Remain and (b) Right of Abode.

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

We continue to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders, including the Windrush Commissioner, to improve how the Scheme operates. We are committed to awarding the maximum amount at the earliest point possible and doing so with compassion and understanding.

On 24 October 2025, the Home Secretary announced a series of significant changes to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, including compensation for losses to occupational and personal pensions.

We are working at pace to implement these changes. Updated rules and caseworker guidance will be published as soon as possible. Once the new rules go live, all changes will be applied retrospectively. A dedicated team will review previously concluded claims to identify those who may benefit from the updates.

If a claimant or claimant’s family disagree with the outcome of their claim, they can request a review of the decision.

We will be launching a consultation on our earned settlement proposals later this year. Everyone will be welcome to participate. There are no plans to change eligibility for the right of abode in the UK. Members of the Windrush generation who do not have proof of their lawful status in the UK can continue to apply to the Windrush Scheme to obtain this.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on the duty of the police to limit the use of amplified noise (a) on multiple occasions, (b) at extreme volumes and (c) in public places, whether in support of (i) political or (ii) non-political objectives; and what rights her Department recognises of other people in the vicinity to (A) go about their business undisturbed and (B) mount equally noisy counter protests nearby if no action is taken to limit the volume and repetitiveness of the disturbance.

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

The Government is committed to upholding the right to lawful protest, while ensuring that legislation across the framework of public order maintains a balance between freedom of expression and the need to protect the public from serious disruption or harm. The use of these powers and the management of protest is an operational policing matter and police forces work with organisers to plan protests and assess risks, including risks posed by counter protests.

The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will require police to take cumulative disruption into account when imposing conditions under s12 or s14 of the Public Order Act 1986, including the the time and route of the protest. This new duty will help to protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests especially where the same site has been targeted again and again, causing disorder or distress.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) mopeds, (b) motorbikes, including scramblers, (c) electric scooters, (d) electric bikes and (e) quad bikes; were seized and disposed of by (i) crushing or breaking and (ii) selling for reuse by police forces in England in the most recent year the data is available.

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

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of mopeds, motorbikes, electric scooters, electric bikes, or quad bikes that have been seized or disposed of by police in England and Wales.

Decisions on the seizure and disposal of mopeds, motorbikes, electric scooters, electric bikes, or quad bikes are for police, who have the expertise and knowledge to make operational decisions.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many convicted foreign nationals awaiting deportation have been released from HMP Huntercombe in the last 2 years owing to the Home Office's failure to provide the necessary deportation documents on time.

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

Foreign national offenders (FNOs) are referred to the Home Office for deportation immediately following sentencing. The timeliness of criminal court proceedings and extensive periods on remand means many prisoners will reach their Early Removal Scheme (ERS) window immediately, or very soon after they are sentenced. It is therefore not always possible for the Home Office to carry out all the case working and administrative processes as soon as an FNO becomes eligible for removal under ERS, even when they wish to return voluntarily.

HMPPS (HM Prisons and Probation Service) are working closely with the Home Office to ensure the ERS process runs as efficiently as possible focusing on operational improvements and more robust data.

Latest published information shows that between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025 2,632 FNOs were removed directly from prison under ERS, which is a 10% increase compared to the 2,385 in the same period 12 months prior.

We make every effort to ensure that a FNO’s removal by deportation coincides with their release from prison upon completion of their custodial sentence. Legal or re-documentation barriers can frustrate immediate deportation. Despite the barriers we face, we remain resolute in our commitment to deport those who would abuse our hospitality and make our communities safer for everyone.

The information requested is not available from published statistics.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many illegal immigrants who left asylum hotels in the past 5 years have not since been accounted for.

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

The Home Secretary has set out the most sweeping changes to our asylum system in a generation to restore order and control to our borders.

This includes speeding up removals of illegal migrants from the UK – with almost 50,000 people removed since July 2024.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that spousal visa applications are processed in line with equality standards, especially where one party has (a) a learning disability and (b) Down's Syndrome.

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

The partner route under Appendix FM includes different requirements for those who have a disability in recognition of the Home Office’s equality obligations. For example, where the sponsor is claiming certain health disability allowances the family must meet the adequate maintenance test rather than the minimum income requirement and applicants are exempt from meeting English language requirements if they have a disability which prevents them learning English.

All applications are considered on a case-by-case basis and where there are vulnerabilities, the caseworker will take this into consideration. Equality Impact Assessments are kept under review and updated as necessary.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the investigation and prosecution of any person in the United Kingdom who is suspected of being responsible for torture or inhuman treatment of Palestinian detainees since 7 October 2023.

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

The War Crimes Team at the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command are responsible for the investigation of allegations of Core International Crimes CIC). The Counter Terrorism Division within the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for the review and prosecution of CIC.

The CPS will consider any information that is referred by the police and any decision to prosecute will be considered on a case-by case basis and in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

The CPS has also published War Crimes/Crimes Against Humanity Referral Guidelines in regard to the investigation and prosecution of allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture (Core International Crimes), in order to enable the process for investigations, arrests and prosecutions to be conducted in an orderly and transparent way.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal migrants were apprehended between Stranraer and Belfast in each of the last three years; and how many of those were apprehended during a) daytime and b) evening sailings.

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

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.

Information about illegal migrants encountered specifically at the Port of Cairnryan and between Stranraer and Belfast is not available in our published data.

Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link and includes data on irregular migration: Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal migrants have been apprehended onboard ferry sailings between Stranraer and Belfast in each of the last three years.

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

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.

Information about illegal migrants encountered specifically at the Port of Cairnryan and between Stranraer and Belfast is not available in our published data.

Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link and includes data on irregular migration: Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal migrants have been apprehended at the Port of Cairnryan in each of the last three years.

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

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.

Information about illegal migrants encountered specifically at the Port of Cairnryan and between Stranraer and Belfast is not available in our published data.

Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link and includes data on irregular migration: Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department is using to determine if a third country is safe to deport migrants.

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

The criteria to designate all, or part, of a country as safe for the purpose of certification of protection or human rights claims as clearly unfounded is set out in s94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002:

(5)The Secretary of State may by order add a State, or part of a State, to the list in subsection (4) if satisfied that—

(a)there is in general in that State or part no serious risk of persecution of persons entitled to reside in that State or part, and

(b)removal to that State or part of persons entitled to reside there will not in general contravene the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Human Rights Convention.

Other countries not designated in this manner may still be considered to be safe in respect of an individual and their personal circumstances.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Queen's Own Highlanders Regimental Association will be required to relocate from Cameron Barracks in Inverness as a result of plans to temporarily house asylum seekers there; and if so, where they will be relocated to, and will they be compensated for any costs incurred.

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

Discussions are underway to use the Cameron Barracks site for asylum accommodation. Consideration of this site is ongoing and any final decision to utilise any site for the intended purposes will be made once the relevant factors have been properly considered.

The government remains committed to engaging with local authorities and stakeholders, and to transitioning away from hotel use as soon as practicable.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which countries she is discussing hosting return hubs for failed asylum seekers with.

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

To support the UK Government’s commitment to controlled immigration, the Home Office is exploring the use of return hubs for failed asylum seekers with a number of countries.

We are not in a position to share further details that could prejudice discussions at this stage. However, the Government has been clear we will continue to work with international partners to tackle the global migration crisis.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of children subject to removal under her plans to remove families from the UK.

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

All families will be offered financial support to enable them to return but, if that support is refused and steps are not taken to comply with the requirement to leave the UK, their return will be enforced. Decisions will continue to be governed by Section 55 duties and the Family Returns Process, with safeguarding and the best interests of the child paramount.

The Department has not published a numerical assessment of the number children who might be subject to removal under the plans announced on 17 November, which will continue to be developed over the coming months.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the risk of modern slavery in hand car washes.

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

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery across all sectors, including hand car washes.

The Home Office funds the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which operates a national licensing scheme in certain high-risk sectors to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation. The GLAA has specially trained officers with police-style powers to prevent, detect, and investigate serious labour exploitation across the entire economy in England and Wales.

The Government is improving the enforcement of employment rights by establishing the Fair Work Agency (FWA) through the Employment Rights Bill. The FWA will bring together the GLAA, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team. This will ensure a more cohesive and streamlined response to exploitation.

The FWA will have strong powers to investigate and take action against a range of labour market abuses, including serious exploitation and modern slavery. This includes new powers to investigate under the Fraud Act 2006.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of asylum seekers claim to be under the age of 18 once they have reached their assigned hotel or army camp.

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

The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the news story entitled ‘Honour’-based abuse crackdown in raft of new measures, published on 26 August 2025, by when she plans to pilot a prevalence study into ‘honour’-based abuse.

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

'Honour’-based abuse is a serious form of abuse that nobody should have to experience. This is why we are tackling it through our mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade.

To prevent and respond effectively to forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) it is essential that we understand the prevalence of these crimes.

Building on the feasibility study conducted by the University of Birmingham in 2023/24, the Home Office has commissioned a pilot research project to support the development of a national prevalence estimate for forced marriage and female genital mutilation. This work is already underway.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to deliver clearer, cheaper and more accountable local police oversight in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

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

The Government announced on 13 November that it plans to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) at the end of their current term of office in May 2028, subject to legislation.

PCC functions will transfer to Mayors of Combined Authorities, where possible, and to elected council leaders where it is not. Where there are no confirmed plans for a Mayor, as is the case in Staffordshire, we will create new Policing and Crime Boards to bring local council leaders together to oversee the force in their area, supported by an appointed day to day Policing and Crime lead.

We estimate that at around £100m will be saved in this Parliament as a result of these governance reforms. Once delivered, we expect they will achieve savings to the Home Office of around £20m a year, enough to fund around 320 extra police constables.

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 tackling shoplifting in North West Norfolk constituency.

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

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level. We will not stand for this.

We are ensuring the right powers are in place. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are bringing in a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.

Additionally, we are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team – in partnership with the retail sector - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.

Tackling retail crime requires a partnership approach between policing representatives and business. The previous Minister for Crime and Policing launched the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy’, which was jointly developed by the police and industry and aims to provide a collaborative and evidence-based approach to preventing retail crime, including organised shop theft.

Found: CommonsBTC - @CommonsBTC Sarah Jones MP Minister of State (Minister for Policing and Crime) Home Office

Found: Plan for Change to restore order to the immigration system and toughen enforcement of the rules, Home Office

Found: We hope to address some of these matters soon in an evidence session with a Home Office Minister, which

Found: Could the Government set out how the Department for Business and Trade, the Home Office, and HM Treasury

Found: Social:@CommonsJustice Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP Secretary of State for the Home Department Home Office

Found: The legislative change was requested by representatives from the Home Office, Department of Health,

Found: services In response to the Committee’s question regarding HMICFRS’s recommendation that the Home Office

Found: Tapp MP Minister for Migration & Citizenship 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF www.gov.uk/home-office

Found: The Home Office and the Department for Business and Trade are writing separately to address the Committee

Found: We have to allocate it for the rota.Mrs Hodgson: The Home Office or Justice. Chair: Which?

Found: This is something that is primarily led by the Home Office.

Found: The Home Office does not seem to know how many of those fines have been paid.

Found: End the “use of expensive hotel accommodation in this Parliament”: Ensure the Home Office does not use

Found: End the “use of expensive hotel accommodation in this Parliament”: Ensure the Home Office does not use

Found: housing outcomes for people in 44 days because we built such strong relationships with the local Home Office

Found: the work that both departments have done to try to resolve this issue on our behalf with the Home Office

Found: It is therefore essential that the Home Office and Security Industry Authority (SIA) engage closely

Found: We have engaged with the Home Office on some policy issues (security and visas) and have had limited

Found: statutory instruments with little parliamentary scrutiny, were accompanied by the removal of clear Home Office

Found:  The 2020 removal of Home Office guidance on discretion means officials are now more constrained

Found: priorities, and how event organisers can be appropriately resourced to meet these commitments 4.7 Home Office

Found: believe that a working group of seasoned major event professionals could be deployed to assist Home Office

Found: the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on event delivery and strategy, and with the Home Office

Found: Proprietors solus:  HSE (via JACE https://www.hse.gov.uk/entertainment/theatre-tv/jace.htm )  The Home Office

Found: This brings together representatives from across the sector, including DCMS, Home Office, the Football

Found: Business and Trade  Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Embassies and High Commissions  Home Office

Found: Government Engagement AIF engages regularly with DCMS, the Home Office, and Arts Council England.

Found: UK Government – through DCMS, Scotland Office (and Secretary of State for Scotland), Home Office, and

Found: Suggestions made by the Home Office that legislation was being considered to give the police further

Found: Policy decisions, say within the Treasury or Home Office, that have significant impacts on the major

Found: The ASAO have previously experienced discussion and debate with the Home Office over the Entertainment

Found: and Local Government, Department for Business and Trade, Department of Health and Social Care, Home Office

Found:  Farnborough Airshow works with DBT, MoD, and the Home Office.  Most venues engage via local authorities

Found: more often with local authorities through LAEOG and the LGA and indeed perhaps even DCMS and the Home Office

Found: Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the primary policy and funding interface, while the Home Office

Found:  Cabinet Office, DCMS, DEFRA, Home Office (via Counter Terrorism Policing re: Martyn’s Law), and Local

Found: Suggestions made by the Home Office that legislation was being considered to give the police further

Found: His research has been funded by the Home Office, RCUK, European Union and various industries.

Found: Government Bodies The UKCMA and its members engage with multiple Government touchpoints, including:  Home Office

Found: We are not just seeing that in this area; we are seeing it in the Home Office and a whole range of stuff

Found: There is a risk that we put the capacity of the Home Office into things that will not reduce the flows

Found: It is possible for the Home Office to transfer the sponsorship from one institution to another.

Found: We would request that the Home Office make it clear as to whether the standardisation between forces

Found: Home Office findings published in February 2024 can be found here. 3 Why Fraud Policing Needs a Redesign

Found: . • Use bicycle theft as a public productivity benchmark in the Home Office dashboard, and replicate

Found: In the past 5 years, we have worked with the six national policing organisations, including the Home Office

Found: Recommendation: The Home Office and College of Policing should: - Issue technical guidance on integrating

Found: Reason for submitting To help the Committee scrutinise how the Home Office is supporting police forces

Found: He stated that ‘forces have recognised this for many years and the Home Office is aware of the concerns

Found: IPP0005 - Increasing police productivity Home Office Written Evidence

Found: (Strategic Policing Requirements) (Home Office, 2023).

Found: Institute’s programme on public sector productivity1, in particular a background review2 for the Home Office

Found: Productivity Review produced three reports with 61 practical, implementable recommendations for Home Office

Found: London Police operates Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, funded by the Home Office

Found: The Home Office should learn from the Police Scotland example and the number of territorial police forces

Found: Home Office, Home Office, Home Office, College of Policing, and College of Policing Oral Evidence

Found: Letter from the Chair to the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office relating to Immigration: Skilled

Found: Letter from the Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office relating to the Home Office Asylum Accommodation

Found: Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office relating to proposed extensions to recommendations

Found: Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office relating to a clarification of the Government’

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what responsibilities his Department has in providing alternative safe, legal and compliant space for the Crowborough Cadets at Crowborough Training Camp, in the context of its proposed use for asylum seeker accommodation.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Government takes the safety and wellbeing of all Cadets extremely seriously. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to work with the Home Office to assess the potential impact that housing asylum seekers on military bases could have on our Cadet Forces and future activities, and to develop any necessary mitigating actions. Our priority is ensuring these developments have limited impact on our Cadets, and we will always apply the appropriate safeguarding measures so that we can continue delivering Cadet programmes. We will also ensure that staff, Cadets and their families are kept abreast of any updates.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the guidance entitled the approvals process for the creation of new arm's-length bodies, published on 15 March 2018, whether the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Team assessed the National Centre of Policing against the requirement that the creation of a new arms length body should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the tests in chapter 2 of that guidance it overcame.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The initial intention to explore a National Centre of Policing was announced by the then Home Secretary at the APCC/NPCC Conference in November 2024, as part of outlining their ambition for police reform. The Home Office will publish a White Paper on Police Reform in due course. If those proposals include establishing a new Arm's Length Body (ALB), then the standard process for establishing an ALB will be followed.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what responsibilities he has for the Crowborough cadets at Crowborough training camp.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Government takes the safety and wellbeing of all Cadets extremely seriously. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to work with the Home Office to assess the potential impact that housing asylum seekers on military bases could have on our Cadet Forces and future activities, and to develop any necessary mitigating actions. Our priority is ensuring these developments have limited impact on our Cadets, and we will always apply the appropriate safeguarding measures so that we can continue delivering Cadet programmes. We will also ensure that staff, Cadets and their families are kept abreast of any updates.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an application under Section 293B Town and County Planning Act 1990 in relation to the Crowborough Training Camp.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Asylum is a Home Office lead. As such, The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not made an application under Section 293B Town and County Planning Act 1990 in relation to Crowborough Training Camp and the MOD has not received any planning objections from Wealden District Council on the use of Crowborough Training Camp as asylum accommodation.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any objection has been received from Wealden District Council as the Local Planning Authority on the use of Crowborough Training Camp as asylum accommodation.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Asylum is a Home Office lead. As such, The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not made an application under Section 293B Town and County Planning Act 1990 in relation to Crowborough Training Camp and the MOD has not received any planning objections from Wealden District Council on the use of Crowborough Training Camp as asylum accommodation.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an application under Section 293B Town and County Planning Act 1990 in relation to the Crowborough Training Camp.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Asylum is a Home Office lead. As such, The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not made an application under Section 293B Town and County Planning Act 1990 in relation to Crowborough Training Camp and the MOD has not received any planning objections from Wealden District Council on the use of Crowborough Training Camp as asylum accommodation.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government which recommendations of the Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review, published in March 2023, have been taken forward; and which recommendations have not been taken forward; and why.

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

The Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review made 17 recommendations for reform. Of these, eight fall within the remit of the Ministry of Justice, five of which were accepted. The previous Government introduced a statutory aggravating factor for murders involving ‘overkill’, and a statutory aggravating factor and a statutory mitigating factor for murder in relation to controlling or coercive behaviour, which came into force in February 2024. This Government introduced statutory aggravating factors for murders connected with the end of a relationship, and for those involving strangulation, which came into force in October 2025.

The Ministry of Justice rejected three recommendations, including the recommendation to disapply the 25-year starting point in domestic murder cases. Implementing this recommendation would lead to significant inconsistency between domestic and non-domestic murders where a weapon has been taken to the scene. The Government rejected the Review’s recommendation to exclude sexual infidelity as mitigation and to exclude the use of a weapon as aggravation in domestic murder cases because the framework currently in place already enables judges to consider and account for the varied facts of each case.

Two of the recommendations fall within the remit of other Government Departments. The review recommended establishing a system for collecting data relevant to domestic homicides. The Home Office, in partnership with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, created a central library for all Domestic Homicide Reviews. The recommendation to create mandatory training for lawyers and judges on coercive control is not within Government’s remit, so the previous Government wrote to the judiciary and regulatory bodies for solicitors and barristers to offer support with any potential review of training. The CPS already provides a comprehensive training package on domestic abuse and coercive or controlling behaviour.

The remaining seven recommendations fall under the remit of the independent Sentencing Council. In April 2024, following consultation, the Sentencing Council made changes to the manslaughter sentencing guidelines relating to strangulation and coercive control.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what conversations the Department has had with relevant stakeholders in the North East regarding the Shared Rural Network.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

In the North East, the Shared Rural Network is currently planning to upgrade nine Home Office Emergency Services Network sites across the regions of Durham and Northumbria. The programme has primarily engaged with Northumberland County Council who the department has met with twice in the last six months. Previously the Department and its delivery partner Mova have engaged with the Borderlands Partnership and spoken to key audiences at Connected North. The Department and Mova have also responded to enquires from local stakeholders, including elected members.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that individuals whose immigration status no longer entitles them to public funds are automatically removed from benefit systems; and how many such removals have taken place in each of the last five years.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Universal Credit systems carry out daily automatic checks against Home Office data to identify any changes in immigration status, and subsequently, DWP caseworkers stop claims where the individual no longer has an immigration status that permits recourse to public funds.

However, the department does not hold data on the number of benefit claims disallowed after a review.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer to question 86550 answered on 7 November 2025, whether he will publish the dates of meetings that took place between his Department and the Home Office to enable the establishment of MILLWEC as an alternative to SACMILL.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Surgeon General advised the Executive Committee of the Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons (SACMILL) which includes Home Office representation, of the Public Bodies Review at a meeting in December 2024. A series of meetings were held between Ministry of Defence and Home Office officials between January 2025 and October 2025. This included representatives from Public Bodies teams and the Cabinet Office and enabled the establishment of an alternative mechanism within the Home Office.

As outlined in the previous response, the closure of SACMILL is an important step in Defence’s Arm’s length Body reform journey and the closure and standing up of MILLWEC was agreed by Ministerial write round.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Government Departments use a ministerial car.

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

The Government Car Service (GCS) provides Departmental Pool Cars (DPC) to the following Government departments:

• Attorney General’s Office

• Cabinet Office

• Department for Business and Trade

• Department for Culture, Media and Sport

• Department for Education

• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

• Department for Health and Social Care

• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

• Department for Transport

• Department for Work and Pensions

• HM Treasury

• Home Office

• Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government

• Ministry of Justice

• Scotland Office

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect swans from harm caused by catapults in Newbury constituency.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously, including those involving the use of catapults to cause harm to swans, in Newbury or anywhere else in the country.

Although catapults are not listed as prohibited weapons in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, within this legislation there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure or inflict harm on wild birds. The Government therefore believes sufficient legislation is already in place to protect them from targeted use of catapults.

Defra is also a principal funder of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations.

However, Defra recognises the misuse of catapults is causing great concern to some local communities and are working with the Home Office to find solutions to this problem with the aim of increasing protection to our wildlife from crimes involving these weapons.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the strategy entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, if she will meet with animal welfare organisations to discuss that strategy.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Officials engaged with animal welfare organisations during the development of the strategy, and Minister Vallance has met with animal welfare organisation representatives, including RSCPA on 26.11.24, Animal Free Research on 01.04.25, Lush UK on 15.05.25, the Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research on 01.04.2025, and hosted a roundtable for wider representatives on 14.05.25.

The Government discussed the strategy with animal welfare organisations on the day it was published as part of regular engagement with the Home Office.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of implementing the measures set out by The Joanna Simpson Foundation and Children Heard and Seen on support for children bereaved by domestic homicide.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government recognises the dreadful impact of all domestic abuse-related deaths on children and families. This is why the Home Office funds Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse to support those bereaved by deaths in this way.

Every child deserves the right mental health support, particularly in times of grief, which is why we updated the statutory relationships and health education curriculum to give teachers clear guidance on how to best support pupils with bereavement. We are also expanding access to mental health support teams in all schools, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services in their community.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on departmental responsibility for cannabis-based medicinal products.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Home Office leads on drug legislation and the Department of Health and Social Care and its Arm’s Length Bodies oversee healthcare and medicine regulation. This regulatory framework applies to all drugs under Schedules 1-5 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, including cannabis-based products for medicinal use.

No changes are planned to the current responsibilities. The Government has asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to review the impact of the 2018 change in the law, which enabled the widened use of cannabis-based products for medicines, and will consider the recommendations in the usual way.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what measures he is taking her to support rental applications by individuals or families who are victims of domestic abuse.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

This government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse. This is part of the government’s wider mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

Since 2021, local authorities in England have a statutory duty to ensure victims of domestic abuse and their children fleeing their homes can access support within safe accommodation when they need it. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provided local authorities in England £160 million in 2025/26, a £30 million uplift from the previous year, to support delivery of this duty.

On 10 July 2025, regulations came into force meaning that victims of domestic abuse moving as a result of that abuse will no longer need to meet a local connection or residency test in order to access social housing; recognising the unique challenges they can face, such as fleeing an unsafe home to seek safety or support.

In addition, the Home Office is investing £1.96 million into a Flexible Fund, delivered by Women’s Aid and over 470 partner services, to support victims in England and Wales escaping abuse. This includes the option of a one-time payment of up to £2,500 to facilitate survivors’ transition to a more stable and independent future. For example, enabling them to put down a deposit for rental accommodation.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of domestic abuse who urgently require alternative accommodation.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

This government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse. This is part of the government’s wider mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

Since 2021, local authorities in England have a statutory duty to ensure victims of domestic abuse and their children fleeing their homes can access support within safe accommodation when they need it. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provided local authorities in England £160 million in 2025/26, a £30 million uplift from the previous year, to support delivery of this duty.

On 10 July 2025, regulations came into force meaning that victims of domestic abuse moving as a result of that abuse will no longer need to meet a local connection or residency test in order to access social housing; recognising the unique challenges they can face, such as fleeing an unsafe home to seek safety or support.

In addition, the Home Office is investing £1.96 million into a Flexible Fund, delivered by Women’s Aid and over 470 partner services, to support victims in England and Wales escaping abuse. This includes the option of a one-time payment of up to £2,500 to facilitate survivors’ transition to a more stable and independent future. For example, enabling them to put down a deposit for rental accommodation.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghan nationals have been offered sanctuary under (a) the Afghan Relocations and Resettlement scheme, (b) ARAP and (c) ACRS; how many of those remain in Afghanistan; and what assessment he has made of the risks to those Afghans following the recent data breach.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Though in previous responses to Parliamentary Questions the Department have released internal ARAP data, as the Home Office now publish Afghanistan Resettlement Programme (ARP) data on behalf of the Government, the number of Afghan nationals who have been offered relocation and have resettled in the UK can be found in the Home Office statistics linked below. Information relating to the number of Afghans who remain in Afghanistan who have received an offer of relocation has been withheld as release would risk revealing the identity and the safety of those relocating. Furthermore, this release would be likely to damage UK interests abroad.

Link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 38,700 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.

Afghanistan Resettlement Schemes operational data is published quarterly with the last publication on the 21 August 2025.

The data published within the immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2025, published 21 August 2025) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter.

The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows:

19,048 under ARAP. 10,160 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 1,406 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 1,679 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.

As recognised by the Rimmer Review, the human rights picture in Afghanistan was dire, prior to and regardless of the data loss incident.

However, while Afghanistan remains a dangerous place, the Rimmer Review does conclude that it is “highly unlikely” that merely being on the dataset would be grounds for targeting, and that it is unlikely that family members will be targeted simply because the principal appears in the dataset. It also concludes that the dataset is unlikely to substantially change an individual’s existing exposure given the volume of data already available to the Taleban and the fact that links to the former Government are widely known.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to review security measures for the 2028 European Championships in Birmingham.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The government is committed to ensuring the EURO 2028 football tournament is a safe, secure and enjoyable event for all. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working closely with the Home Office, policing partners, delivery bodies and a range of organisations to ensure comprehensive and proportionate security plans are in place at a national and local level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring responsibility for medical cannabis policy and governance to his Department in line with Schedule 2 medicines.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Home Office is the lead department for controlled drug legislation, whilst the Department of Health and Social Care and its Arm's Length Bodies lead on healthcare and the regulation of medicines. This framework applies to all drugs under Schedules 1 to 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, including cannabis-based products for medicinal use. The Government has no plans to change this.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office work closely with other system partners in developing and reviewing the policy on controlled drugs in healthcare, including cannabis-based products for medicinal use.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2025 to Question 85934, if HMRC utilised or was given access to passenger name records as part of the Data Usage Agreement with the Home Office.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC did not directly access passenger name records held by the Home Office as part of its efforts to reduce Child Benefit non-compliance. The process involves HMRC sharing a data set with the Home Office, which includes the Child Benefit claimant’s name. Matches returned by the Home Office also include the Child Benefit claimant’s name. Both data sets were assessed and agreed for data minimisation purposes.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghans were brought to the UK via the Afghan Response Route in each month the scheme was open.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As the responsible Department, the Home Office produce quarterly statistics for immigration. These statistics are broken down by the route in which the individual entered the UK. The Afghan Response Route (ARR) is included and can be accessed via the link below:

safe-legal-routes-summary-tables-jun-2025.ods

As of 4 July 2025, the ARR is closed.

This Government continues to support the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP) and is taking seriously our commitment to deliver on our promise to our Afghan friends and allies – many of whom stood side-by-side with the UK's Armed Forces in Afghanistan. By the end of this Parliament, we aim to have successfully honoured our obligation to complete relocations of eligible persons.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out whether any military bases within the UK are being used for non-military purposes.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Currently, three military bases have been made available to the Home Office to support their efforts in providing accommodation for asylum seekers.

In addition, the Ministry of Defence permits third parties to use its bases for activities, provided these are compatible with military operations. This arrangement also generates income for the Department.

Found: four departments involved – DWP , the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office

Found: report, the government announced that responsibility for fire safety would transfer from the Home Office

Found: The Home Office should work with GATE Herts, with a view to creating more physical reporting

Found: Byron Camilleri MP, hosted the Home Office Migration Director to discuss migration challenges, deterrence

Found: Byron Camilleri MP, hosted the Home Office Migration Director to discuss migration challenges, deterrence

Found: Award Volume % of total VCSE Award Value VCSE Award Value % of total DHSC 231 23% £1.8bn 25% Home Office

Found: There are some specific issues with self-defined ethnicity as outlined by the Home Office here.

Found: Source: Home Office Table 8.05a: Police officers in post (full-time equivalents) by self defined ethnicity

Found: There are some specific issues with self-defined ethnicity as outlined by the Home Office here.

Found: Source: Home Office Homicide Index Ethnic appearance of victim [note 3] Apr 2014 to Mar 2015 Apr 2015

Found: grown using international student forecasts, which are based on existing data from HESA and the Home Office

Found: 3.99 Data Volume and value of illegal working civil penalties, Q3 2024-Q2 2025 Data sources Home Office

Found: Local government: 0 Department for Transport 200 200 Department for Work and Pensions 170 163 Home Office

Found: billion reduction in costly NHS agency spend in 2024-25, and clamping down on consultancy in the Home Office

Found: billion reduction in costly NHS agency spend in 2024-25, and clamping down on consultancy in the Home Office

Found: of investment of 3.2% in 2028 -29 excluding the funds it provides to frontline services), the Home Office

Found: Licensing Policy Framework For the hospitality and leisure sectors England and Wales November 2025 Home Office

Found: Health and Social Care Department for Science, Innovation and T echnology Department for Transport Home Office

Found: The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Home Office are working with local

Found: As a joint Minister between the Cabinet Office and the Home Office, I have heard from my policing colleagues

Found: officers joined the force from a range of backgrounds, with some having previous experience in Home Office

Found: . • The Home Office will publish guidance before the Act comes into force and will build on materials

Found: At the SIA, we need to be operationally independent from the Home Office, law enforcement and other partners

Found: this role, now feels like the right moment for a new challenge and I’m excited to return to the Home Office

Found: I was also able to get involved with meetings between Immigration Litigation and Home Office Legal Advisers

Found: reference and initial workplan for comment from ministers in the UK Government in HM Treasury, Home Office

Found: several days at Sellafield and Culham, the exercise prepares the officers for their upcoming Non-Home Office

Found: International Limited 223190 11/06/202 1 31/05/202 1 16/08/202 1 33.07 Home Office

Found: Specialists Association.  276,000 (headcount)  £33.5 billion  United Kingdom  NCARRB Statutory Home Office

Found: In line with the requirements of section 204, the Home Office has consulted the Scottish Government

Found: The Home Office has published statutory guidance about the procedures that relevant organisations can

Found: This tends to apply if the work area is a garage or outbuilding and not just a home office set up.

Found: and do not need to hold a specific type of immigration visa • visa schemes established by the Home Office

Found: Home Office Resettlement Grants Home Office resettlement grants for refugees are treated as capital

Found: in regulations may be available: • victims of modern slavery who have been identified by the Home Office

Found: Home office check Settled status Certificate of application No information from the Home Office EU

Found: supported by a local authority in local authority social housing - citizen supported by the Home Office

Found: victim of modern slavery who is the subject of a positive Conclusive Grounds decision from the Home Office

Found: The Home Office can provide Asylum Support in the form of money and housing until a decision is made

Found: In these cases, the individual can apply to the Home Office for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) to allow

Found: placed on their freedom of movement Victims of Modern Slavery who have been identified by the Home Office

Found: In doing so, we ask the Home Office to work with us to ensure that people seeking protection including

Found: As part of supporting joint working across the UK for the purposes of public protection, the Home Office

Found: above.2) Data sharing and information governance2.1 Current data-sharing agreements/MOUs with the Home Office

Found: the rank of Chief Superintendent, and the fifth has been passed to UKG for progression by the Home Office

Found: o If the EDM image also relates to their residence eligibility (for example, an EU passport or Home Office

Found: you have requested.As asylum and immigration are reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office

Found: It is now called Seasonal Worker Visa scheme, operated by the Home Office, and they have for 2025 issued

Found: The Welsh Government has made frequent requests for this information but was informed by the Home Office

Found: The Welsh Government has made frequent requests for this information but was informed by the Home Office

Found: Partners in Wales are also 12 working with the Home Office to trial more timely Home Office responses

We call on the Welsh Government to condemn and take action against White Vanguard, whose members have joined weekly demonstrations outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rhoose, which is housing Afghan families who are here legally under a Government resettlement scheme. The group displays antisemitic slogans, performs Nazi salutes, and spreads racist conspiracy theories, threatening community safety and cohesion.

Found: While proscribing extremist groups is a UK Home Office matter, we call on the Welsh Government to: •