Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) discussions they have had, and (2) steps they have taken, to ensure that (a) policing of demonstrations of active support, (b) arrests, and (c) prosecutions, in relation to Palestine Action are carried out in a consistent manner throughout all parts of the UK.

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

The police are operationally independent of Government and have significant experience in policing protests and ensuring proscription orders are implemented fairly and in line with legislation. The police, through the College of Policing, also review and formulate guidance to ensure that the law is consistently applied in every part of the UK and by every police force. The Home Office also maintains regular contact with policing to ensure that there is appropriate oversight as the police carry out their statutory duties.

Decisions on arrests and prosecutions in relation to Palestine Action are a matter for the police and the prosecuting authorities in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Palestine Action was proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT), which clearly states what constitutes proscribed activity (including in support of a proscribed group). The law is applicable in all parts of the UK.

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. The proscription of Palestine Action does not diminish the right to lawfully protest or support Palestinian rights. This government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to express their views, but they should do so within the bounds of the law.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government why 2020 was the year used as the basis for data to support the decision to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners and whether more up-to-date information is now available.

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

The cost of local police governance, according to data published by Office of Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales, was approximately £93m in 2023/24. We are working with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to obtain more up to date information about the costs of police governance, to inform ongoing work on the design and implementation of alternative governance arrangements.

We expect to be able save at least £20m per annum from 2028/29 as a result of aligning back office and support arrangements for policing governance with wider local government functions. We will be undertaking work to identify further savings as part of our work on future governance arrangements.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence there is that the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners has had an adverse impact on the (1) number, and (2) quality, of candidates for the post of chief constable and whether they will publish this evidence.

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

Following the announcement by the Policing Minister on 13 November that the government will abolish Police and Crime Commissioners, we are working with local government and policing to design new arrangements for the oversight of policing, including relationships between Chief Constables.

Further detail will be set out in the forthcoming Police Reform White Paper.

The Home Office does not collect data on Chief Constable tenure.

Despite the efforts of many individual PCCs, the model of a direct 1:1 relationship between elected Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables has not always facilitated effective management of police forces.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence is available for their estimate that the abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners would save £20m a year.

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

The cost of local police governance, according to data published by Office of Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales, was approximately £93m in 2023/24. We are working with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to obtain more up to date information about the costs of police governance, to inform ongoing work on the design and implementation of alternative governance arrangements.

We expect to be able save at least £20m per annum from 2028/29 as a result of aligning back office and support arrangements for policing governance with wider local government functions. We will be undertaking work to identify further savings as part of our work on future governance arrangements.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what methods she and her Department are using to monitor and assess levels of freight crime; what steps are being taken to engage with law enforcement agencies and the haulage industry to identify effective prevention measures; and how her Department plans to ensure robust enforcement against those responsible.

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 drivers. The perception this crime is low risk and high reward is completely unacceptable.

We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and invested stakeholders to find solutions to tackle these crimes.

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.

We also work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, including freight crime, and with the National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), a policing unit set up to investigate vehicle crime, including freight crime. We have regular discussions with both units about tackling organised freight crime.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of levels of freight crime; and what steps she is taking to improve prevention and enforcement activity to protect haulage operators.

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 drivers. The perception this crime is low risk and high reward is completely unacceptable.

We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and invested stakeholders to find solutions to tackle these crimes.

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.

We also work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, including freight crime, and with the National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), a policing unit set up to investigate vehicle crime, including freight crime. We have regular discussions with both units about tackling organised freight crime.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of visa applicants whose applications were denied due to criminal records relating to sex offences since 2020.

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

We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.

We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what checks are carried out during visa applications to identify previous sexual offence convictions overseas.

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

We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.

We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that applicants whose visa cases take longer than service standards are provided with timely updates.

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

UKVI are currently processing applications on the overwhelming majority of its visa routes within their published customer service standards. Visa processing times are published on the UKVI website at Visa processing times: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK

It may take longer to process an application if:

• the information in the application is not accurate or needs more consideration
• further evidence needs to be provided, for example evidence of funds
• supporting documents need to be verified
• an interview is required
• we need more information on personal circumstances (for example if there is a criminal conviction)

Customers are informed if their application will take longer to process.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process will her Department follow in order to set the visa allocations under the Seasonal Worker Scheme beyond 2026; and what factors will be considered when tapering the allocation.

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

The UK Government is committed to supporting the UK Horticulture sector, but it is also important that the sector reduces its ongoing reliance on significant numbers of seasonal workers from overseas. Decisions on future allocations will take into account a broad range of factors including, current usage, steps taken to reduce ongoing reliance, such as the adoption of automative technology, and the ongoing costs of operating the route, including compliance and asylum costs.

The Home Office will work closely with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to determine future scheme allocations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of removals of individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK; and what assessment she has made of current capacity for enforced returns.

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

The government has set out plans to increase returns in the policy paper entitled “Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy”, updated on 21 November 2025. This can be viewed on gov.uk at Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy (accessible) - GOV.UK

The immigration removal estate is kept under constant review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient resilience, geographical footprint and capacity for the men and women it is necessary to detain for the purposes of removal, while providing value for money.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on whether accommodation providers or subcontractors have used third-party agencies to purchase residential properties in Northern Ireland intended for use in accommodating asylum seekers.

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

Home Office accommodation Providers procure accommodation on behalf of the Home Office for use as asylum accommodation, this can be either via purchasing or letting accommodation available on the property market and they work with a range of landlords and agents to do so.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of foreign national sex offenders were subject to deportation orders in each year since 2020.

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

The information you have requested is not available from published statistics.

Work is currently underway to improve the quality of information held by the department on foreign national offenders (FNOs). Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.

We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit serious crimes will face the full force of the law and be deported at the earliest opportunity.

Between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025 this government has returned over 5,400 FNOs, a 12 per cent increase on the previous twelve months and we will continue to crack down on any foreign nationals who come to this country and break our laws.

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 of procuring residential accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland on (a) the availability of and (b) waiting times for social housing.

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

Accommodation for people seeking asylum in Northern Ireland is procured by Home Office Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract providers from the private rented sector and does not draw on social housing stock. Northern Ireland is not part of the Full Dispersal arrangements, so only those who claim asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there. On that basis, the Department does not assess a direct impact on either the availability of, or waiting times for, social housing.

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 of introducing a 15-year route to settlement on migrants on low wages.

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

The earned settlement model, proposed in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessment, which we have committed to publish in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that refugees who cannot return to their home country are not left without a viable long-term immigration route as a result of changes to settlement policy.

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

This Government has never operated a policy of automatic settlement for refugees granted limited permission to remain. We will carefully manage the transition into the new system, with the details remaining subject to ongoing policy development.

All settlement applications will continue to be carefully considered on their individual merits and this includes assessing whether there have been significant changes in country conditions or personal circumstances, which means that an individual no longer needs our protection.

We will not remove anyone to their own or any other country where they have a well-founded fear or persecution or are at risk of serious harm.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether changes to immigration rules will apply retrospectively to BNO visa holders in the UK.

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

The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK.

BN(O) visa holders will attract a 5-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after 5 years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements.

We are seeking views on earned settlement through the public consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and will continue to listen to the views of Hong Kongers. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation, including when the Rules will apply from and any transitional arrangements that will apply.

In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of lengthening the qualifying period for settlement from five years to ten years for young adults and children under Appendix Private Life to the Immigration Rules.

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

The earned settlement model, proposed in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.

The consultation directly seeks views on retaining the current arrangement, whereby children and young adults who grew up in the UK without immigration status my settle five years after regularising that status.

Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessment, which we have committed to publish in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether transitional arrangements will be introduced for refugees approaching the five-year residency point for Indefinite Leave to Remain, in the context of the Government’s proposed changes to settlement pathways.

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

This Government has never operated a policy of automatic settlement for refugees granted limited permission to remain. We will carefully manage the transition into the new system, with the details remaining subject to ongoing policy development.

All settlement applications will continue to be carefully considered on their individual merits and this includes assessing whether there have been significant changes in country conditions or personal circumstances, which means that an individual no longer needs our protection.

We will not remove anyone to their own or any other country where they have a well-founded fear or persecution or are at risk of serious harm.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, given the forthcoming report of the Cranston Public Inquiry into the tragic loss of 27 lives in the English Channel in November 2021, has she undertaken a review of Channel operations, and the search and rescue capability UK Border Force provides to His Majesty's Coastguard.

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

It would be wrong to pre-empt the findings and recommendations of a public inquiry, but it should be noted that considerable improvements had been made in how UK authorities detect and respond to these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossing attempts of the Channel, even before the Cranston Inquiry was announced.

The Home Office will study the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry when they are delivered.

Our thoughts remain with the loved ones of those many people who were lost in this appalling tragedy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants crossing the Channel in small boats present with either pre-existing medical conditions or injuries, or with injuries sustained from the crossing itself.

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

These records are not held in a readily retrievable form, and it would only be possible to provide the information being sought at a disproportionate cost.

Migrants who have made dangerous, illegal, and unnecessary crossings of the Channel by small boat do sometimes present with injuries such as petrol burns, or dangerous medical conditions such as hypothermia. Our response to these crossings is reducing the risk to safety of life at sea, and the Home Office has a reception process which includes assessment of all arrivals by suitably qualified medical personnel.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration cases have been delayed due to legal challenges under the Human Rights Act in the past five years.

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

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, how many individuals assessed as posing a national security risk have absconded from immigration control in each of the last five years.

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

The first priority of Government is protecting our national security and the safety of our people. As a matter of longstanding Government policy, we do not comment on the detail of national security and intelligence matters.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what transitional support will be provided to the families who are already on Indefinite Leave to Remain.

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

We are not changing the rules for those who have already gained settled status. Similarly, no reforms are planned that would remove settlement from those people already holding that status legitimately.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department operates any concession or discretionary process for partner visa holders whose entry to the UK was delayed due to government-mandated COVID-19 travel restrictions and red-list hotel quarantine.

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

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the department considered the impact on people qualifying for settlement and, as a result, concessions were put in place, including where discretion will be exercised regarding the qualifying period for settlement. These are set out in the Family Life guidance: Family life and exceptional circumstances: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has assessed the impact of COVID-19 border restrictions on the ability of spouse visa holders to meet the five-year qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

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

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the department considered the impact on people qualifying for settlement and, as a result, concessions were put in place, including where discretion will be exercised regarding the qualifying period for settlement. These are set out in the Family Life guidance: Family life and exceptional circumstances: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure consistent implementation of the NPCC 2025 Abnormal Loads Guidance by police forces, particularly regarding caravan transporter escorts and charging practices.

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

Police implementation of the National Police Chiefs Council 2025 Abnormal Loads Guidance on the escorting and charging for abnormal loads remains an operational decision for Chief Officers of forces, reflecting and accounting for conditions and priorities in their areas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will publish data on the number of ‘change of circumstances’ applications received last year from people with No Recourse to Public Funds status due to homelessness, and how many applicants gained access to public funds as a result.

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

Information on change of conditions is published at Migration transparency data - GOV.UK in the Immigration and protection dataset.

When an individual is considered for assessment of Change of Conditions, various No Recourse to Public Funds conditions are checked, with ‘destitution’ being one of these conditions.

The specific 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 recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current deterrence measures aimed at reducing illegal Channel crossings; and what further steps she plans to take to prevent small-boat arrivals.

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

The Government has taken significant steps to address illegal migration and its Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks which facilitate it. Since July 2024, nearly 50,000 individuals without lawful status have been removed from the UK. Our agreement with France means that those arriving by small boats can be detained and returned to France.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and the overarching impact assessment for this can be found here:

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK

The Government is continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our measures in place to tackle small boats. As stated in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the Border Security Command will be publishing an annual report, which must state the Commander’s views on the performance in the financial year of the border security system. This is set out in the Act here:

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025

Border security is fundamental to both our national security and economic security and evaluating our approach is a critical part of that.

On 17 November, this Government published a statement entitled “Restoring Order and Control” which set out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and illegal migration system. The statement outlined the current challenges, the Government’s objectives, and a comprehensive package of measures to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the system. The Government is working at pace on the legislative and policy changes required and will set out timelines for implementation in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has considered introducing a statutory requirement for annual DBS renewals for individuals engaged in regulated activity with children and vulnerable adults.

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

Criminal record certificates issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) have a vital role to play in reducing the risk of harm but should always be used as part of an organisation’s broader safeguarding practices and policies, including for example taking up references from previous employers.

Where an individual joins the Update Service provided by DBS, they are able to keep their certificate up to date by giving employers permission to check if anything has changed on their certificate, as long as the role is in the same workforce as the existing certificate. The Update Service allows employers to undertake instant online checking of DBS certificates. This system regularly re-checks a registered individual and if new information is found triggers a “change in status”. This means that when the employer undertakes a status check, they will be informed that new information has come to light since the DBS certificate was issued and that they should apply for a new DBS check.

The Update Service is free to use for volunteers and costs £16 a year for paid employees. Further information and details of how to subscribe can be found at https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service.

Except in some sectors like health and education, where DBS checks are mandated by the sector through statutory guidance or regulatory requirements, the use of DBS checks is at the discretion of the employer. It is the responsibility of individual sectors and organsations to decide the frequency of checks on their employees working in regulated activity.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the safeguarding risks posed by (a) DBS certificates not automatically updating after issue and (b) the current DBS system in general.

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

Criminal record certificates issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) have a vital role to play in reducing the risk of harm but should always be used as part of an organisation’s broader safeguarding practices and policies, including for example taking up references from previous employers.

Where an individual joins the Update Service provided by DBS, they are able to keep their certificate up to date by giving employers permission to check if anything has changed on their certificate, as long as the role is in the same workforce as the existing certificate. The Update Service allows employers to undertake instant online checking of DBS certificates. This system regularly re-checks a registered individual and if new information is found triggers a “change in status”. This means that when the employer undertakes a status check, they will be informed that new information has come to light since the DBS certificate was issued and that they should apply for a new DBS check.

The Update Service is free to use for volunteers and costs £16 a year for paid employees. Further information and details of how to subscribe can be found at https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service.

Except in some sectors like health and education, where DBS checks are mandated by the sector through statutory guidance or regulatory requirements, the use of DBS checks is at the discretion of the employer. It is the responsibility of individual sectors and organsations to decide the frequency of checks on their employees working in regulated activity.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will confirm funding for perpetrator intervention services for the next financial year.

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

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is.

We have committed to several measures in the recently published Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy that aim to disrupt perpetrators in the community and reduce revictimisation. We will:

• Significantly expand access to tailored interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators, for first-time offenders to higher-risk perpetrators.
• Prioritise rapid expansion of the Drive Project, investing £53 million over four years, ensuring that there is access to a proven response for the most dangerous domestic abuse perpetrators across England and Wales within three years.

This landmark investment into disrupting the behaviour of perpetrators is about shifting the way we combat domestic abuse, putting the responsibility for ending abuse on those who cause it.

We have confirmed continuation of funding of the current Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund for a period of six months from April 2026 to provide continuity ahead of anticipated competitions.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current criminal and civil remedies available to victims of intimate image abuse; and with reference to Baroness Bertin's independent report entitled Creating a Safer World – the Challenge of Regulating Online Pornography, published in February 2025, whether she has assessed the potential merits of that report's recommendations on an independent redress mechanism to support victims whose images have been shared without consent.

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

Work to address the circulation of non-consensual intimate image (NCII) content online is an important part of the government’s ambition to halve VAWG in a decade, and the recently published VAWG Strategy includes a commitment to explore routes to ensure that intimate images that are taken, created or shared without consent are removed online.

It is vital that victims and survivors have access to the support they need when they need it most. The Home Office provides funding to the Revenge Porn Helpline, which offers high-quality support and advice to victims of NCII abuse, engages with law enforcement and other stakeholders to improve the response to intimate image abuse, and raises awareness of the nature of NCII abuse and the harm that it can cause.

The Government committed in the VAWG Strategy to create a joint team, across the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to address the issues detailed in Baroness Bertin’s Independent Pornography Review and rigorously examine the evidence to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy. Further details on this will be shared in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department has allocated to tackling violence against women and girls since 5 July 2024.

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

The Home Office allocated £74 million in FY2024/2025 and £122.3 million in FY2025/2026 to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

Our investment funds a range of vital frontline support services to victims of VAWG, improving police response to VAWG and tackling the root causes of VAWG.

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. The cross-government VAWG Strategy,published on 18 December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver our unprecedented commitment to halve VAWG in a decade. The Strategy is backed by at least £1 billion funding across government over the spending review period.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish guidance to clarify the legal position of children aged 13 to 16 under section 75 of the Crime and Policing Bill.

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

Before commencing the new duty to report child sexual abuse, the Government will provide an appropriate period of time to prepare relevant sectors for implementation. This will include the development and publication of guidance for reporters.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether support for a proscribed terrorist organisation automatically qualifies for deprivation of citizenship on the understanding of being conducive to the public good.

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

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Secretary of State with the power to deprive an individual of their British citizenship where:

• The Secretary of State is satisfied that it would be conducive to the public good;

• The person acquired citizenship as a result of fraud, false representations or concealment of a material fact

The Government considers that deprivation on ‘conducive grounds’ is an appropriate response to activities such as those involving:

• National security, including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at this country or an allied power;

• Unacceptable behaviour of the kind mentioned in the then Home Secretary’s statement of 24 August 2005 (‘glorification’ of terrorism etc);

• War crimes; and

• Serious organised crime.

The Home Office publishes data relating to those deprived of British Citizenship on ‘conducive to the public good’ grounds. These are published in the Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Reports have been published up to 2024.

The figures from the previous five years, of individuals who have been deprived of their British citizenship for this reason, are below:

In the interest of safeguarding national security, we do not break down these figures into sub-categories.

This report also references s66 of the Immigration Act 2014, which allows the Secretary of State to deprive a person of their British citizenship on the ground it is conducive to the public good even if it would leave them stateless. To date, this power has not been used.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals were deprived of British citizenship under section 66 of the Immigration Act 2014 a) in the last year for which data is held and b) since its introduction.

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

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Secretary of State with the power to deprive an individual of their British citizenship where:

• The Secretary of State is satisfied that it would be conducive to the public good;

• The person acquired citizenship as a result of fraud, false representations or concealment of a material fact

The Government considers that deprivation on ‘conducive grounds’ is an appropriate response to activities such as those involving:

• National security, including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at this country or an allied power;

• Unacceptable behaviour of the kind mentioned in the then Home Secretary’s statement of 24 August 2005 (‘glorification’ of terrorism etc);

• War crimes; and

• Serious organised crime.

The Home Office publishes data relating to those deprived of British Citizenship on ‘conducive to the public good’ grounds. These are published in the Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Reports have been published up to 2024.

The figures from the previous five years, of individuals who have been deprived of their British citizenship for this reason, are below:

In the interest of safeguarding national security, we do not break down these figures into sub-categories.

This report also references s66 of the Immigration Act 2014, which allows the Secretary of State to deprive a person of their British citizenship on the ground it is conducive to the public good even if it would leave them stateless. To date, this power has not been used.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals have been deprived of British citizenship for being charged with supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation.

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

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Secretary of State with the power to deprive an individual of their British citizenship where:

• The Secretary of State is satisfied that it would be conducive to the public good;

• The person acquired citizenship as a result of fraud, false representations or concealment of a material fact

The Government considers that deprivation on ‘conducive grounds’ is an appropriate response to activities such as those involving:

• National security, including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at this country or an allied power;

• Unacceptable behaviour of the kind mentioned in the then Home Secretary’s statement of 24 August 2005 (‘glorification’ of terrorism etc);

• War crimes; and

• Serious organised crime.

The Home Office publishes data relating to those deprived of British Citizenship on ‘conducive to the public good’ grounds. These are published in the Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Reports have been published up to 2024.

The figures from the previous five years, of individuals who have been deprived of their British citizenship for this reason, are below:

In the interest of safeguarding national security, we do not break down these figures into sub-categories.

This report also references s66 of the Immigration Act 2014, which allows the Secretary of State to deprive a person of their British citizenship on the ground it is conducive to the public good even if it would leave them stateless. To date, this power has not been used.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she first became aware of the existence of the total absconder pool dataset.

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

The Secretary of State for the Home Department has no plans to commission an independent review into the Department's handling, recording, and disclosure of absconder data. The Department already undertakes:

• Regular internal audits and quality assurance checks to monitor data integrity and reporting standards.
• Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, including data protection legislation and parliamentary accountability.
• Existing independent scrutiny mechanisms, such as oversight by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and parliamentary committees, which provide assurance on operational performance and data handling.

The Department remains committed to maintaining robust and transparent processes, ensuring compliance with all relevant standards and obligations. It is also dedicated to continuous improvement and will review and strengthen its procedures whenever necessary.

The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions. Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.

All Parliamentary Questions are reviewed and cleared by Ministers prior to publication including those referring to absconders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of British citizens born (a) in the UK and (b) abroad who have been deported after their citizenship was revoked in each of the last 5 years.

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

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Secretary of State with the power to deprive an individual of their British citizenship where:

• The Secretary of State is satisfied that it would be conducive to the public good;

• The person acquired citizenship as a result of fraud, false representations or concealment of a material fact

The Government considers that deprivation on ‘conducive grounds’ is an appropriate response to activities such as those involving:

• National security, including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at this country or an allied power;

• Unacceptable behaviour of the kind mentioned in the then Home Secretary’s statement of 24 August 2005 (‘glorification’ of terrorism etc);

• War crimes; and

• Serious organised crime.

The Home Office publishes data relating to those deprived of British Citizenship on ‘conducive to the public good’ grounds. These are published in the Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Reports have been published up to 2024.

The figures from the previous five years of individuals who have been deprived of their British citizenship for this reason, are below:

In the interest of safeguarding national security, we do not break down these figures into sub-categories.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to review the British citizenship of dual nationals convicted of previously expressing violent, racist or xenophobic sentiments.

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

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Secretary of State with the power to deprive an individual of their British citizenship where:

• The Secretary of State is satisfied that it would be conducive to the public good;

• The person acquired citizenship as a result of fraud, false representations or concealment of a material fact

The Government considers that deprivation on ‘conducive grounds’ is an appropriate response to activities such as those involving:

• National security, including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at this country or an allied power;

• Unacceptable behaviour of the kind mentioned in the then Home Secretary’s statement of 24 August 2005 (‘glorification’ of terrorism etc);

• War crimes; and

• Serious organised crime.

The Home Office publishes data relating to those deprived of British Citizenship on ‘conducive to the public good’ grounds. These are published in the Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Reports have been published up to 2024.

The figures from the previous five years of individuals who have been deprived of their British citizenship for this reason, are below:

In the interest of safeguarding national security, we do not break down these figures into sub-categories.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 97805 on Police: Biometrics, what the (a) planned timescales and (b) terms of reference are for the two HMICFRS reviews referred to.

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

The Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Initial findings from independent testing carried out by the National Physical Laboratory were shared with the Home Office in March 2024. The draft findings showed a potential bias in the algorithm used by specially trained operators in police forces to search the Police National Database (PND). The findings were explored with the National Physical Laboratory, and risks and mitigations were discussed with policing experts. Home Office Ministers were first made aware of the bias in October 2024. The final report was provided in April 2025 and updated for publication in October 2025.

The Government has tasked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with support from the Forensic Science Regulator, to look at whether people have been affected by the bias as part of the inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. HMICFRS have begun scoping and planning for the inspection, which will begin before the end of March 2026. The inspection terms of reference will be published by HMICFRS.

A facial recognition match is only ever one piece of intelligence, as part of a wider police investigation. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the PND to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. These safeguards have always been in place to minimise the risk that the wrong person in the PND is subject to investigation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to UIN 97805 answered on 15 December 2025, whether estimates have been made of the number of potential misidentifications made by police as a result of potential bias in the PND facial search algorithm.

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

The Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Initial findings from independent testing carried out by the National Physical Laboratory were shared with the Home Office in March 2024. The draft findings showed a potential bias in the algorithm used by specially trained operators in police forces to search the Police National Database (PND). The findings were explored with the National Physical Laboratory, and risks and mitigations were discussed with policing experts. Home Office Ministers were first made aware of the bias in October 2024. The final report was provided in April 2025 and updated for publication in October 2025.

The Government has tasked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with support from the Forensic Science Regulator, to look at whether people have been affected by the bias as part of the inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. HMICFRS have begun scoping and planning for the inspection, which will begin before the end of March 2026. The inspection terms of reference will be published by HMICFRS.

A facial recognition match is only ever one piece of intelligence, as part of a wider police investigation. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the PND to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. These safeguards have always been in place to minimise the risk that the wrong person in the PND is subject to investigation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to UIN 97805 answered on 15 December 2025, when the Home Office first learned of potential bias in the current PND facial search algorithm.

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

The Home Office is aware of the risk of bias in facial recognition algorithms and supports policing in managing that risk. Initial findings from independent testing carried out by the National Physical Laboratory were shared with the Home Office in March 2024. The draft findings showed a potential bias in the algorithm used by specially trained operators in police forces to search the Police National Database (PND). The findings were explored with the National Physical Laboratory, and risks and mitigations were discussed with policing experts. Home Office Ministers were first made aware of the bias in October 2024. The final report was provided in April 2025 and updated for publication in October 2025.

The Government has tasked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, with support from the Forensic Science Regulator, to look at whether people have been affected by the bias as part of the inspection of police and relevant law enforcement agencies’ use of retrospective facial recognition. HMICFRS have begun scoping and planning for the inspection, which will begin before the end of March 2026. The inspection terms of reference will be published by HMICFRS.

A facial recognition match is only ever one piece of intelligence, as part of a wider police investigation. Manual safeguards, embedded in police training, operational practice, and guidance, require all potential matches returned from the PND to be visually assessed by a trained user and investigating officer. These safeguards have always been in place to minimise the risk that the wrong person in the PND is subject to investigation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the a) number and b) proportion of dependent visa holders who are employed.

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

An estimate of the number and proportion of dependant visa holders who are employed is not available, as not all the required information is held.

HMRC and Home Office have introduced a data sharing process to match visa data to administrative tax data. The Home Office published a research report on 12 May 2025 on the earnings, employment, and Income Tax liabilities of visa holders on Sponsored Work (Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, and Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility)) and Family routes. This report covers the cohort of visa holders (and their dependants) whose visas were granted between April 2019 and March 2023

The publication estimated that at least 45% of adult dependants of those granted Skilled Worker entry clearance visas and 63% of those granted Skilled Worker extensions of stay had PAYE earnings in financial year 2023 to 2024. For Health and Care Worker dependants, this was 67% and 70%, and for Global Business Mobility dependants, 25% and 24%, respectively.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) foreign and (ii) British sex offenders who have claimed ignorance of the law as a defence in each year since 2020.

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

The Home Office does not hold information on whether foreign or British sex offenders claimed ignorance of the law as a defence.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she would publish the (a) dates and (b) names of the institutions in which Brian Nelson served his sentence after his conviction in 1974.

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

This information is not held by the Home Office.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will collect and publish city-specific data on the number of grooming gangs identified by police forces.

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

Baroness Casey’s rapid national audit into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse set out stark findings on the scale and nature of offending by grooming gangs. This government is committed to exposing the failures that have happened across the country and making sure that it can never happen again. We accepted all of Baroness Casey’s twelve recommendations and are working across government to implement these as quickly as possible.

To improve our understanding of and response to these crimes, we fund a number of policing capabilities, including the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme which uses data and intelligence to increase law enforcement’s capability to respond to organized exploitation. We also fund the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to improve how the police investigate child sexual exploitation and abuse, with a focus on group-based offending, and bring more offenders to justice. They have created the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Database (COCAD) to improve our understanding of group-based child sexual exploitation cases. On 10 December 2025, the Taskforce published an annual data report for group-based offending in 2024, which can be found here: https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/publications/hydrant-publications

The Taskforce do not publish data on offending within specific cities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that businesses operating in high‑risk sectors are aware of the foreign bribery indicators published by the Serious Fraud Office and Five Eyes partners.

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

The government takes foreign bribery risks seriously and is committed to helping businesses identify and prevent them. This is why in December 2025, this government published the new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy. The strategy seeks to bring more corrupt actors to justice, prevents them benefitting from their illicit wealth, tackles vulnerabilities to corruption at home and builds resilience overseas. It also commits to helping UK businesses to combat bribery through the Serious Fraud Office’s crime prevention capability and a new online anti bribery resource collection for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Serious Fraud Office, working with its Five Eyes partners, has published indicators to help businesses recognise potential bribery risks. These indicators are available on the Serious Fraud Office website.

The Department for Business and Trade supports this work by signposting guidance to high-risk sectors and encouraging businesses to embed these indicators into their compliance and due diligence processes.

The government will continue to work with enforcement agencies and international partners to raise awareness and strengthen the UK’s approach to preventing foreign bribery, in line with the OECD Working Group on Bribery recommendations.

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 automatic number plate recognition cameras in operation across (a) England and (b) Wales.

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

At present UK Law Enforcement Agencies have access to ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) data from 12,076 camera locations in England, Scotland and Wales via the National ANPR Service (NAS).

Further cameras will be used by Local Authorities in the UK use ANPR cameras to enforce traffic rules, manage restricted zones like Low Emission Zones (LEZ), School Streets, and Lorry Controls, monitor traffic flow, and tackle anti-social behaviour, issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for violations like driving in bus lanes or breaching HGV access times. Many more are used privately by petrol station forecourt and car parking operators.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of violent and drug-related crime in Great Yarmouth; and whether she plans to provide additional resources to Norfolk Constabulary.

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

To deliver on our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the gangs that lure children and young people into crime and run county lines through violence and exploitation. County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade.

Since July 2024, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 3,000 deal lines closed, 8,200 arrests, (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,600 deal line holders) 4,300 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 900 knives seized.

While the majority of county lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police, we recognise that this is a national issue which affects all forces. This is why we fund the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate a national law enforcement response, including publication of an annual Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment. We also have a dedicated fund to help local police forces, including Norfolk Constabulary, tackle county lines.

As part of the Programme, the NCLCC regularly coordinates weeks of intensive action against county lines gangs, which all police forces take part in, including Norfolk Constabulary. The most recent of these took place 23-29 June 2025 and resulted in 241 lines closed, as well as 1,965 arrests, 1,179 individuals safeguarded and 501 weapons seized.

We have made £200 million available in 2025/26 to support the first steps towards delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament, including up to 3,000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026. Based on their £2,237,478 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Norfolk Police are projected to grow by 31 FTE neighbourhood police officers in 2025/26.

In addition, under the Hotspot Action Fund programme, Norfolk Constabulary are delivering additional policing in their areas worst affected by serious violence. This is a combination of regular visible patrols in the streets and neighbourhoods (‘hotspot areas’) experiencing the highest volumes of serious violence to immediately suppress violence and provide community reassurance, and problem-oriented policing. In 2025/26 we have provided Norfolk Constabulary £389,522 for their delivery of Hotspot Action Fund.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of information-sharing arrangements between the National Crime Agency, Action Fraud, the Police and relevant professional regulators; and what plans she has to improve interoperability and avoid administrative duplication.

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

The Government has recognised the challenges facing the Action Fraud service, and, working with City of London Police, are pleased that the new Report Fraud service launched on 4 December.

This new service replaces Action Fraud and includes the provision of improved reporting tools, victim services, and analysis and dissemination of viable investigative cases to police forces. Report Fraud’s new National Crime Analysis Service (N-CAS) will replace the backend system used previously by Action Fraud to analyse reports. This will significantly improve the speed and quality of information provided to law enforcement and other operational partners, boosting their chances of successful prosecution. It will also block and disrupt crime through providing real time information to those institutions and organisations who can deter and disrupt fraudulent websites, bank accounts, and other activities which are enabling criminality

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have crossed the English Channel in small boats have been linked to proscribed terrorist groups in each of the last three years.

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

The first priority of Government is protecting national security and the safety of UK citizens. All applications for UK immigration status, including for all those arriving through illegal migration routes, are subject to comprehensive checks.

It would not be appropriate to comment in detail on operational security matters or specific cases. However, where an individual is assessed as presenting a risk to our country, we take swift and robust action.

The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by criminals, by those posing a national security risk, and by individuals excluded from the UK or previously deported from the UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle cyber crime in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

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

Cyber crime causes huge damage to people and businesses across the UK and is a leading priority for the Government. The Home Office works with our partners across Government and law enforcement, including the National Crime Agency, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Policing to tackle all cyber threat, including cyber crime.

The Home Office funds the Regional Cyber Crime Units (RCCUs) across England and Wales, tasked with investigating and pursuing serious cyber offenders conducting crime committed in, or against, the UK. This includes the South East Cyber Crime Unit in the South East Regional Crime Unit (SEROCU), which covers Surrey and Surrey Heath. Since 2017, in partnership with local Police and Crime Commissioners, the Home Office has directly funded a national network of specialist officers trained to investigate cyber crime and support local communities in efforts to prevent crimes that occur online.

The South East Cyber Crime Unit is the first in the UK to operate as a fully collaborated unit across the South East Region. It brings together experts from SEROCU, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, Thames Valley Police, Surrey Police, and Sussex Police into a single flexible capability. The unit follows the Serious and Organised Crime ‘4P’ model, including Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare, with each force retaining a Pursue Team working collaboratively with regional resources.

Cyber crime is treated as Serious and Organised Crime within SEROCU’s control strategy. The aim is to identify, disrupt, and reduce the impact of cyber criminals as part of the National Cyber Network. SEROCU target offenders profiting from cyber tools or stolen data, carry out work to prevent cyber crime and pursue criminal justice outcomes as appropriate.

Through Protect and Prepare work, SEROCU engage businesses and communities via outreach, webinars, and partnerships to improve cyber security awareness and assist the public and organisations in recovery and resilience. This includes the Cyber Resilience Centre (CRC) for the South East, funded by the Home Office, which offers a package of measures to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), providing tailored advice and long-term support, aligned to National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) standards, helping these organisations take proactive steps towards improving their cyber security.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when was the last inspection of MBR Acres under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

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

The last audit at MBR Acres occurred in November 2025.

The Animals in Science Regulation Unit conducts both announced and unannounced audits to assure establishments are compliant with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the terms of their licences and the Code of Practice.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the quantity of Venezuelan drug exports prevented from being smuggled to the UK in each year since 2020.

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

Drug misuse can have a devastating impact on the safety, productivity, and health and wellbeing of our communities. Cocaine is smuggled into the UK via a number of different routes and methodologies, which frequently change in response to international law enforcement activity. The Home Office does not publish data by country of origin. Since the beginning of 2020, Border Force, across England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland have seized the following amounts of cocaine from overseas:

The National Crime Agency’s National Strategic Assessment 2025 on Drugs provides further detail on cocaine flows and can be found here - NSA 2025 - Drugs - National Crime Agency.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the quantity of Venezuelan drug exports smuggled into the UK in each year since 2020.

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

Drug misuse can have a devastating impact on the safety, productivity, and health and wellbeing of our communities. Cocaine is smuggled into the UK via a number of different routes and methodologies, which frequently change in response to international law enforcement activity. The Home Office does not publish data by country of origin. Since the beginning of 2020, Border Force, across England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland have seized the following amounts of cocaine from overseas:

The National Crime Agency’s National Strategic Assessment 2025 on Drugs provides further detail on cocaine flows and can be found here - NSA 2025 - Drugs - National Crime Agency.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle (a) extremism and (b) radicalisation in the (i) South East and (ii) Surrey.

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

Prevent is a part of the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy and intervenes early to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Home Office funds the highest threat areas to go above and beyond to ensure delivery of the Prevent Duty is targeted and effective, including 1 area in the South-East.

However, the threat and risk of radicalisation is no longer contained within administrative boundaries as we see increases in online radicalisation. In response, we have introduced funding for a regional delivery officer post to provide additional support in some areas across England. Surrey is an early adopter of that model, with an officer in place who covers both Surrey and Sussex. Regional delivery officers will deliver training and community engagement work as well as supporting in a crisis response situation.

In addition, Home Office provides expert support and advice to all local authorities through its regional Prevent Advisers and funding for Prevent projects in local communities that every Local Authority can access.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to provide security protections for faith communities in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

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

This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.

Up to £70.9 million is available to protect faith communities in 2025/26. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million through the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme for places of worship and associated faith community centres of all other faiths. In addition, up to £10 million of emergency funding has been made available for both Jewish and Muslim communities each to further strengthen security measures at their places of worship and other community sites.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, since the introduction of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, how many breaches have been detected.

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

We will not be providing a running commentary of breaches of FIRS identified or numbers of registrations received. This is because doing so runs contrary to our policy on publication of information, which centres around an annual report as the key mechanism for providing transparency on the running of the scheme.

The annual report will set out, among other things, the number of registrations, the number of information notices issued, the number of persons charged with an offence and the number of persons convicted of an offence. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.

Where evidence of a criminal offence has been committed, including failure to register with FIRS, the Government will refer the matter to the police.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84090: Asylum, whether those charities are consulted on the development of immigration policy.

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

The Home Office maintains regular engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on asylum and immigration matters. Their input is valued; however, external advice is considered advisory and does not determine policy.

Ministers are responsible for setting Home Office policy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is enforced proportionally across venues of varying capacity.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is implemented in a proportionate and practicable way.

An implementation period of at least 24 months is now underway, giving those responsible for premises and events sufficient time and support to meet their new obligations. It will also allow time for the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to establish its new regulatory function.

The public deserve to feel safe when visiting premises and attending events and it is right that people responsible for certain premises and events should take appropriate, reasonably practicable steps to protect the public and those working at the venues from the harmful impacts and effects of terrorism.

The Act establishes a tiered approach, with those responsible for premises and events in scope required to fulfil different requirements according to the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect may be present.

Whether the Act applies to a particular premises or events will depend on several factors. Premises may be in scope if they consist of at least one building, are wholly or mainly used for one or more of the uses specified in Schedule 1, and 200 or more people can reasonably be expected to be present at the premises at the same time.

Where it can be reasonably expected that between 200 and 799 people will be present at the premises at the same time, it will be a ‘standard tier’ premises. Should the premises reasonably expect 800 or more people to be present at the premises at the same time, it will be an ‘enhanced tier’ premises.

Events may be in scope, and will be in the ‘enhanced tier’, if they take place in a building or on land, 800 or more people are reasonably expected to be present at the same time, and it is accessible to members of the public who have paid, have a ticket or pass, or are members or guests of a club, association or similar body.

The requirements of each tier vary accordingly, acknowledging that larger premises and events may be impacted to a greater extent by an attack and should be expected to do more.

For the standard tier, requirements are centred around simple, low-cost activities surrounding procedures, with costs relating primarily to time spent. There is no requirement to put in place physical measures in the standard tier.

Furthermore, the reasonably practicable standard of requirements allows procedures and measures to be tailored to the specific circumstances of a premises or event and the person responsible for them.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) will act as the regulator. Whilst the SIA will have enforcement powers under the Act, the Government’s clear direction is for the regulator to provide support, advice and guidance in the first instance.

The SIA will only use formal enforcement tools where necessary to drive compliance. Such enforcement measures are an important component of compliance, as they give the SIA the necessary powers to deal with persistent or serious non-compliance.

Any subsequent sanctions will be determined based on whether the non-compliance is at a location in scope of the standard tier or the enhanced tier and will be proportionate to the individual circumstances of the premises or event.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of individuals returned to France under the reciprocal agreement are assessed as being at risk of attempting to re-enter the UK.

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

We are continuously monitoring and evaluating the agreement with France to ensure its effectiveness. There will be a full evaluation at the end of the pilot period.

Any individual who re-enters the UK illegally may be detained and, where appropriate, we will seek to expedite removal.

The system is working: two individuals who returned to the UK having already been removed were detected, detained, and their cases were expedited for return. We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure that those who are returned under the agreement do not re-enter the UK illegally.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99417 on Undocumented Migrants, what steps she is taking to recover individuals who go out of contact with her Department.

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

The Home Office has a dedicated tracing capability that works in partnership with the police, other government agencies, and commercial companies to help identify information on a person. Where tracing checks are successful, we will consider the most appropriate intervention, including whether to task an enforcement team to conduct a visit or to set up a suitable immigration reporting regime.

Tracing is just one of the ways in which contact can be re-established. Individuals are also encountered through routine Immigration Enforcement and police activity. In all cases we will consider the most appropriate action, including arrest and detention and possible removal from the United Kingdom. Many individuals who are out of contact may also re-engage with the department voluntarily or decide to leave the UK.

We are committed to improving data quality for illegal migrants to ensure that we restore order and control to our borders. We have already set up teams to review existing areas to streamline processes, improve training and ensure join-up across systems across illegal migration to get the data right first time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant of Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99417: Undocumented Migrants, what steps she is taking to improve the quality of absconder data.

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

The Home Office has a dedicated tracing capability that works in partnership with the police, other government agencies, and commercial companies to help identify information on a person. Where tracing checks are successful, we will consider the most appropriate intervention, including whether to task an enforcement team to conduct a visit or to set up a suitable immigration reporting regime.

Tracing is just one of the ways in which contact can be re-established. Individuals are also encountered through routine Immigration Enforcement and police activity. In all cases we will consider the most appropriate action, including arrest and detention and possible removal from the United Kingdom. Many individuals who are out of contact may also re-engage with the department voluntarily or decide to leave the UK.

We are committed to improving data quality for illegal migrants to ensure that we restore order and control to our borders. We have already set up teams to review existing areas to streamline processes, improve training and ensure join-up across systems across illegal migration to get the data right first time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's news story entitled UK-France treaty targeting illegal crossings comes into force, published on 4 August 2025, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the one in, one out scheme to date.

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

We are continuously monitoring and evaluating the agreement with France to ensure its effectiveness. There will be a full evaluation at the end of the pilot period.

Any individual who re-enters the UK illegally may be detained and, where appropriate, we will seek to expedite removal.

The system is working: two individuals who returned to the UK having already been removed were detected, detained, and their cases were expedited for return. We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure that those who are returned under the agreement do not re-enter the UK illegally.

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 reciprocal agreement with France in deterring repeat illegal entry attempts.

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

We are continuously monitoring and evaluating the agreement with France to ensure its effectiveness. There will be a full evaluation at the end of the pilot period.

Any individual who re-enters the UK illegally may be detained and, where appropriate, we will seek to expedite removal.

The system is working: two individuals who returned to the UK having already been removed were detected, detained, and their cases were expedited for return. We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure that those who are returned under the agreement do not re-enter the UK illegally.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant of Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99417: Undocumented Migrants, what steps she is taking to strengthen sanctions against illegal migrants once they have been relocated and detained.

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

Where an absconder is located, they may be arrested and detained for the purposes of removal. It is generally in the public interest to pursue the removal of those with no permission to be in the UK.

Where detention is not appropriate, a person may be released on immigration bail as an alternative to detention, allowing the Home Office to maintain contact with those who require permission to be in the UK but do not have it whilst a decision is made on their case or pending their removal or deportation.

A person who is subject to immigration bail is required to comply with one or more bail conditions. Conditions may include a requirement to report regularly to the Home Office, to reside at a specific location, to be electronically monitored and a restriction on work. The number and type of immigration bail conditions imposed will vary depending on the circumstances of the individual case. A person who has previously absconded is likely to have more stringent bail conditions imposed.

Where someone fails to comply with their bail conditions, they may be arrested, detained, have their bail conditions varied to be more stringent, or they can be arrested for the criminal offence, which is punishable by a fine or term of imprisonment.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her department holds an estimate of the number of criminals in the UK that arrived in the country by irregular means.

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

The information you have requested regarding the number of foreign criminals in the UK who arrived by irregular means is not available from published statistics.

However, foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation.

The latest published information shows that in the year-ending October 2025, 5,430 foreign national offenders (FNOs) were returned, which is an increase of 12% compared to the number of FNO returns in the same period 12 months prior.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals have been removed from the UK in each of the last five years for involvement in, incitement of, or support for extremist Islamist ideology.

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

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 a disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of current counter-extremism programmes; and whether she plans to introduce further measures to tackle extremist activity and protect public safety.

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

This Government takes extremism seriously and we are committed to ensuring we have the required tools and powers needed to address this issue.

Efforts to counter extremism span a broad range of Government and law enforcement activity and we must persist in our efforts to challenge extremist narratives, disrupt the activity of radicalising groups, and directly tackle the causes of radicalisation.

We are progressing activity to challenge extremist narratives including working to ensure dangerous overseas hate preachers and extremists are unable to enter the UK to spread their divisive rhetoric.

The Prevent programme plays a fundamental role in protecting the public from the threat of terrorism and remains a vital tool for early intervention. Prevent is continuously improving to ensure it has the capabilities it needs to reduce terrorism risk.

In December 2024, the Government created a dedicated permanent oversight function, the Independent Prevent Commissioner, to provide continuous independent scrutiny of Prevent legislation, policy and delivery to maximise Prevent’s effectiveness.

The interim Independent Prevent Commissioner, Lord Anderson, published his ‘Lessons for Prevent’ in July 2025 identifying past failings and where further improvements are required.

The Home Office has also commissioned an independent evaluation of Channel, Prevent’s multi-agency early intervention programme, to assess whether it is effective at reducing individuals’ susceptibility to radicalisation. The evaluation is expected to report findings in 2026.

Finally, the Desistance and Disengagement Programme, which helps to manage the risk of individuals who have already been involved in terrorism or terrorism related activity, has been independently evaluated. The majority of recommendations from that evaluation have already been implemented.

As set out in its manifesto, this Government is committed to redoubling efforts to counter extremism and adapting to this evolving threat, including online, to stop people being radicalised and drawn towards hateful ideologies.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of espionage have been identified in British universities since 2015, broken down by (a) year, and (b) nationality of identified suspects.

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

The National Security Act 2023 provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt state threats including new espionage offences. The Government is committed to transparency on the operation of these new powers and is considering a recommendation made by Jonathan Hall KC, in his first annual report as Independent Reviewer of State Threats Legislation, calling for publication of official statistics on use of state threat powers. The Government will respond formally to this recommendation in due course.

The Government supports the Higher Education sector in managing security risks through the Research Collaboration Advice Team, and the NPSA and NCSC’s Trusted Research and Secure Innovation guidance. The UK also has a comprehensive package of legislative and regulatory measures in place – including the Academic Technology Approvals Scheme, Export Controls and the National Security and Investment Act.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the current level of threat from Islamist extremists.

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

The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, provides a comprehensive framework for tackling all forms of terrorism and is kept under constant review to ensure our approach remains fit for purpose in response to emerging risks and challenges.

As outlined in the publication of the most recent iteration of CONTEST, in July 2023, the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism, which accounts for about three quarters of MI5 caseload.

The threat we see today and in the coming years is more diverse, dynamic and complex. This includes a domestic threat which is less predictable and harder to detect. This is combined with an evolving threat from Islamist terrorist groups overseas, and an operating environment where accelerating advances in technology provide both opportunity and risk to our counter-terrorism efforts.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the net zero targets for the Home Office and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.

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

The Net Zero target and timelines for the Home Office and its arm’s Length bodies, are those which are set out in the Climate Change Act 2008 as a target for the UK.

These targets form part of the Greening Government Commitments (GGC), which is the central framework for UK Government Departments and their agencies to reduce their impacts on the environment, including targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.

The Greening Government Commitments are currently under review by DEFRA, to ensure that they remain aligned with government priorities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.

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

Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025

Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of non-consensual sexual deepfake images have been recorded by police forces in England and Wales in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and what steps her Department is taking to prevent the creation and distribution of synthetic sexual images.

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

The Office for National Statistics publishes information on the number of ‘threaten to share intimate photograph or film’ offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, but information on whether these offences involved non-consensual sexual deepfake images is not centrally held. Data for these offences can be found in Table 11 on the Office for National Statistic’s website (Sexual offences prevalence and victim characteristics, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics)

On 18 December 2025, the Government published ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: A Cross-Government Strategy to Build a Safer Society for Women and Girls’, which included an announcement to ban nudification apps and other tools designed to create synthetic non-consensual intimate images. This Strategy includes a commitment to explore routes to ensure that intimate images that are taken, created or shared without consent are removed online.

In January 2024, the Online Safety Act brought into force offences for the sharing, and threatening to share intimate images including ‘deepfakes’. These are ‘priority illegal offences’, the most serious category of online offence under the Act.

The Data (Use and Access) Act inserts new offences into the Sexual Offences Act 2003, criminalising the creation and requesting the creation of an intimate deepfake without consent or reasonable belief in consent.

In addition, the Home Office introduced world-leading measures making the UK the first country to outlaw possession, creation and distribution of AI tools for generating child sexual abuse material, as well as criminalising paedophile manuals that instruct others on developing such tools.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made on whether current enforcement powers available to county council Trading Standards services are sufficient to tackle illegal and illicit trading linked to organised crime on high streets.

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

The Government recognises the crucial role Trading Standards services play in tackling illegal and illicit trading on our high streets, including activity linked to organised crime.

At the recent Budget, the Chancellor committed £30 million over the next three years to strengthen our response to high street criminality and ensure Trading Standards and partners have the tools and resources needed to identify and dismantle organised criminal networks operating on our high street. This includes establishing a cross-government taskforce to disrupt money laundering and related criminality, boosting Trading Standards capabilities, and funding at least 45 law enforcement officers.

The taskforce will design systemic interventions to disrupt the threat and consider whether further legislative or operational changes – including in relation to local authorities – are necessary to further protect consumers and legitimate businesses.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many electric vehicles owned or leased by their Department or its arm’s-length bodies are allocated to (a) asylum accommodation operations, (b) migrant transportation, or (c) related contractor-led services; and for what operational purposes those vehicles are used.

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

The information sought is not collected and would only be available at disproportionate cost

All readily available information on HO EV vehicles and infrastructure was provided in response to UIN: 87860.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that victims and survivors have confidence in the leadership and conduct of the national inquiry into grooming gangs.

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

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence. Its purpose is to uncover systemic failings and ensure accountability at every level.

The timetable of the Inquiry is to be determined by the Chair. The draft Terms of Reference make clear that the Inquiry will publish findings and recommendations for each local area reviewed. These local reports will be made publicly available and may be issued ahead of the final report, which will also be published.

Local agencies and central government will carefully consider recommendations made by the Inquiry, and act to implement necessary reforms at both local and national levels.

On 9 December, Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry, supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panel members. Together, they bring extensive experience in championing children’s rights, deep knowledge of policing and local government, and, crucially, a proven ability to hold powerful institutions to account. Each was recommended by Baroness Casey following engagement with victims and survivors to understand the qualities they wished to see in a Chair.

Baroness Longfield served under multiple governments and was appointed Children’s Commissioner by the previous Government in November 2014. She will relinquish the Labour whip and take a leave of absence from the Lords. More importantly, her record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to challenging authority, regardless of party, whenever children’s interests are at stake.

The starting point for selecting a Chair was expertise and experience - particularly in child protection and in holding institutions to account. There are numerous examples of successful inquiries and investigations in this area led by non-judicial figures, including the work of Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham and Baroness Casey in her National Audit. Baroness Longfield, together with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly, fully meet these requirements. Their appointment followed a thorough due diligence process.

The Chair will establish a robust mechanism enabling victims and survivors to provide evidence safely and confidently. In line with the draft Terms of Reference, the Chair will publish a charter setting out how victims and survivors can participate and how their views, experiences, and testimony will inform and shape the Inquiry’s work. On 9 December 2025, as their first formal act, the Chair and panellists issued an open letter to victims and survivors, acknowledging that trust must be earned and committing to meet with groups of victims and survivors during the initial months of the Inquiry.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for the publication of interim and final findings of the national inquiry into grooming gangs; and whether those findings will be presented to Parliament.

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

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence. Its purpose is to uncover systemic failings and ensure accountability at every level.

The timetable of the Inquiry is to be determined by the Chair. The draft Terms of Reference make clear that the Inquiry will publish findings and recommendations for each local area reviewed. These local reports will be made publicly available and may be issued ahead of the final report, which will also be published.

Local agencies and central government will carefully consider recommendations made by the Inquiry, and act to implement necessary reforms at both local and national levels.

On 9 December, Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry, supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panel members. Together, they bring extensive experience in championing children’s rights, deep knowledge of policing and local government, and, crucially, a proven ability to hold powerful institutions to account. Each was recommended by Baroness Casey following engagement with victims and survivors to understand the qualities they wished to see in a Chair.

Baroness Longfield served under multiple governments and was appointed Children’s Commissioner by the previous Government in November 2014. She will relinquish the Labour whip and take a leave of absence from the Lords. More importantly, her record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to challenging authority, regardless of party, whenever children’s interests are at stake.

The starting point for selecting a Chair was expertise and experience - particularly in child protection and in holding institutions to account. There are numerous examples of successful inquiries and investigations in this area led by non-judicial figures, including the work of Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham and Baroness Casey in her National Audit. Baroness Longfield, together with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly, fully meet these requirements. Their appointment followed a thorough due diligence process.

The Chair will establish a robust mechanism enabling victims and survivors to provide evidence safely and confidently. In line with the draft Terms of Reference, the Chair will publish a charter setting out how victims and survivors can participate and how their views, experiences, and testimony will inform and shape the Inquiry’s work. On 9 December 2025, as their first formal act, the Chair and panellists issued an open letter to victims and survivors, acknowledging that trust must be earned and committing to meet with groups of victims and survivors during the initial months of the Inquiry.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department considered Baroness Longfield’s previous public statements and policy positions when appointing her as chair of the national inquiry into grooming gangs.

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

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence. Its purpose is to uncover systemic failings and ensure accountability at every level.

The timetable of the Inquiry is to be determined by the Chair. The draft Terms of Reference make clear that the Inquiry will publish findings and recommendations for each local area reviewed. These local reports will be made publicly available and may be issued ahead of the final report, which will also be published.

Local agencies and central government will carefully consider recommendations made by the Inquiry, and act to implement necessary reforms at both local and national levels.

On 9 December, Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry, supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panel members. Together, they bring extensive experience in championing children’s rights, deep knowledge of policing and local government, and, crucially, a proven ability to hold powerful institutions to account. Each was recommended by Baroness Casey following engagement with victims and survivors to understand the qualities they wished to see in a Chair.

Baroness Longfield served under multiple governments and was appointed Children’s Commissioner by the previous Government in November 2014. She will relinquish the Labour whip and take a leave of absence from the Lords. More importantly, her record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to challenging authority, regardless of party, whenever children’s interests are at stake.

The starting point for selecting a Chair was expertise and experience - particularly in child protection and in holding institutions to account. There are numerous examples of successful inquiries and investigations in this area led by non-judicial figures, including the work of Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham and Baroness Casey in her National Audit. Baroness Longfield, together with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly, fully meet these requirements. Their appointment followed a thorough due diligence process.

The Chair will establish a robust mechanism enabling victims and survivors to provide evidence safely and confidently. In line with the draft Terms of Reference, the Chair will publish a charter setting out how victims and survivors can participate and how their views, experiences, and testimony will inform and shape the Inquiry’s work. On 9 December 2025, as their first formal act, the Chair and panellists issued an open letter to victims and survivors, acknowledging that trust must be earned and committing to meet with groups of victims and survivors during the initial months of the Inquiry.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what selection criteria her Department applied for the appointment of Baroness Longfield as Chair of the national inquiry into grooming gangs.

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

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence. Its purpose is to uncover systemic failings and ensure accountability at every level.

The timetable of the Inquiry is to be determined by the Chair. The draft Terms of Reference make clear that the Inquiry will publish findings and recommendations for each local area reviewed. These local reports will be made publicly available and may be issued ahead of the final report, which will also be published.

Local agencies and central government will carefully consider recommendations made by the Inquiry, and act to implement necessary reforms at both local and national levels.

On 9 December, Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry, supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panel members. Together, they bring extensive experience in championing children’s rights, deep knowledge of policing and local government, and, crucially, a proven ability to hold powerful institutions to account. Each was recommended by Baroness Casey following engagement with victims and survivors to understand the qualities they wished to see in a Chair.

Baroness Longfield served under multiple governments and was appointed Children’s Commissioner by the previous Government in November 2014. She will relinquish the Labour whip and take a leave of absence from the Lords. More importantly, her record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to challenging authority, regardless of party, whenever children’s interests are at stake.

The starting point for selecting a Chair was expertise and experience - particularly in child protection and in holding institutions to account. There are numerous examples of successful inquiries and investigations in this area led by non-judicial figures, including the work of Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham and Baroness Casey in her National Audit. Baroness Longfield, together with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly, fully meet these requirements. Their appointment followed a thorough due diligence process.

The Chair will establish a robust mechanism enabling victims and survivors to provide evidence safely and confidently. In line with the draft Terms of Reference, the Chair will publish a charter setting out how victims and survivors can participate and how their views, experiences, and testimony will inform and shape the Inquiry’s work. On 9 December 2025, as their first formal act, the Chair and panellists issued an open letter to victims and survivors, acknowledging that trust must be earned and committing to meet with groups of victims and survivors during the initial months of the Inquiry.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to enable victims and survivors of grooming gangs to provide evidence to the national inquiry without (a) fear of intimidation and (b) adverse consequences.

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

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence. Its purpose is to uncover systemic failings and ensure accountability at every level.

The timetable of the Inquiry is to be determined by the Chair. The draft Terms of Reference make clear that the Inquiry will publish findings and recommendations for each local area reviewed. These local reports will be made publicly available and may be issued ahead of the final report, which will also be published.

Local agencies and central government will carefully consider recommendations made by the Inquiry, and act to implement necessary reforms at both local and national levels.

On 9 December, Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry, supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panel members. Together, they bring extensive experience in championing children’s rights, deep knowledge of policing and local government, and, crucially, a proven ability to hold powerful institutions to account. Each was recommended by Baroness Casey following engagement with victims and survivors to understand the qualities they wished to see in a Chair.

Baroness Longfield served under multiple governments and was appointed Children’s Commissioner by the previous Government in November 2014. She will relinquish the Labour whip and take a leave of absence from the Lords. More importantly, her record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to challenging authority, regardless of party, whenever children’s interests are at stake.

The starting point for selecting a Chair was expertise and experience - particularly in child protection and in holding institutions to account. There are numerous examples of successful inquiries and investigations in this area led by non-judicial figures, including the work of Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham and Baroness Casey in her National Audit. Baroness Longfield, together with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly, fully meet these requirements. Their appointment followed a thorough due diligence process.

The Chair will establish a robust mechanism enabling victims and survivors to provide evidence safely and confidently. In line with the draft Terms of Reference, the Chair will publish a charter setting out how victims and survivors can participate and how their views, experiences, and testimony will inform and shape the Inquiry’s work. On 9 December 2025, as their first formal act, the Chair and panellists issued an open letter to victims and survivors, acknowledging that trust must be earned and committing to meet with groups of victims and survivors during the initial months of the Inquiry.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure ministerial and departmental accountability for any systemic failures by public bodies identified by the national inquiry into grooming gangs.

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

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence. Its purpose is to uncover systemic failings and ensure accountability at every level.

The timetable of the Inquiry is to be determined by the Chair. The draft Terms of Reference make clear that the Inquiry will publish findings and recommendations for each local area reviewed. These local reports will be made publicly available and may be issued ahead of the final report, which will also be published.

Local agencies and central government will carefully consider recommendations made by the Inquiry, and act to implement necessary reforms at both local and national levels.

On 9 December, Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry, supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panel members. Together, they bring extensive experience in championing children’s rights, deep knowledge of policing and local government, and, crucially, a proven ability to hold powerful institutions to account. Each was recommended by Baroness Casey following engagement with victims and survivors to understand the qualities they wished to see in a Chair.

Baroness Longfield served under multiple governments and was appointed Children’s Commissioner by the previous Government in November 2014. She will relinquish the Labour whip and take a leave of absence from the Lords. More importantly, her record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to challenging authority, regardless of party, whenever children’s interests are at stake.

The starting point for selecting a Chair was expertise and experience - particularly in child protection and in holding institutions to account. There are numerous examples of successful inquiries and investigations in this area led by non-judicial figures, including the work of Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham and Baroness Casey in her National Audit. Baroness Longfield, together with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly, fully meet these requirements. Their appointment followed a thorough due diligence process.

The Chair will establish a robust mechanism enabling victims and survivors to provide evidence safely and confidently. In line with the draft Terms of Reference, the Chair will publish a charter setting out how victims and survivors can participate and how their views, experiences, and testimony will inform and shape the Inquiry’s work. On 9 December 2025, as their first formal act, the Chair and panellists issued an open letter to victims and survivors, acknowledging that trust must be earned and committing to meet with groups of victims and survivors during the initial months of the Inquiry.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide updated guidance to police forces on the enforcement of speed limits, in the context of the number of deaths caused by drivers exceeding the speed limit.

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

Excess speed remains a major cause of death and serious injury on our roads. Anyone who breaks the speed limit should expect to face sanction.

Current National Police Chiefs’ Council National Guidance on Speeding Enforcement advocates proportionality in applying the law and discretion to take account of the individual circumstances of each speeding offence and take the action they consider appropriate.

Enforcement measures range from informal advice, the offer of a speed awareness course or fixed penalty, and where speeding results in a fatality to court prosecution.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the principal barriers have been to the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences since 2024; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle those barriers.

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

The Home Office deals with significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin. Sometimes the UK’s current obligations under international law prohibit us from returning certain individuals despite their criminality. Legal or re-documentation barriers can frustrate immediate deportation. Despite these barriers, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting those who break our laws.

To address these challenges, this government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.

We are also working to reform Human Rights and Modern Slavery claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment. With the Modern Slavery reforms legislation will be brought forward to clarify our responsibilities under international law, the removal of reconsideration for negative decisions, enhanced screening for individuals detained for removal, and a stronger link between timely disclosure and credibility of a claim.

Finally, under new measures introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, sexual offences which give rise to the notification requirement in Schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will be assumed to be ‘particularly serious’ for the purpose of applying Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention, thereby allowing the UK to exclude those individuals from being granted asylum protections in the UK.

Where removal is still not possible due to our ECHR obligations, the provision will ensure that such individuals are not afforded the generous benefits of protection status in the UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences have been removed under the Early Removal Scheme in each year since 2020.

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

The information requested regarding foreign national offenders (FNOs) convicted of sexual offences removed under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) is not available from published statistics.

The Home Office has published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 2010 Q1 up until 2022 Q2, which can be found within ‘FNO_09’, here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.

The Home Office also recently published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 01 March 2023 up to 31 October 2025, which can be found here: Returns from the UK from 1 March 2023 to 31 October 2025 - GOV.UK

Data on FNOs removed under ERS between July 2022 and February 2023 is not currently available from published statistics, but work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent police recruitment and deployment changes on neighbourhood crime levels.

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

The Government published a performance framework in April 2025 which sets out how forces will be held to account. It includes measures on crime and other key indicators, including growth of neighbourhood policing.

The framework outlines to forces and the public the performance measures used to assess progress. The framework can be found at this link Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee performance framework (accessible) - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution of the Minister for Policing and Crime during the Third Delegated Legislation Committee on 17 December 2025, when she plans to send a command paper to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the use of public order legislation.

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

The government has committed to undertake post legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023. This process began in May.

When complete, we will send the command paper to the Home Affairs Select Committee as is routine and in line with the guidance on completing post legislative scrutiny.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 70321 on Stop and Search: West Midlands, when she will publish the evaluation of the Serious Violence Reduction Orders pilot.

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

Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) were piloted for two years throughout Merseyside, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands police force areas. The pilot took place between 19 April 2023 and 18 April 2025.

The pilot has been independently evaluated and looks at the effectiveness of SVROs, including the use of the SVRO stop and search power and the effectiveness of SVROs in reducing reoffending and knife carrying.

The evaluation is currently being considered, and further information on the evaluation findings will be made available in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the use of AI by child sexual abuse offenders on levels of offending.

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

The Government recognises the serious and evolving threat posed by artificial intelligence being misused by offenders for child sexual abuse.

AI-generated child sexual abuse material is not a victimless crime; it often depicts real children, increasing the risk of contact abuse. The volume and realism of this material can make it increasingly challenging for safeguarding partners to identify and protect children. Offenders can also use these images to groom and blackmail children.

In September 2025, the Internet Watch Foundation revealed, for the first time, child sexual abuse images linked directly to AI chatbots, including examples designed to simulate sexual scenarios with child avatars.

We know offenders will seek every opportunity to exploit emerging and established technologies to facilitate their offending.

UK law is explicit. Child sexual abuse is illegal. We must all play our part to prevent the misuse of this technology being used to target our children.

This is why the UK Government has taken world-leading action to tackle this threat.

Working in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Alan Turing Institute, and the Accelerated Capability Environment, the Home Office has led the Deepfake Detection Challenge. This initiative brought together experts and stakeholders to develop and evaluate detection tools, which are essential in addressing serious harms including online child sexual abuse. As offenders increasingly exploit AI, we must harness its potential for good.

A key outcome is the UK Government Benchmarking capability, enabling scientific evaluation of detection technologies. The next phase will continue to identify and benchmark AI-driven solutions.

Under the Crime and Policing Bill, creating, possessing, or distributing AI tools for child sexual abuse will carry penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment, with up to three years for “paedophile manuals” on how to use AI to abuse children.

We have recently announced a further amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to empower authorised bodies- including AI developers and child protection organisations- to scrutinise AI systems to prevent them generating harmful content. This will help to improve safeguards within AI models to prevent them being misused to create child abuse material.

We recognise there are concerns about AI chatbots, or AI companions, and the risks of harm to children these may pose. At the recent Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, we confirmed that we are considering if all AI chatbots are covered by the Online Safety Act and what more may need to be done. If it requires legislation, then this is what we will do.

Where AI models fall under the Online Safety Act as a user-to-user service or an online search provider, companies are required to provide highly effective age assurance to protect children from exposure to harmful or inappropriate content.

The Online Safety Act lays the foundation for a safer online experience for children, but this is just the start of the conversation.

Our approach combines robust legislation, proactive technology safeguards, and international cooperation to keep children safe online and we will not hesitate to go further.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral answer of 26 November 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 1331, on West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans, whether she had discussions with West Midlands Police on any counter-terror threats from Maccabi Tel Avi (a) players and (b) supporters prior to 6 November 2025.

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

To ensure independent and transparent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events.

HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the intelligence relied upon by West Midlands Police when assessing risk for the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December. The Home Office has provided all requested material to HMICFRS and will continue to cooperate fully.

The Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments underpinning the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. The Policing Minister and a senior Home Office official gave evidence to the Committee, as did the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands. Correspondence and evidence submitted to the Committee are routinely published on its official website, ensuring full transparency.

The Home Office did not hold any discussions with West Midlands Police regarding potential counter-terror threats towards or from Maccabi Tel Aviv players or supporters prior to 6 November 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral answer of 26 November 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 1331, on West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans, if she will place all (a) correspondence, (b) minutes and (c) documents held by her Department on policing matches involving teams from Israel from 7 November 2024 in the Library.

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

To ensure independent and transparent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events.

HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the intelligence relied upon by West Midlands Police when assessing risk for the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December. The Home Office has provided all requested material to HMICFRS and will continue to cooperate fully.

The Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments underpinning the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. The Policing Minister and a senior Home Office official gave evidence to the Committee, as did the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands. Correspondence and evidence submitted to the Committee are routinely published on its official website, ensuring full transparency.

The Home Office did not hold any discussions with West Midlands Police regarding potential counter-terror threats towards or from Maccabi Tel Aviv players or supporters prior to 6 November 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral answer of 26 November 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 1331, on West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans, if she will publish West Midlands Police’s (a) intelligence materials and (b) its analysis that led to the decision to ban the Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters.

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

To ensure independent and transparent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events.

HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the intelligence relied upon by West Midlands Police when assessing risk for the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December. The Home Office has provided all requested material to HMICFRS and will continue to cooperate fully.

The Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments underpinning the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. The Policing Minister and a senior Home Office official gave evidence to the Committee, as did the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands. Correspondence and evidence submitted to the Committee are routinely published on its official website, ensuring full transparency.

The Home Office did not hold any discussions with West Midlands Police regarding potential counter-terror threats towards or from Maccabi Tel Aviv players or supporters prior to 6 November 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation were (a) not pursued or (b) discontinued by (i) police or (ii) prosecutors over the last ten years.

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

The Government does not currently hold information on the number of allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation that were not pursued or were discontinued by police or prosecutors in the last decade.

We are taking action to review relevant closed cases under the oversight of the new National Police Operation, Operation Beaconport. For the first time, it brings together police forces, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Child Sexual Exploitation Policing Taskforce, the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme and the National Crime Agency to ensure more perpetrators face justice.

Operation Beaconport has already identified over 1,200 cases from police forces across England and Wales that were closed with ‘No Further Action’, and of these, over 200 cases have been prioritised for initial review due to allegations of rape. This was the result of a first tranche of data collected following the Home Secretary’s ask in January. The Operation’s second tranche data request, which is much wider in scope to identify all relevant closed cases, is progressing.

On 10 December, the Home Office-funded Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce published data on cases of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse cases that are recorded by the police: Group-Based-Child-Sexual-Abuse-and-Exploitation-Data-12-months-of-data-from-January-December-2024-December-2025.pdf

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government following the publication of the report of the Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender, published on 19 March, what progress they have made on the Review’s recommendation that they should issue a mandatory Annual Data Requirement (ADR) requiring territorial police forces in England and Wales and the British Transport Police to record data on sex in relevant administrative systems.

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

Since the publication of the publication of the Independent Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender there has also been a Supreme Court judgement on the definition of sex within the Equality Act. We recognise the importance of accurate and consistent recording of data on sex and gender and are considering the implications for administrative data systems in policing as part of the 2026/27 Annual Data Requirement which is currently in development.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support police officers guarding the Israeli Embassy in London with their (1) working conditions, and (2) safety.

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

The Government takes the protective security of diplomatic missions extremely seriously. The UK Government's protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our longstanding policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals' and sites' security.

More broadly in terms of the support available to police officers, through the Police Covenant the Home Office are supporting the police workforce with their physical and mental health.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to expand the use of stop-and-search powers in areas with persistently high levels of knife crime.

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

Stop and search is an important power that helps the police to get knives off our streets and save lives.

Police have powers to search any individual or vehicle where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will find offensive weapons. Where serious violence has occurred or is anticipated, powers are available to authorise weapons searches with or without reasonable suspicion in a particular area for a limited time.

Chief constables and their officers are best placed to make operational decisions about how these powers are deployed in response to crime trends, intelligence and local needs.

In addition to supporting the use of stop and search in our efforts to reduce knife crime, we have banned zombie-style knives and ninja swords, strengthened legislation, and removed over 60,000 knives through surrender schemes and targeted operations. We are investing in prevention through the Young Futures Programme and rebuilding neighbourhood policing, with 13,000 additional police officers, Police Community Support Officers and Special Constables in neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament. This includes delivering 3,000 additional officers into neighbourhood policing roles by March 2026.

In the year ending March 2025, 15,955 (3.0%) stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found.

Searches carried out for firearms and offensive weapons had the highest find rate at 15.7% (670) and 12.3% (9,483) respectively.

The number of arrests following searches under all legislation increased by 2,705 (up 3.6% to 78,746) in the year ending March 2025.

Data on stop and search for the year ending March 2025 was published on 6 November 2025: Police powers and procedures: Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2025

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to expand the use of stop-and-search powers in areas with persistently high levels of knife crime.

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

Stop and search is an important power that helps the police to get knives off our streets and save lives.

Police have powers to search any individual or vehicle where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will find offensive weapons. Where serious violence has occurred or is anticipated, powers are available to authorise weapons searches with or without reasonable suspicion in a particular area for a limited time.

Chief constables and their officers are best placed to make operational decisions about how these powers are deployed in response to crime trends, intelligence and local needs.

In addition to supporting the use of stop and search in our efforts to reduce knife crime, we have banned zombie-style knives and ninja swords, strengthened legislation, and removed over 60,000 knives through surrender schemes and targeted operations. We are investing in prevention through the Young Futures Programme and rebuilding neighbourhood policing, with 13,000 additional police officers, Police Community Support Officers and Special Constables in neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament. This includes delivering 3,000 additional officers into neighbourhood policing roles by March 2026.

In the year ending March 2025, 15,955 (3.0%) stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found.

Searches carried out for firearms and offensive weapons had the highest find rate at 15.7% (670) and 12.3% (9,483) respectively.

The number of arrests following searches under all legislation increased by 2,705 (up 3.6% to 78,746) in the year ending March 2025.

Data on stop and search for the year ending March 2025 was published on 6 November 2025: Police powers and procedures: Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2025

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 of the time taken to obtain national passports on the access by refugees to regulated professions; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that refugees with the right to work can access roles for which they are qualified.

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

Refugees do not automatically hold British nationality. Instead, they are typically granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, which allows them to live and work in the UK but does not confer British citizenship.

Refugees are not required to hold a British passport in order to work in the UK. Identity checks, including those for regulated professions, can be satisfied using alternative documentation such as a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

Where international travel is required for work purposes, refugees may apply for a Refugee Travel Document rather than a national passport.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications submitted under the Super-Priority Visa Service have exceeded the 24-hour decision standard in the last 12 months; and what the longest waiting time has been.

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

While the Home Office does not produce stand along statistics to fully answer this question, some of the information requested can be found here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK

Found: 8th Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage HC 35125 Number Title Reference 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office

Found: However, the absolutely critical point here is that the Home Office did report against the Bill in relation

Found: and Customs (HMRC) signed a “Data Usage Agreement: customer left UK data share pilot” with the Home Office

Found: The Guardian7 found some opaque AI tools in departments like DWP and the Home Office disproportionately

Found: .  Anomaly detection: The Home Office applied machine learning to detect fraudulent visa applications

Found: Equally, the Home Office recently hired in a new director general to lead its data and digital efforts

Found: secure selected facilities and model the options for guarding and support between military and Home Office

Found: parliament.uk www.parliament.uk/lords Alex Norris MP Minister for Border Security and Asylum Home Office

Found: Letter from Alex Norris MP (Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Home Office) re Sentencing Bill,

Found: Written evidence submitted by Rupert Lowe MP (WRP 03) I have evidence that the Home Office has misled

Found: The Home Office already provides funding to the Revenge Porn Helpline and frequently engages with them

Found: independent body that represents all stakeholders within the CJS, not just the police and the Home Office

Found: In particular, greater coordination with the Home Office on visa procedures and consideration of visa

Found: In our work on press freedom, which includes working with teams in DCMS, the FCDO and the Home Office

Found: stringent visa restrictions.7 Anxieties about the political impact of high net migration in the Home Office

Found: In addition, the Home Office could better support the FCDO’s international scholarship efforts by waiving

Found: This is a Home Office lead, clearly.

Found: The Home Office told us that they do not lead on investment in security measures.1 Who holds responsibility

Found: The Home Office told us that t hey do not lead on investment in security measures.1 Who holds responsibility

Found: This is a Home Office lead, clearly.

Found: Home Secretary 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF www.gov.uk/home-office Andy Slaughter

Found: You would deal with the Home Office for crises, and the Cabinet Office for strategy, which is a bit

Found: incentivise international students to come to this country in order to train as a teacher, but the Home Office

Found: You would deal with the Home Office for crises, and the Cabinet Office for strategy, which is a bit

Found: substantial challenges around security, on which we are working closely with colleagues in the Home Office

Found: You would deal with the Home Office for crises, and the Cabinet Office for strategy, which is a bit

Found: As you know, we spoke to the Home Office Minister Sarah Jones last week, and she made it clear that

Found: More generally, we know that the data that we get from the Home Office on exits and entries is imperfect

Found: problemsTNS0028 Force protection, site vulnerability and CUAS response often involve interests from the Home Office

Found: Letter from the Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office relating to recommendation 3c of the Committee

Found: 9.2 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office 2.7 HM Revenue & Customs 0.2 HM Treasury 15 Home Office

Found: is jointly run by the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament. 63 HC Deb, 12 May 2025, Col47 64 Home Office

Found: recommendation to lead dedicated task forces targeting organised crime – this responsibility sits with the Home Office

Found: 8th Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage HC 35122 Number Title Reference 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office

Found: Dan Jarvis MBE MP Security Minister 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF www.gov.uk/home-office

Found: Letter from the Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office relating to the Committee’s evidence session

Found: Nationality data in prison is referred to the Home Office for them to consider deportation, and they

Found: Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office relating to oversight of Arm’s Length Bodies (

Found: There are various Ministers in the group, including MHCLG, Home Office, DFE, DWP, DHSC, MOJ, Treasury

Found: Home Office, Home Office, and Home Office Oral Evidence

Found: Home Office, Home Office, and Home Office Oral Evidence

Found: How effective is PSNI co-ordination with the Home Office and other agencies in policing the Common Travel

Found: How effective is PSNI co-ordination with the Home Office and other agencies in policing the Common Travel

Found: the retail sector HC 355 8th Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office

Found: When you look across Whitehall at the systems it runs, there are Home Office border control systems

Found: a means to ensure that those in power—whether they are the decision makers at the DWP, at the Home Office

Found: The Security Minister, my colleague in the Home Office—Minister Jarvis— has spoken about that as well

Found: The Security Minister, my colleague in the Home Office—Minister Jarvis— has spoken about that as well

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual cost to the NHS is of providing healthcare to illegal migrants.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England do not hold the information requested. The overall management of asylum seekers is a matter for the Home Office.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the British Transport Police’s crime-screening policy for pedal-cycle theft at railway stations on (a) public confidence in policing and (b) the delivery of a joined-up national transport network.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Ensuring the railway remains safe for passengers and staff, and creating a hostile environment for criminals on the network is a priority for both the Department for Transport and the British Transport Police (BTP). Decisions on the use of resource and deployment of officers across the railway are for the BTP, as an operationally independent police service.

The BTP’s screening policy, introduced in August 2024, takes into account factors including the possible time window an incident could have taken place in, but also the availability of witnesses and CCTV, the realistic prospect of a successful outcome, and a range of other factors. In some instances this may mean that an investigation is not progressed, but there is no blanket ruling and each case is assessed individually. BTP have not taken the decision to stop investigating bike theft that cannot be narrowed to a two-hour window.

BTP work closely with train operating companies and their counterparts in Home Office forces to run events at stations across the network, which provide practical crime prevention advice and services such as free bike marking to passengers. There was a 23% decrease in cycle theft recorded between 2022/23 and 2024/25.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on developing a policy for the active engagement of unmanned aerial systems.

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

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with partners across Government on a range of Counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) issues. The Home Office is responsible for C-UAS policy and strategy in the Homeland during peacetime. During wartime, C-UAS policy falls under the Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) framework, which the MOD is responsible for. The process of providing Military Aid to the Civil Authority (MACA) is well established and ensures a robust framework under which Defence capabilities may be used to support Other Government Departments.

In terms of legislation, work is underway to develop a suitable legislative framework that will enable Defence personnel to operate authorised equipment to protect critical Defence property and activities from the threat of UAS.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what correspondence the Government has had with the Information Commissioner's Office on the data sharing pilot between HMRC and the Home Office.

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

In October 2025, the ICO Review Board observer submitted an inquiry to the DEA Secretariat regarding a news article pertaining to a data sharing arrangement between HMRC and the Home Office.

The DEA Secretariat subsequently contacted HMRC, who forwarded it to the ICO observer.

The minutes from the DEA Debt and Fraud Review Boards are also routinely published on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on plans to end the use of strip search powers against minors.

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

The government is committed to introducing new legal safeguards around the strip search of children. Department officials are working with officials from the Home Office to deliver this important commitment.

Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police, and the government is clear that such searches must only be conducted when absolutely necessary in order to protect people, prevent harm, or secure evidence. This must always be done with full regard for the dignity and welfare of the individual involved, particularly where the individual is a child.

The ’Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance for schools’ supports head teachers and staff to fully understand their rights and the rights of the child, so that searching powers are used in a way that ensures schools are calm, safe and supportive environments in which to learn and work.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Government has established thresholds for dangerous weapons-related capabilities in frontier AI models.

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

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has policy responsibility for promoting responsible AI innovation and uptake. Risks related to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons (and other dangerous weapons), including defining thresholds for harm in these domains, are managed by a combination of the Home Office, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Cabinet Office, and the Ministry of Defence. DSIT does not set thresholds for dangerous capabilities in risk domains owned by other departments.

The AI Security Institute (AISI), as part of DSIT, focuses on researching emerging AI risks with serious security implications, such as the potential for AI to help users develop chemical and biological weapons. AISI works with a broad range of experts and leading AI companies to understand the capabilities of advanced AI and advise on technical mitigations. AISI’s research supports other government departments in taking evidence-based action to mitigate risks whilst ensuring AI delivers on its potential for growth. AISI’s Frontier AI Trends Report, published in December 2025, outlines how frontier AI risks are expected to develop in the future.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Government has established a defined threshold of dangerous capability in frontier AI models, including capabilities relating to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons, which would trigger Government action.

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

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has policy responsibility for promoting responsible AI innovation and uptake. Risks related to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons (and other dangerous weapons), including defining thresholds for harm in these domains, are managed by a combination of the Home Office, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Cabinet Office, and the Ministry of Defence. DSIT does not set thresholds for dangerous capabilities in risk domains owned by other departments.

The AI Security Institute (AISI), as part of DSIT, focuses on researching emerging AI risks with serious security implications, such as the potential for AI to help users develop chemical and biological weapons. AISI works with a broad range of experts and leading AI companies to understand the capabilities of advanced AI and advise on technical mitigations. AISI’s research supports other government departments in taking evidence-based action to mitigate risks whilst ensuring AI delivers on its potential for growth. AISI’s Frontier AI Trends Report, published in December 2025, outlines how frontier AI risks are expected to develop in the future.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) terms of reference and (b) membership of the Undersea Infrastructure Security Oversight Board.

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

The Undersea Infrastructure Security Oversight Board provides a joined-up function and sets strategic direction across government on undersea infrastructure security.

The core membership includes key government stakeholders with an interest in undersea infrastructure security. This includes representation from DSIT, DESNZ, MOD, Defra, DFT, Home Office, Royal Navy and others as required. It is chaired and convened by the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating standards relating to the (a) design, (b) spacing, and (c) visibility of vehicle number plates.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government recognises the impact of number plate fraud and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collaborates with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office, and other departments to enhance the identification and enforcement of number plate offences. On road enforcement remains the responsibility of the police.

The government published its new Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

The DVLA is a member of the British Standards Institution committee, which has proposed updates to number plate standards. These changes aim to prevent the production of plates with raised or ‘ghost’ characteristics and require all finished plates to be flat. The public consultation on these proposals closed on 13 December 2025 and the committee will review feedback shortly.

Efforts are underway to strengthen application and audit processes for number plate suppliers. The Department and its agencies maintain close cooperation with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure effective information sharing. The police have established access to DVLA records for crime prevention and detection.

DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards to conduct compliance visits to number plate suppliers, inspecting practices and records as necessary.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of the economic impact of vehicle number plate fraud on (a) motorists, (b) insurers, and the (c) public purse.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government recognises the impact of number plate fraud and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collaborates with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office, and other departments to enhance the identification and enforcement of number plate offences. On road enforcement remains the responsibility of the police.

The government published its new Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

The DVLA is a member of the British Standards Institution committee, which has proposed updates to number plate standards. These changes aim to prevent the production of plates with raised or ‘ghost’ characteristics and require all finished plates to be flat. The public consultation on these proposals closed on 13 December 2025 and the committee will review feedback shortly.

Efforts are underway to strengthen application and audit processes for number plate suppliers. The Department and its agencies maintain close cooperation with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure effective information sharing. The police have established access to DVLA records for crime prevention and detection.

DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards to conduct compliance visits to number plate suppliers, inspecting practices and records as necessary.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the Home Office on (a) penalties and (b) enforcement for offences involving illegal number plates.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government recognises the impact of number plate fraud and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collaborates with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office, and other departments to enhance the identification and enforcement of number plate offences. On road enforcement remains the responsibility of the police.

The government published its new Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

The DVLA is a member of the British Standards Institution committee, which has proposed updates to number plate standards. These changes aim to prevent the production of plates with raised or ‘ghost’ characteristics and require all finished plates to be flat. The public consultation on these proposals closed on 13 December 2025 and the committee will review feedback shortly.

Efforts are underway to strengthen application and audit processes for number plate suppliers. The Department and its agencies maintain close cooperation with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure effective information sharing. The police have established access to DVLA records for crime prevention and detection.

DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards to conduct compliance visits to number plate suppliers, inspecting practices and records as necessary.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot sent on the 27 of November 2025 with case ref MW04041.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

As the majority of the issues raised do not fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, the correspondence was transferred out of the Department and accepted by the Home Office.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many new enquiries were opened into child benefit claims which were suspended from claimants as a result of data-sharing between HMRC and the Home Office in the period 1 to 31 December 2025.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

There were no new Child Benefit compliance enquiries opened using Home Office international travel data in the period 1st to 31st December 2025. This is because HMRC's focus during that period was on reviewing the c. 23,500 cohort.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve data sharing between the (a) DVLA, (b) DVSA and the (c) Home Office on issues relating to vehicle registration marks.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government recognises the impact of number plate fraud and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collaborates with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office, and other departments to enhance the identification and enforcement of number plate offences. On road enforcement remains the responsibility of the police.

The government published its new Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

The DVLA is a member of the British Standards Institution committee, which has proposed updates to number plate standards. These changes aim to prevent the production of plates with raised or ‘ghost’ characteristics and require all finished plates to be flat. The public consultation on these proposals closed on 13 December 2025 and the committee will review feedback shortly.

Efforts are underway to strengthen application and audit processes for number plate suppliers. The Department and its agencies maintain close cooperation with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure effective information sharing. The police have established access to DVLA records for crime prevention and detection.

DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards to conduct compliance visits to number plate suppliers, inspecting practices and records as necessary.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of current enforcement capacity in relation to (a) illegal and (b) non-compliant number plates.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government recognises the impact of number plate fraud and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collaborates with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office, and other departments to enhance the identification and enforcement of number plate offences. On road enforcement remains the responsibility of the police.

The government published its new Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

The DVLA is a member of the British Standards Institution committee, which has proposed updates to number plate standards. These changes aim to prevent the production of plates with raised or ‘ghost’ characteristics and require all finished plates to be flat. The public consultation on these proposals closed on 13 December 2025 and the committee will review feedback shortly.

Efforts are underway to strengthen application and audit processes for number plate suppliers. The Department and its agencies maintain close cooperation with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure effective information sharing. The police have established access to DVLA records for crime prevention and detection.

DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards to conduct compliance visits to number plate suppliers, inspecting practices and records as necessary.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her oral response on Monday 15 December 2025, Official Report Column 683, what further information was provided to the planning process for the proposed China embassy relating to the consolidation of the diplomatic premises.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The relevant letters provided to the planning process by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office, dated 14 January, 20 August, and 27 November 2025, are already on the public record.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her oral response on Monday 15 December 2025, Official Report Column 683, what further information was provided to the planning process for the proposed China embassy relating to the wider security considerations.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The relevant letters provided to the planning process by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office, dated 14 January, 20 August, and 27 November 2025, are already on the public record.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children whose families are subject to No Recourse to Public Funds restrictions are living in poverty.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not hold this data.

We recognise the distinct challenges faced by those subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition and have engaged with organisations who have made representations on behalf of children subject to NRPF and will continue to do so. As part of the Child Poverty Strategy, the Department is working with the Home Office to develop questions on NRPF for inclusion in the Family Resources Survey 2026/2027, with the data first published in March 2028. This is a household survey undertaken annually to explore living standards in the UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to embed trauma-informed practice across the NHS, including in GP surgeries and refugee health clinics.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Recognising that asylum seekers may require additional mental health support, including for trauma-related mental health issues, the Department works together with NHS England and the Home Office to provide additional guidance and support where required.

Examples of national and local interventions aimed at maintaining and improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of individuals seeking asylum are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-mental-health-workstreams-tools-and-case-studies/workstreams-tools-and-case-studies-by-the-home-office-asylum-mental-health-and-wellbeing-team-accessible

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given on 06 November 2025 (86606), what specific actions his department has taken to ensure that citizens of an Overseas British Territory are not deprived of housing and subsistence whilst resident in the UK.

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

You can find information about eligibility for housing assistance in England in Chapter 7 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance, which is published on gov.uk here.

Access to public funds depends on whether the individual is British Citizen or not, and what visa the individual has. Further guidance can be found here.

DWP cannot pay public funds benefits to individuals where the Home Office has applied a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition to their immigration status.

Everyone arriving or returning to the UK, including British Nationals, are subject to DWP’s residency tests in order to access public funds and benefits, unless an exemption applies.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, given the forthcoming report of the Cranston Public Inquiry into the tragic loss of 27 lives in the English Channel in November 2021, has she undertaken a review of Channel small boat search and rescue operations and the capability provided by UK Border Force.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Cranston Public Inquiry will shortly be publishing its report into the tragic loss of 27 lives in the English Channel in November 2021.

Operational risks are assessed daily by the joint HM Coastguard and UK Border Security Command teams tasked with the delivery of small boat SAR. The capability that the Home Office provides through UK Border Force is an essential and welcome addition to the small boat SAR response network.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to set out a timetable for the implementation of the recommendations of Baroness Bertin's Independent Pornography Review by May 2026.

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

‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’ commits to creating a joint team to address the issues in Baroness Bertin’s Review. The team will be formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It will examine the evidence to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy.

Government has already taken action. Pornography showing strangulation or suffocation will be criminalised under the Crime and Policing Bill and will be a priority offence under the Online Safety Act.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer to question 37814 on 20 March 2025, when the outcome, recommendations and a departmental response arising from the review into the Science Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons will be (a) published, and (b) notified to Parliament.

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

The Government is undertaking a comprehensive review of the entire Arm's Length Body (ALB) landscape, as announced on 6 April 2025, and is a core part of creating a productive and agile state.

As stated in my previous answer of 7 November 2025, the closure of the Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less Lethal Weapons (SACMILL) is an important step in Defence’s ALB reform journey.

The closure of the Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less Lethal Weapons (MILLWEC)) was announced on GOV.UK on 30 November 2025. The closure was agreed by Ministerial write round.

The provision of independent medical advice on the use of less lethal weapons will now be delivered by MILLWEC, as established by the Home Office.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the operational costs of a) Mayors and b) Council Leaders enacting Police and Crime Commissioner functions.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

No overall assessment has been made yet of the full operational costs for Strategic and Local Authorities of taking on functions from Police and Crime Commissioners. We will be working with authorities to assess those costs as the details of the new system are developed and legislated for. We will work with the Home Office to ensure that the new arrangements are fully funded.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2025 to Question 99606 on Local Government: Essex, whether the existing Police and Crime Commissioners in the devolution priority areas will now serve their full terms until 2028; and in what year will the new combined authority mayors take up the policing powers currently undertaken by the Police and Crime Commissioners.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Home Office Ministers will announce in due course plans for the transfers of PCC functions in the Devolution Priority Programme.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 90716 on Asylum: Housing, which local government bodies the Government is currently working with.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with the Home Office, local authorities and their national membership bodies in addition to devolved partners to develop and deliver a new, more sustainable model for asylum accommodation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which department has lead responsibility for policy on online pornography regulation; and with reference to Baroness Bertin's independent report entitled Creating a Safer World – the Challenge of Regulating Online Pornography, published in February 2025, what assessment she has made of that report's finding that fragmented Government responsibilities impede effective regulation of online pornography.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Baroness Bertin’s independent report made 32 recommendations, including on governance and oversight of pornography policy. The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025 commits to creating a joint team to address the issues detailed in the report. As this team is not yet set up, I am answering this question from the Cabinet Office, as there is currently no lead department for this work.

The team will be formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It will examine the evidence to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy, including the question of departmental responsibility.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has issued guidance to clinicians on appropriate language to use when recording, reporting and discussing cases of female genital mutilation.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Home Office, the Department for Education, and the Department of Health and Social Care issued multi-agency statutory guidance on female genital mutilation (FGM), which as updated in July 2020. The guidance ensures that health and other staff understand their role in responding to FGM, and that there are policies and procedures in place to protect women and girls who have undergone or are at risk of FGM.

NHS England is currently updating the e-learning training for the Healthcare FGM Module for publication in 2026. This training has a section on communication and includes the importance of sensitive language, including asking healthcare staff to check which terminology the woman or girl prefers. The training will provide healthcare staff with the skills to consider, recognise, and discuss FGM with the women and girls they support, and provide sensitive and trauma-informed response.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money is allocated to providing illegal migrants with (a) dental and (b) health care.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department and NHS England do not hold the information requested. The overall management of asylum seekers including provision of health and dental health care is a matter for the Home Office.

All asylum seeker accommodation providers have a duty and requirement to assist people who need it to access healthcare.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what safeguards are now in place to prevent malpractice in English language proficiency tests used for university entrance, following the issues identified by Ofqual with Pearson’s PTE Academic Online test.

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

Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from government, and responsible for their own admissions decisions.

Where English is not an applicant's first language, it is right that a provider assures themselves that the applicant has a reasonable likelihood of successfully meeting the academic requirements of the course.

Universities are free to decide their entry criteria, including which language proficiency tests they require applicants to sit, with many higher education providers able to self-assess the English ability of their students.

Additionally, the UK’s student visa arrangements specify the level of English required by those coming here to study. This standard is rigorously enforced by the Home Office.

The online version of this test was introduced by Pearson in response to both the significant disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to international students and has since been discontinued.

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Report on conditions and treatment at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre

Found: The Home Office underwent a regulatory reform programme last year, recruiting a small cadre of temporary

Found: The Home Office underwent a regulatory reform programme last year, recruiting a small cadre of temporary

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Found: supplier contacted us to regarding an opportunity that Crown Commercial Service had run for the Home Office

Found: supplier contacted us to regarding an opportunity that Crown Commercial Service had run for the Home Office

Found: The government’s 3-year Roads Policing Review (RPR), jointly led by the DfT and the Home Office, conducted

Found: Service (EAS) – As part of the SRN programme, UK Government funding is being made available to the Home Office

Found: recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified officers; • the funds available to the Home Office

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Found: Purpose and Method: commissioned by the Home Office to improve transparency and 3Rs under ASPA; evaluated

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Found: a shift in ministerial responsibility for wildfire management, transferring oversight from the Home Office

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Found: Motorola Solutions to provide information supporting the operation of the charge control to the Home Office

Found: investigation identified that Motorola, as monopoly operator of the Airwave Network, is able to charge the Home Office

Found: The government’s 3-year Roads Policing Review (RPR), jointly led by the DfT and the Home Office, conducted

Found: Drug driving – the tip of an iceberg • DfT, in collaboration with the Department for Health, the Home Office

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Found: appropriate; similarly, Scottish Government officials could engage with their counterparts in the Home Office

Found: you share any correspondence sent from Siobhian Brown or Angela Constance to the UK Government/Home Office

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Found: This is income derived from charges on migrants for using NHS Services and is collected by the Home Office

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

Found: SAAS’s eligibility rules, communications and data-sharing with other bodies (e.g., Home Office, HMRC

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the full timeline of decisions and delays relating to the introduction of speed awareness courses.

Answered by Hyslop, Fiona - Cabinet Secretary for Transport

Much of the law on prosecution and punishment of road traffic offences is reserved to the UK Government (UKG). However, the Scottish Government continues to discuss the importance of implementing Road Traffic Diversionary Course (RTDC) which includes Speed Awareness Courses, with the UKG.

Scotland’s Road Safety Framework 2030 contains a commitment to implement speed awareness courses in Scotland as part of a broader roll-out of Road Traffic Diversionary Courses, which aim to divert ‘low-level’ road traffic offenders from punishment into education to prevent re-offending and help equip participants to change their behaviour towards speed and can also reduce pressure on the criminal justice system.

In August 2024, a multi-agency steering group, led by Transport Scotland officials, was convened to consider the implications and requirements of introducing RTDCs in Scotland. The group contains representation from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and Police Scotland.

In November 2024, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) published their thematic inspection of road policing in Scotland, making the following recommendation: Police Scotland should engage with UK Road Offender Education (UKROEd) and other key stakeholders to progress the full implementation of educational training courses for people who commit driving offences that may be appropriately addressed through learning.

Given that the legislation in this area is not devolved, Transport Scotland have been liaising with Home Office colleagues to confirm where we can assist with the laying of the required legislation in Westminster. The last meeting between Transport Scotland and Home Office officials took place on the 16th December 2025.

Further to this we are in process of discussing and agreeing with key partners areas of policy which will define the detail of legislation and this is unfortunately taking longer than anticipated and we are stressing to all partners the need conclude this.

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