Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider Syria a 'safe' country for immigration purposes.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum and human rights claims from Syrian nationals are carefully considered on their individual merits. Each individual assessment is made by considering any relevant extant caselaw and the latest available country information. Country Policy and Information Notes (Syria: country policy and information notes - GOV.UK) outline conditions in Syria and provide guidance to asylum decision-makers.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the technical difficulties affecting Ukrainian Visa Extension scheme applications will be resolved.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UKVI is not aware of any current technical issues impacting the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme. In rare circumstances, applications submitted to UKVI may encounter technical difficulties, which are not related to one specific area. Once identified, UKVI strives to resolve these issues as quickly as possible, however, timescales depend on each application’s individual issues.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made for breaches of immigration bail conditions in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the specific information requested on arrests for breaches of immigration bail conditions.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on arrests for notifiable offences (including Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions) and bail statistics (including Police custody and pre-charge bail) on an annual basis. The most recent statistics for each are:
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many business owners employing those arrested in illegal working raids since 1 July 2024 are being (a) investigated and (b) have been prosecuted under modern slavery offences.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office take the issues of illegal working and modern slavery seriously and continues to take robust enforcement action against those who breach immigration and modern slavery laws.
The Home Office does not hold data in a format that identifies how many business owners employing individuals arrested during illegal working enforcement operations since 1 July 2024 are being investigated or have been prosecuted under offences in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Our enforcement approach prioritises administrative sanctions as the most effective means of tackling illegal working and ensuring compliance. Where evidence of criminality, including modern slavery, is identified during enforcement activity, cases are referred to the appropriate authorities for investigation and prosecution.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the powers of law enforcement agencies to identify and investigate criminal activity conducted using VoIP services.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, law enforcement agencies can apply for targeted interception warrants, equipment interference warrants, and communications data acquisition authorisations, all of which can enable access to data associated with VoIP services.
These powers can enable authorities to identify users, access metadata, and, where authorised, obtain content when necessary and proportionate and subject to satisfying the stringent safeguards within the legislation.
This means that law enforcement have a range of powers to identify and investigate criminal activity conducted using VoIP services. The Home Office keeps the effectiveness of these powers under review.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the letter from Chief Constable Craig Guildford to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, published on14 January 2026, in relation to his appearances before the Committee on the 1 December 2025 and 6 January 2026.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) reported on 14 January 2026 on its inspection into West Midlands Police’s match assessment and the advice provided to Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group ahead of the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv UEFA Europa League match played on 6 November 2025. The report referenced West Midlands Police’s use of AI in generating fictitious data used within their intelligence documents.
The Home Secretary made an oral statement to Parliament on 14 January, setting out the government’s response to HMICFRS’s findings. HMICFRS’s findings have been shared with the Home Affairs Select Committee, with copies placed in the libraries of both Houses. They have also been published in full: Inspection of police forces’ contributions to safety advisory groups: West Midlands Police
We know that AI can be a powerful tool to support investigations and to free up officer time to get them back on our streets. But of course, any use of AI must be used responsibly and ethically, and its output should be thoroughly sense checked by officers before use. Responsible use of AI will be an important part of our upcoming Police Reform White Paper.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026, to question 101929 on Police and Crime Commissioners, what is the composition of the £100m the Government expects to save in this Parliament as a result of abolishing Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government expects to save at least £100m from abolishing the PCC model this Parliament. This includes savings from cancelling future PCC elections, with the last elections in 2024 costing approximately £87m.
In addition, we expect to generate efficiency savings of at least £20m per annum from office support arrangements which can be reinvested in frontline policing.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to require the (a) resignation, (b) retirement and (b) suspension of Chief Constables on performance grounds.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
As the Home Secretary said to the House on 14 January, when a Chief Constable is responsible for a damaging failure of leadership, the public rightly expect the Home Secretary to act.
This Government intends to restore their ability to do so and will soon reintroduce the Home Secretary’s power to dismiss Chief Constables.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of sexual assaults on individuals with learning difficulties.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise that adults with learning difficulties may be particularly vulnerable to harm in home, care, and educational settings. We remain firmly committed to tackling rape and all forms of sexual offending, and to securing the best possible outcomes for victims.
The cross‑government VAWG Strategy, published on 18 December 2025, sets out a comprehensive programme of action to address rape and sexual offences and to ensure that all victims receive the highest standard of support and protection.
We are investing £13.1 million in the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP), which is leading the implementation of Operation Soteria. This work is ensuring that police forces strengthen their response to rape, improve victim safeguarding, and use every available tool to disrupt perpetrators and bring them to justice.
We have also instructed all police forces in England and Wales to establish specialist rape and sexual offence teams by 2029, and we are working with the NCVPP to ensure these units operate consistently and to a high standard nationwide.
As set out in our manifesto, we are committed to introducing free, independent legal advice for victims of adult rape, supporting them to uphold their legal rights.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice will invest £550 million over the next three years to provide counselling, court guidance and children’s services for victims. This funding will be delivered via PCCs, who assess local need and are best placed to commission tailored services, including for victims with protected characteristics such as disability.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure standardised training for police in reviewing Operation Snap submissions involving horses; and what assessment she has made of the consistency with which police forces handle video evidence of dangerous passes involving horses.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes road safety extremely seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.
Police enforcements of motoring offences are operational matters for Chief Officers, who decide how to deploy available resources to deal with all the issues for which the force is responsible, taking into account specific local problems and demands.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) released national guidance on the minimum standards for police handling of dashcam footage submitted by members of the public in June 2021.
The guidance makes clear that trained police staff should assess camera footage submitted under Operation Snap and if the footage demonstrates an offence is committed, the local force determine the appropriate action to take.