Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered automating the visa extension process for Ukrainians living in the UK whose visas are about to expire.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK has offered or extended sanctuary to over 300,000 Ukrainians and their families under the Ukraine Schemes, thanks to the immense generosity of the British public. We are determined to continue to provide stability for those we have welcomed to the UK and who still need our sanctuary.
The Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, which opened to applications on 4 February 2025, is intended to allow those with existing Ukraine Scheme permission, who have been living in the UK and who continue to require sanctuary in the UK, to complete and application online for further permission to stay in the UK.
An automatic extension of existing permission would mean inadvertently providing further permission to a person who has now left the UK and is no longer in need of temporary sanctuary in the UK.
Nevertheless, UPE will be one of the first immigration routes to reuse existing biometric records, removing the need for the majority of Ukrainians to attend a UK visa and citizenship application services centre. This will create a faster and more streamlined customer journey. We will roll-out the option to reuse previously submitted biometrics using a phased approach.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many police officers left the police force in each year since 2019.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the size and composition of the police workforce, including officer numbers and leavers, in England and Wales, broken down by Police Force Area (PFA), annually in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales
Data on the number of police officers in the police service, as at 31 March in each year from 2007 to 2023, can be found in the ‘Police Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1172892/open-data-table-police-workforce-260723.ods
This data is available on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount basis and includes officers seconded into forces as well as officers on career breaks or parental leave.
Table 1 below shows the number of police officers employed in the England in Wales, by year, in both headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) terms.
Table 1: Police officer numbers, by year, England and Wales
As at 31 March | Number of officers (headcount) | Number of officers (FTE) |
2019 | 125,811 | 123,189 |
2020 | 131,576 | 129,110 |
2021 | 137,690 | 135,301 |
2022 | 142,505 | 140,228 |
2023 | 149,566 | 147,430 |
Data on the number of police officers leaving the police service, in the years ending 31 March 2007 to 2023, can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1172932/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-260723.ods
The table 2 below shows the number of police officers leavers (excluding transfers between forces) in the England in Wales, by year, in FTE terms.
Table 2: Police officer leavers (excluding transfers) by year, England and Wales
Year ending 31 March | Police officer leavers (FTE) |
2019 | 7,387 |
2020 | 7,141 |
2021 | 6,018 |
2022 | 8,117 |
2023 | 9,192 |
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total number of serving police officers in each year since 2019.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the size and composition of the police workforce, including officer numbers and leavers, in England and Wales, broken down by Police Force Area (PFA), annually in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales
Data on the number of police officers in the police service, as at 31 March in each year from 2007 to 2023, can be found in the ‘Police Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1172892/open-data-table-police-workforce-260723.ods
This data is available on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount basis and includes officers seconded into forces as well as officers on career breaks or parental leave.
Table 1 below shows the number of police officers employed in the England in Wales, by year, in both headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) terms.
Table 1: Police officer numbers, by year, England and Wales
As at 31 March | Number of officers (headcount) | Number of officers (FTE) |
2019 | 125,811 | 123,189 |
2020 | 131,576 | 129,110 |
2021 | 137,690 | 135,301 |
2022 | 142,505 | 140,228 |
2023 | 149,566 | 147,430 |
Data on the number of police officers leaving the police service, in the years ending 31 March 2007 to 2023, can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1172932/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-260723.ods
The table 2 below shows the number of police officers leavers (excluding transfers between forces) in the England in Wales, by year, in FTE terms.
Table 2: Police officer leavers (excluding transfers) by year, England and Wales
Year ending 31 March | Police officer leavers (FTE) |
2019 | 7,387 |
2020 | 7,141 |
2021 | 6,018 |
2022 | 8,117 |
2023 | 9,192 |
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to bring forward the recommendations of Reforming the Fire and Rescue Service, published on 18 May 2022, to give the Chief Fire Officers the same standing in law as Chief Constables.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The government is committed to giving chief fire officers operational independence as laid out in the white paper and recommended by the independent fire inspectorate.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government under what criteria migrants or refugees would be moved from an area once they have been satisfactorily settled in that area.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Accommodation is offered on a no-choice basis across the United Kingdom and there are established mechanisms in place, via Migrant Help and Support Casework, if individuals have a specific, acute need to be accommodated in a particular area.
Accommodation providers may need to move individuals if the property they are currently occupying is no longer suitable or must be handed back to the owner when contract with the landlord expires. However we limit the amount of moves that can take place through our contract.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have if any, to amend the Licensing Act 2003 to add public health as a licensing objective.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government believes the existing provisions to consider health matters in relation to licensing applications are sufficient at present.
Directors of Public Health in England and Local Health Boards in Wales have been responsible authorities under the Licensing Act 2003 since 2012. As responsible authorities, health bodies are automatically notified of new licence applications and can make representations based on the existing licensing objectives
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of police suicides between 2011 and 2019, published by the Office for National Statistics on 30 October 2019.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The death of any police officer is a tragedy. The Government and police leaders take this matter seriously and are working to support the mental and physical wellbeing of all police officers and staff.
We have invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers and staff. This includes £7.5 million to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service, which was launched in 2019. The Service is helping forces to identify where there is most risk of impacts on mental health, and developing work around building resilience, as well as putting in place support for those who need it in response to traumatic events.
The Government has also accelerated work to introduce a Police Covenant, which will ensure our police get the support and protection they need. The Covenant will be enshrined in law, with provisions being brought forward later this session, and the Home Secretary will have a duty to report annually on progress.
Our focus will be on health and wellbeing, physical protection and support for families. We are in no doubt that an area we must focus on is mental health support. We will continue to work closely with policing partners to ensure the Covenant has a lasting impact on our police.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in their campaign to recruit 20,000 new police officers.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
As at 30 June 2020, 4,336 additional officers have been recruited towards the target of 20,000 and will be trained to rise to the policing challenges of the future.
All forces have prioritised recruitment. I am extremely grateful to those brave men and women who have signed up to join the police and keep our communities safe.
The next official data will be published on 29 October.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the age profile of those recruited through their campaign to recruit 20,000 new police officers.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government is delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers over the next three years.
The 20,000 officer uplift is a once in a generation opportunity to enable all forces become more representative of the communities they serve. We are already seeing applications from a wide range of candidates with diverse backgrounds and from a range of ages who are bringing particular skills and experience to the police service.
Amendments to Police Regulations made this year mean that individuals can apply to join the police at 17 years of age for appointment on reaching 18 years, opening the way for more candidates wishing to apply to join the police.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to ensure that workforce representation in policing reflects the communities in which officers will serve.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The police officer workforce is more diverse than ever before. The most recently published Police Officer Uplift data show that as at 30 June 2020 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic officers represented 7.4% of all police officers.
The Government has been clear that forces must do more to become representative of the communities they serve. Attracting a broad range of talent, cultures and backgrounds to a career in policing is a core ambition in our drive to recruit 20,000 extra police officers.
We are supporting forces with a variety of attraction and recruitment strategies, whilst delivering a campaign that’s been designed to reach the widest and most diverse audience possible including those who have never considered a policing career.
Innovative schemes such as Police Now are making the police workforce more diverse than ever before; showing that we can attract the brightest and best into policing, whilst introducing new perspectives into policing some of the country’s most challenging neighbourhoods.
Retention and progression also play a crucial role, particularly in enabling officers and staff to move into more senior and more specialised ranks and roles.