Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of operational officers in the National Crime Agency were deployed to tackle drug-related crime in each of the years 2021 to 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Crime Agency (NCA) houses multiple functions which impact serious and organised crime (SOC) threats and actors, including the drugs threat.
The NCA assess that SOC threat actors often work across a range of threats, for example, drug related organised crime groups (OCG’s) may also engage in elements of firearms, modern slavery and human trafficking and money laundering as part of their model.
As such, NCA officers in any operational roles could be working to impact the drugs threat, even if the team they are working in is not directly targeting that threat.
In the years requested, the full time equivalent (FTE) for NCA officers in operational roles was:
April 2021 | April 2022 | April 2023 | April 2024 | April 2025 |
4461.9 | 4460.23 | 4214.89 | 4150.98 | 4150.85 |
The NCA does house functions which target the drugs threat directly, however, as above, those officers could also be impacting other interlinked SOC threats through their work.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to respond to the report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Ketamine – an updated review of use and harms, published on 26 January.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs published its review of the use and harms of ketamine on 28 January. The report provides a detailed assessment of the evidence on harms and trends in use and includes 15 recommendations.
Ministers have been considering the recommendations carefully and will respond to the report as soon as possible. In advance of that, in October 2025 the Department of Health and Social Care launched a campaign to raise awareness among young people about the dangers of ketamine misuse, and law enforcement is taking action against the threat from criminal gangs supplying the drug.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ask the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review the classification of cannabis in light of new evidence on the effects of the drug on mental and physical health which has come to light since the Council last made their recommendations in 2008.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Cannabis is controlled as a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Ministers have a statutory obligation to receive and consider advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (‘ACMD’) before seeking to make changes to the classification of drugs through secondary legislation.
The Government has no current plans to commission the ACMD to re-assess the classification of cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 19 June (HL904), whether they have received the final report of the Independent Review of Police Force Structures; and if so, when they expect to publish their response.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Lord Hogan-Howe submitted his report of the Independent Review of Police Force Structures to the Home Secretary on 17 September 2026.
The Government is considering the report and will set out its formal response in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to receive the final report of the Independent Review of Police Force Structures; and whether this report will be published.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Reform White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, set out the Government’s commitment to introduce a new model for policing, so that it is fit for the modern world and we have the right policing in the right places. We will ensure local police forces are equipped to make their local communities safer and implement a new national approach to policing that protects us all.
The Independent Review of Police Force Structures was launched on 17 March 2026 and will make recommendations on the optimal configuration of police forces. The Chair will report their recommendations to the Home Secretary in the summer.
The Government will publish the Independent Review’s findings and its response in the autumn.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have prepared an impact assessment of the decision to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners; and if so, whether they will place a copy in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The announcement of the Government’s intention to abolish the Police and Crime Commissioner model is the first of a series of reforms that will be set out in the forthcoming Police Reform White Paper, to drive quality, consistency and efficiency in policing and ensure it is set up to deliver for the public.
We will bring forward legislation to give effect to the reforms in the White Paper, including legislating for alternative police governance arrangements, when parliamentary time allows. An impact assessment will be published alongside this legislation.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on victims of crime of the abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise the important work PCCs do to commission vital support services for victims and witnesses of crime. We are working closely with the Ministry of Justice to establish how PCCs’ existing victims’ responsibilities will operate within the new police governance system. Ensuring continuity of support for victims in the future arrangements will be a key priority.
We are establishing transition working groups to consider the design and implementation of the future governance arrangements. One of these will specifically focus on partnerships and commissioning, including victims’ responsibilities.