Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of police officers in 2027.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police forces in England and Wales are expected to maintain officer numbers, as per the officer maintenance grant. The Government is currently working with police forces on setting an accurate baseline for neighbourhood policing numbers.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of children of British National (Overseas) (BNO) passport holders who are unable to access the BNO visa scheme because they (a) were born before 1 July 1997 and (b) do not hold a BNO passport of their own.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on the BN(O) route as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics’ quarterly release, in the entry clearance visas and extensions detailed datasets. The Home Office does not currently hold data on the number of children of BN(O) passport holders who were born before 1 July 1997 and who do not hold a BN(O) passport.
The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route reflects the UK’s historic commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status and, has enabled thousands of eligible Hong Kongers and their family members to come to the UK to live, study and work in virtually any capacity, on a pathway to citizenship. We remain committed to this work while we decide on the future of departmental policies.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take urgent steps to allow children of British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa holders who (a) were born before 1 July 1997 and (b) do not hold a BNO passport of their own to access the BNO visa scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on the BN(O) route as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics’ quarterly release, in the entry clearance visas and extensions detailed datasets. The Home Office does not currently hold data on the number of children of BN(O) passport holders who were born before 1 July 1997 and who do not hold a BN(O) passport.
The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route reflects the UK’s historic commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status and, has enabled thousands of eligible Hong Kongers and their family members to come to the UK to live, study and work in virtually any capacity, on a pathway to citizenship. We remain committed to this work while we decide on the future of departmental policies.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will reintroduce the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 gained Royal Assent on 20 July 2023.
We are committed to implementing the Act, which aims to prevent the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting. I recently met with Ruth Bailey, CEO of Agricultural Engineers Association on the 5th November 2024.
The Act requires secondary legislation before it can come into effect. We will be carefully considering the views of those who may be affected by the legislation and its regulations, to understand the potential implications and determine the scope of the legislation.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take steps to include first aid education in Young Futures Hubs; and what steps she is taking to consult with the voluntary sector on the 10-year knife crime plan.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to rolling out a Young Futures Programme, made up of local prevention partnerships and a network of Young Futures Hubs across the country. These will bring together services to help improve the way that children and young people can access the support they need.
This is a cross-government endeavour and expertise is being brought together from across departments to deliver on this manifesto commitment. The Government will be engaging with national and local partners, local communities and children and young people to explore options for the design and delivery of the hubs. This co-design will support local areas to meet local needs.
The Government is also launching a new Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime. The Coalition will bring together campaign groups, families of people who have tragically lost their lives to knife crime, young people who have been impacted and community leaders, united in their mission to save lives and make Britain a safer place for the next generation.
It will work with experts to develop an extensive understanding of what causes young people to be drawn into violence, providing vital evidence that will drive government policy and help to hold the government to account on its knife crime commitments.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has not published an annual report since 2019; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs resumes publishing these reports.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention met the Chair of the ACMD, Professor Owen Bowden-Jones on the 29th October 2024, as part of this Government’s wider work on tackling the harms associated with drug misuse.
Regular meetings with the ACMD or its Chair will be held as appropriate, in accordance with the important work it does in assessing the evidence of drug harms.
The government will consider outstanding and forthcoming reports carefully.
The ACMD is independent. The publication of its annual report is a matter for the ACMD.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what meetings she has had with the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention met the Chair of the ACMD, Professor Owen Bowden-Jones on the 29th October 2024, as part of this Government’s wider work on tackling the harms associated with drug misuse.
Regular meetings with the ACMD or its Chair will be held as appropriate, in accordance with the important work it does in assessing the evidence of drug harms.
The government will consider outstanding and forthcoming reports carefully.
The ACMD is independent. The publication of its annual report is a matter for the ACMD.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on tackling drug-related harms of all of the recommendations made by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs between 2010 and 2014.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention met the Chair of the ACMD, Professor Owen Bowden-Jones on the 29th October 2024, as part of this Government’s wider work on tackling the harms associated with drug misuse.
Regular meetings with the ACMD or its Chair will be held as appropriate, in accordance with the important work it does in assessing the evidence of drug harms.
The government will consider outstanding and forthcoming reports carefully.
The ACMD is independent. The publication of its annual report is a matter for the ACMD.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of fires that have been caused by the batteries of (a) e-scooters and (b) e-bikes in the last 12 months.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available here: Fire statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Data collected through the Incident Recording System (IRS) does not include data on whether fire incidents attended were caused by or involved batteries of either e-bikes or e-scooters..
We are reviewing the IRS, and the data it collects, and considering what categories to record in the future. Adding new categories, including lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, e-scooters and e-bikes, to the data collection will be considered as part of the work to reform the IRS with a modern, secure, and flexible system.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to proceed with the recruitment process for members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, as announced by the previous government on 2 August 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Appointments to the Advisory Council and the Misuse of Drugs are made by Ministers in accordance with the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the principles set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
Governance Code on Public Appointments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Ministers are considering the recruitment options, and a decision will be taken in due course.