Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of people smugglers.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
People smuggling is a deplorable transnational crime, and anyone involved in this dangerous trade will face the full force of the law. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is nearing Royal Assent and will give law enforcement agencies the toughest powers yet to take down criminal smuggling gangs
The Bill will introduce new offences to help tackle offending, such as criminalising the creation of material advertising unlawful immigration services online, the endangerment offence, and the power to seize electronic devices. It will also implement interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders to disrupt and deter organised crime, including people smuggling.
Due to the cross-border nature of these crimes, international collaboration remains essential to disrupt criminal supply chains and networks. This Government is working hard to fix the borders crisis, which is why we agreed a landmark deal with France, where we have returned migrants, as well as increasing international cooperation with Germany and other countries. In line with this, the CPS has increased cooperation with international partners to improve information sharing and evidence gathering for prosecutions.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police front counters were closed between 2010 and 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of police front counters in use across all police forces, nor on closures.
Decisions regarding the management of the police estate, including public access counters at police stations, is a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents). They are best placed to make these decisions based on their knowledge of local need, experience, and in line with their existing budget.
A key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission is focused on restoring neighbourhood policing, and rebuilding trust and confidence in policing, The commitments set out in the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee are now making a considerable difference to the service communities receive from their neighbourhood policing teams. We have also provided £200 million in Financial Year 2025/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of the Parliament. This increase in neighbourhood policing, alongside the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will strengthen the connections between the police and the communities they serve.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value is of outstanding (a) loans and (b) debts liable to the UK from lower-income countries.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The value of outstanding debt from Low Income Countries to the UK is approximately £2.1bn as of August 2024.
This data is publicly available in the ‘Report on outstanding debt owed by other countries to His Majesty’s Government in 2024’, published on gov.uk in December 2024. Low Income Countries are defined in this response using the Development Assistance Committee list of Least Developed Countries from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many registered food banks were created between 2010 and 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold official statistics on the number of registered food banks created between 2010 and 2024.
Food banks are independent organisations, often run by charities, faith groups, or community organisations, and are not regulated or registered centrally by the Government.
We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape.
To further support struggling households, we are providing £742 million to extend the House-hold Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026, enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food.
Starting from 1 April 2026, we have announced a further £842 million a year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform crisis support with the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, supporting our wider mission to reduce child poverty by reducing dependence on food parcels, preventing homelessness and making sure people can access urgent support when they need it.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to publish the (a) recoveries, (b) write‑offs and (c) associated costs for each supplier of PPE as part of his investigation into PPE procurement.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has already committed to the Public Accounts Committee that it will report to Parliament on the COVID-19 personal protective equipment contract dissolution outcomes once work is completed.
Outcomes and details of individual cases are expected to be published wherever possible so long as any such release of information does not breach commercial interests, harm public finances, or exacerbate legal sensitivities.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the personal data of UK citizens held by UK companies but stored on US-based servers is protected from access under (a) the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001 and (b) other US legislation; and whether he plans to take steps to increase data sovereignty protections.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under UK data protection laws, UK organisations must ensure personal data is appropriately protected when transferred internationally. The UK has an adequacy decision for certain transfers to the US, which assessed US government access laws and practices. Where adequacy cannot be relied upon, organisations must use alternative safeguards, such as contractual clauses.
The UK believes complex issues like data security and digital governance are best addressed through transparent, inclusive multi-stakeholder engagement. The UK remains committed to working with international partners via recognised global mechanisms to promote shared understanding and responsible behaviours, while supporting UK-based data-driven businesses to innovate and grow.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) asylum hotel and (b) community accommodation in each year between 2010 and 2024.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Costs are subject to change depending on numbers being accommodated within the asylum system. Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential therefore, the Home Office does not publish this information. However, total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to provide support for rural households to switch renewable liquid heating fuels in the Warm Homes Plan.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
For most off-grid properties, decarbonising heat will involve installing a heat pump. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants offer £7,500 for heat pumps, and £5,000 for biomass boilers in specific rural cases.
The government recognises that renewable liquid fuels (RLFs) could play a role in heating. We expect sustainable biomass, a limited resource, to be prioritised where there are fewer alternatives to decarbonisation. RLFs are also more expensive to use than other heating solutions. The government continues to review evidence on the affordability and availability of sustainable feedstocks for RLFs.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with British Transport Police on its decision to not investigate bike thefts outside stations in cases where the bicycle has been left for more than two hours.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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.
I would like to reassure you that the BTP have not taken the decision to stop investigating bike theft that cannot be narrowed to a two-hour window, which was reported in the media. 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 judged on its own merits.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to support GPs (a) with professional training and (b) to update their clinical knowledge on the less survivable cancers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All registered doctors in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and has to meet the standards set by the GMC. The RCGP provides several resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is bigger than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole, demonstrating our commitment to shifting resources to the community.