Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking through the criminal justice system to protect children who become victims of stalking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims, including children, living in fear just going about their daily lives. Recognising children as victims in their own right is vital and this Government will go further to ensure this is put into practice. This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims, including children.
We have appointed Richard Wright KC to lead a review of the stalking legislation to determine whether the law should be changed to support a better understanding and better identification of stalking. It will examine the extent to which the legislation helps or hinders the effective management of stalking cases through the criminal justice system from identification to investigation and prosecution. The full review, including any recommendations, must be submitted to the Secretary of State by the end of March 2026.
We are also delivering on the manifesto commitment to strengthen Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are introducing provisions which, once implemented, would provide for the courts to impose SPOs on conviction and acquittal of their own volition. SPOs are an essential tool designed to protect all victims of stalking at the earliest possible opportunity and address the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. SPOs support existing tools to ensure there are robust protections available to victims, including children.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are also introducing statutory guidance to set out the process by which the police should release identifying information about stalking perpetrators to victims so appropriate safeguards can be put in place, including for any relevant children.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the extension of visa for Ukrainian nationals in the UK who have fled the war since 2022.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 1 September, the Government announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.
The UK Government has always been clear that our offer of temporary sanctuary under the Ukraine Schemes does not lead to settlement in the UK. However, the UPE extension reflects a generous and meaningful commitment to support those displaced by the conflict, while also respecting the Ukrainian Government’s strong desire for the future return of its citizens when it is safe to do so.
There are other routes available for those who wish to settle in the UK permanently, if they meet the requirements.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing indefinite leave to remain for Ukrainian nationals that have fled to the UK since 2022.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 1 September, the Government announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.
The UK Government has always been clear that our offer of temporary sanctuary under the Ukraine Schemes does not lead to settlement in the UK. However, the UPE extension reflects a generous and meaningful commitment to support those displaced by the conflict, while also respecting the Ukrainian Government’s strong desire for the future return of its citizens when it is safe to do so.
There are other routes available for those who wish to settle in the UK permanently, if they meet the requirements.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of the recommendations of the article entitled Abuse of Women Runners: implications for the violence against women and girls policy agenda, published in November 2024.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government has been clear that the level of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our country is intolerable, and we are treating it as the national emergency that it is. Everyone should both be and feel safe whilst going about their day-to-day lives – and we recognise the particular vulnerability that women runners may feel.
We will go further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve VAWG in a decade, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy, which we are aiming to publish in September.
We are working across Government to use every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence to keep all women safe.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure the provision of appropriate accommodation for police officers whose careers were shortened by significant injury.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where a police officer is assessed as permanently medically unfit and leaves the service, there are a range of benefits that may be payable under the occupational pension and injury benefit schemes. The entitlement for an individual would depend on the particular circumstances.
This government has also committed to supporting policing through the Police Covenant and National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS). The covenant is a pledge by government that those who work or have previously worked in policing are not disadvantaged as a result of their service.
NPWS have compiled a leavers package focusing on supporting officers and staff who are leaving the service to transition from a career in policing.
We are not taking any steps to ensure provision of accommodation for former police officers leaving due to illness or injury and as far as we know, there are no other formal provisions for doing so. However, as the answer explains, there are enhanced provisions through the injury benefits and pension arrangements designed to provide financial support to police officers who are no longer able to perform the role through illness or injury.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the standard qualifying period for settlement to people who are already on the five year pathway to settlement.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A technical annex has been published alongside the White Paper. It can be found at the following link: Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper - GOV.UK
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be updated at that time. An impact assessment will be developed alongside any finalised policy.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the white paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, whether people who (a) are already living in the UK and (b) hold active visas will still be able apply for indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be updated at that time.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to better equip local police forces to ensure the safe return of missing children.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to ensuring that police forces are equipped to respond appropriately urgently when children go missing, and that missing people and their families receive the best possible protection and support.
The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice, issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales in order to prevent missing incidents as well as ensure the safe return of missing children.
The National Police Chief’s Council has also developed a ‘Missing Children from Care Framework’ which aims to ensure that children in care receive appropriate and timely responses when their whereabouts are unknown. This should reduce the risk of harm; help return the child to their care setting; and, reduce the likelihood of repeat missing incidents.
The new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection will also improve the response to missing children by developing best practices and delivering training to officers across a range of vulnerabilities.
Recognising that many children go missing as a result of county lines exploitation, we are also providing specialist support for children and young people to escape county lines and child criminal exploitation, and this includes funding Missing People’s SafeCall service, which provides a national, confidential helpline and support for young people, families and carers who are concerned about county lines exploitation.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Greater Manchester Police to reduce response times in north Greater Manchester.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Hon Member to the response given to UIN 31037 on 28th February 2025.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle (a) violence and (b) abuse against retail delivery drivers.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work.
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores, sending a strong message to offenders and would-be offenders that violence against retail workers will not be tolerated. The Bill is making its way through Parliament and had its Second Reading on 10 March.
As introduced, the definition of a 'retail worker' does not include delivery drivers. Keeping a tight definition provides legal clarity and ensures there is less ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job. Workers whose roles are not included are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH).
That said, the whole purpose of the parliamentary process is to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and we will, of course, consider carefully any amendments and supporting evidence.