Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential merits of introducing (a) specific criminal offences and (b) criminal sanctions for using catapults to harm animals.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In view of the ongoing concerns about the misuse of catapults, especially against wildlife, I have written to Dan Zeichner MP, the relevant Minister in DEFRA, who has responsibility for the protection of animals and birds.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to review the regulation of (a) hand-held catapults and (b) slingshots with a wrist-brace attachment.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I have asked Home Office officials to keep the law in this area under review. There are existing powers available for the police to tackle the misuse of catapults for anti-social behaviour or against people or property.
I understand that there is a particular concern about the misuse of catapults against wildlife. I have therefore written to Dan Zeichner MP, the relevant Minister in DEFRA, which has responsibility for the law protecting animals and birds to highlight this problem.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have had their indefinite leave to remain claim rejected because they have applied to lift no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A person applying for settlement in the UK must meet several requirements. Not meeting those requirements will result in a refusal. Having their no recourse to public funds restriction lifted is not currently one of those requirements, so no one should have been refused on this basis.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have asked for their no recourse to public funds to be lifted in each year since 2020.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Quarterly data regarding NRPF - Destitution Change of Conditions Applications and Outcomes is published in tabs CoC_01 – CoC_07 of the Immigration and protection data: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2024
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to e-petition 701064.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A response was sent to the Petitions Committee (Commons Select Committee) on 3 April 2025 for consideration for publication.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle (a) organised crime, (b) theft and (c) antisocial behaviour in rural areas.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. The Government is joint with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver a new Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy, ensuring our Safer Streets Mission benefits every community no matter where they live.
Rural communities will benefit from more local visible policing through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which will put 13,000 more neighbourhood officers and PCSOs in communities across the country, helping to tackle crimes like anti-social behaviour (ASB), fly tipping and county lines which can have a devastating impact on rural life. In addition, the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit – specialist policing units supported by the Home Office - play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime.
To tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting, we are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023. Additionally, the Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked, where the items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and are on those premises, and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court.
I recently have met with the NPCC lead for rural crime and the Head of the National Rural Crime Unit, on how we can better work together to tackle the scourge of rural crime in our countryside communities.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle rural crime; what progress she made on a rural crime strategy; and when she plans to launch that strategy.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. The Government is joint with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver a new Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy, ensuring our Safer Streets Mission benefits every community no matter where they live.
Rural communities will benefit from more local visible policing through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which will put 13,000 more neighbourhood officers and PCSOs in communities across the country, helping to tackle crimes like anti-social behaviour (ASB), fly tipping and county lines which can have a devastating impact on rural life. In addition, the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit – specialist policing units supported by the Home Office - play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime.
To tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting, we are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023. Additionally, the Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked, where the items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and are on those premises, and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court.
I recently have met with the NPCC lead for rural crime and the Head of the National Rural Crime Unit, on how we can better work together to tackle the scourge of rural crime in our countryside communities.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) local authorities, (b) local police and (c) rural stakeholders on tackling rural crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. The Government is joint with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver a new Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy, ensuring our Safer Streets Mission benefits every community no matter where they live.
Rural communities will benefit from more local visible policing through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which will put 13,000 more neighbourhood officers and PCSOs in communities across the country, helping to tackle crimes like anti-social behaviour (ASB), fly tipping and county lines which can have a devastating impact on rural life. In addition, the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit – specialist policing units supported by the Home Office - play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime.
To tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting, we are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023. Additionally, the Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked, where the items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and are on those premises, and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court.
I recently have met with the NPCC lead for rural crime and the Head of the National Rural Crime Unit, on how we can better work together to tackle the scourge of rural crime in our countryside communities.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what protections he plans to introduce in the Domestic Abuse Bill to provide for the mental health needs of victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to improving the response to victims of domestic abuse through the provisions set out in our draft Domestic Abuse Bill and consultation response.
We are carefully considering the recommendations from the Joint Committee on the draft Domestic Abuse Bill about improving access to public services for victims of domestic abuse and their children and will be responding to the Committee’s report in due course.
We want to improve the provision of mental health services to ensure that they are available to anyone in need of such services, including domestic abuse victims. We have therefore committed to investing at least an additional £2.3bn per year in mental health services by 2023/24
On 17 June the Prime Minister announced a wide-ranging package of measures to strengthen the response to mental health, including training for all new teachers on how to spot the signs of mental health issues, additional funding to support local authorities to deliver local suicide prevention plans and updated professional standards for social workers across England to increase their knowledge and skills when helping those with mental health issues.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to undertake a public consultation on proposals to strengthen police powers in response to trespassing.
Answered by Nick Hurd
On 6 February, the Home Secretary announced a set of measures to extend powers available to the police, which we believe will enable unauthorised encampments to be tackled more effectively. The Written Ministerial Statement can be found at https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2019-02-06/debates/19020635000011/EnforcementAgainstUnauthorisedEncampments.
The Home Secretary also made clear that the Home Office would conduct a review into how the Government can criminalise unauthorised encampments. This review is currently underway, and a public consultation will be launched on the final set of proposals this summer.