Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of powers planned in the Crime and Policing Bill on (a) levels of detection and (b) prosecution rates for commercial burglaries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the wide-reaching impact of commercial burglary, including the profound impact these crimes can have on business owners, retail workers and the wider community.
The offences for non-residential burglaries such as business and commercial burglary across England and Wales decreased by 13% in the year to September 2025 compared with the previous year.
The table below shows the proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years:
Police recorded offences, burglary - business and community, England
Year to Sep 2023 | Year to Sep 2024 | Year to Sep 2025 (as first published in Jan 2026) | |
Burglary - business and community |
|
| |
Offences Recorded | 80,524 | 79,661 | 68,863 |
Volume of charged/summoned | 5,785 | 6,544 | 6,093 |
Charged/summoned rate for offences recorded | 7.2% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
Note 1: Figures for year ending Sep 2023 exclude Devon and Cornwall
The Government is determined that robust action should be taken to prevent commercial burglaries from happening and ensure swift justice for perpetrators.
We are doing this by focusing our efforts on delivering our ambitious police reform agenda, the central aim of which is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like tackling commercial burglary. In addition, the Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and more visible patrols, with over 3,000 additional police officers and police community support officers put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are giving police the powers they need, including to enter and search premises where stolen items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.
Guidance for the police, including authorised professional practice guidance, is a matter for the College of Policing. The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) works closely with businesses, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce the impact of business crime in the UK. National Police Chief Council leads for business crime work closely with the NBCC to support the policing response to business crime, including on improved outcomes.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the government is taking to ensure that victims of commercial crime receive timely updates on the progress of investigations.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the wide-reaching impact of commercial burglary, including the profound impact these crimes can have on business owners, retail workers and the wider community.
The offences for non-residential burglaries such as business and commercial burglary across England and Wales decreased by 13% in the year to September 2025 compared with the previous year.
The table below shows the proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years:
Police recorded offences, burglary - business and community, England
Year to Sep 2023 | Year to Sep 2024 | Year to Sep 2025 (as first published in Jan 2026) | |
Burglary - business and community |
|
| |
Offences Recorded | 80,524 | 79,661 | 68,863 |
Volume of charged/summoned | 5,785 | 6,544 | 6,093 |
Charged/summoned rate for offences recorded | 7.2% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
Note 1: Figures for year ending Sep 2023 exclude Devon and Cornwall
The Government is determined that robust action should be taken to prevent commercial burglaries from happening and ensure swift justice for perpetrators.
We are doing this by focusing our efforts on delivering our ambitious police reform agenda, the central aim of which is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like tackling commercial burglary. In addition, the Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and more visible patrols, with over 3,000 additional police officers and police community support officers put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are giving police the powers they need, including to enter and search premises where stolen items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.
Guidance for the police, including authorised professional practice guidance, is a matter for the College of Policing. The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) works closely with businesses, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce the impact of business crime in the UK. National Police Chief Council leads for business crime work closely with the NBCC to support the policing response to business crime, including on improved outcomes.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years, and what steps are being taken to increase these outcomes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the wide-reaching impact of commercial burglary, including the profound impact these crimes can have on business owners, retail workers and the wider community.
The offences for non-residential burglaries such as business and commercial burglary across England and Wales decreased by 13% in the year to September 2025 compared with the previous year.
The table below shows the proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years:
Police recorded offences, burglary - business and community, England
Year to Sep 2023 | Year to Sep 2024 | Year to Sep 2025 (as first published in Jan 2026) | |
Burglary - business and community |
|
| |
Offences Recorded | 80,524 | 79,661 | 68,863 |
Volume of charged/summoned | 5,785 | 6,544 | 6,093 |
Charged/summoned rate for offences recorded | 7.2% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
Note 1: Figures for year ending Sep 2023 exclude Devon and Cornwall
The Government is determined that robust action should be taken to prevent commercial burglaries from happening and ensure swift justice for perpetrators.
We are doing this by focusing our efforts on delivering our ambitious police reform agenda, the central aim of which is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like tackling commercial burglary. In addition, the Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and more visible patrols, with over 3,000 additional police officers and police community support officers put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are giving police the powers they need, including to enter and search premises where stolen items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.
Guidance for the police, including authorised professional practice guidance, is a matter for the College of Policing. The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) works closely with businesses, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce the impact of business crime in the UK. National Police Chief Council leads for business crime work closely with the NBCC to support the policing response to business crime, including on improved outcomes.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is provided to police forces on response times and follow-up for non-residential burglaries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the wide-reaching impact of commercial burglary, including the profound impact these crimes can have on business owners, retail workers and the wider community.
The offences for non-residential burglaries such as business and commercial burglary across England and Wales decreased by 13% in the year to September 2025 compared with the previous year.
The table below shows the proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years:
Police recorded offences, burglary - business and community, England
Year to Sep 2023 | Year to Sep 2024 | Year to Sep 2025 (as first published in Jan 2026) | |
Burglary - business and community |
|
| |
Offences Recorded | 80,524 | 79,661 | 68,863 |
Volume of charged/summoned | 5,785 | 6,544 | 6,093 |
Charged/summoned rate for offences recorded | 7.2% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
Note 1: Figures for year ending Sep 2023 exclude Devon and Cornwall
The Government is determined that robust action should be taken to prevent commercial burglaries from happening and ensure swift justice for perpetrators.
We are doing this by focusing our efforts on delivering our ambitious police reform agenda, the central aim of which is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like tackling commercial burglary. In addition, the Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and more visible patrols, with over 3,000 additional police officers and police community support officers put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are giving police the powers they need, including to enter and search premises where stolen items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.
Guidance for the police, including authorised professional practice guidance, is a matter for the College of Policing. The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) works closely with businesses, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce the impact of business crime in the UK. National Police Chief Council leads for business crime work closely with the NBCC to support the policing response to business crime, including on improved outcomes.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to increase local roads maintenance funding.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has committed a record level of funding for local authorities to repair, renew and fix potholes; totalling over £2 billion annually by 2029-30. This is double the amount provided by the previous government – and it ensures that we will exceed our manifesto commitment to fix an additional 1 million potholes in each year of this Parliament.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle regional inconsistencies in support services for child criminal exploitation.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Children and young people, particularly those exploited by county lines gangs, are often used to carry out criminal activity. That is why the Government is introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation and new civil preventative orders to target those responsible for criminally exploiting children and to help ensure that children are identified as victims and receive the support and protection they need. Where a victim of child criminal exploitation also meets the definition of a victim of modern slavery, they may retain access to the statutory defence contained in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Impact assessments for the Crime and Policing Bill are published on gov.uk here Crime and Policing Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK.
Through the Government’s County Lines Programme, we are targeting violent and exploitative drug dealing gangs to pursue violent line holders and safeguard vulnerable individuals, including women and girls. Through the Programme, we are funding Catch22’s specialist support service for victims of county lines exploitation. The service includes dedicated support for women and girls exploited through county lines to help prevent exploitation or support their safe exit. It also conducts targeted awareness raising and training to professionals on the needs and experiences of young women and girls involved in county lines.
We are working across Government to drive a coordinated response to tackling the criminal exploitation of children. We will issue statutory guidance to police alongside non-statutory guidance for practitioners to support implementation of the new offences and improve identification of victims of child criminal exploitation. Our statutory and non-statutory guidance will highlight the importance of multi-agency working to support children and raise awareness and understanding of child criminal exploitation with all practitioners.
The Government-funded Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) service provides advocacy and support to child victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism. In September 2025, we launched the invitation-to-tender for the national contract, which will expand the service coverage from the current two-thirds of local authorities in England and Wales, to provide support to all child victims referred into the NRM in England and Wales.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that national strategies on child criminal exploitation include gender-specific approaches for girls and young women.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Children and young people, particularly those exploited by county lines gangs, are often used to carry out criminal activity. That is why the Government is introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation and new civil preventative orders to target those responsible for criminally exploiting children and to help ensure that children are identified as victims and receive the support and protection they need. Where a victim of child criminal exploitation also meets the definition of a victim of modern slavery, they may retain access to the statutory defence contained in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Impact assessments for the Crime and Policing Bill are published on gov.uk here Crime and Policing Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK.
Through the Government’s County Lines Programme, we are targeting violent and exploitative drug dealing gangs to pursue violent line holders and safeguard vulnerable individuals, including women and girls. Through the Programme, we are funding Catch22’s specialist support service for victims of county lines exploitation. The service includes dedicated support for women and girls exploited through county lines to help prevent exploitation or support their safe exit. It also conducts targeted awareness raising and training to professionals on the needs and experiences of young women and girls involved in county lines.
We are working across Government to drive a coordinated response to tackling the criminal exploitation of children. We will issue statutory guidance to police alongside non-statutory guidance for practitioners to support implementation of the new offences and improve identification of victims of child criminal exploitation. Our statutory and non-statutory guidance will highlight the importance of multi-agency working to support children and raise awareness and understanding of child criminal exploitation with all practitioners.
The Government-funded Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) service provides advocacy and support to child victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism. In September 2025, we launched the invitation-to-tender for the national contract, which will expand the service coverage from the current two-thirds of local authorities in England and Wales, to provide support to all child victims referred into the NRM in England and Wales.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Crime and Policing Bill on the criminalisation of children who are victims of exploitation.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Children and young people, particularly those exploited by county lines gangs, are often used to carry out criminal activity. That is why the Government is introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation and new civil preventative orders to target those responsible for criminally exploiting children and to help ensure that children are identified as victims and receive the support and protection they need. Where a victim of child criminal exploitation also meets the definition of a victim of modern slavery, they may retain access to the statutory defence contained in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Impact assessments for the Crime and Policing Bill are published on gov.uk here Crime and Policing Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK.
Through the Government’s County Lines Programme, we are targeting violent and exploitative drug dealing gangs to pursue violent line holders and safeguard vulnerable individuals, including women and girls. Through the Programme, we are funding Catch22’s specialist support service for victims of county lines exploitation. The service includes dedicated support for women and girls exploited through county lines to help prevent exploitation or support their safe exit. It also conducts targeted awareness raising and training to professionals on the needs and experiences of young women and girls involved in county lines.
We are working across Government to drive a coordinated response to tackling the criminal exploitation of children. We will issue statutory guidance to police alongside non-statutory guidance for practitioners to support implementation of the new offences and improve identification of victims of child criminal exploitation. Our statutory and non-statutory guidance will highlight the importance of multi-agency working to support children and raise awareness and understanding of child criminal exploitation with all practitioners.
The Government-funded Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) service provides advocacy and support to child victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism. In September 2025, we launched the invitation-to-tender for the national contract, which will expand the service coverage from the current two-thirds of local authorities in England and Wales, to provide support to all child victims referred into the NRM in England and Wales.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help improve cross-departmental coordination on child criminal exploitation.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Children and young people, particularly those exploited by county lines gangs, are often used to carry out criminal activity. That is why the Government is introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation and new civil preventative orders to target those responsible for criminally exploiting children and to help ensure that children are identified as victims and receive the support and protection they need. Where a victim of child criminal exploitation also meets the definition of a victim of modern slavery, they may retain access to the statutory defence contained in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Impact assessments for the Crime and Policing Bill are published on gov.uk here Crime and Policing Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK.
Through the Government’s County Lines Programme, we are targeting violent and exploitative drug dealing gangs to pursue violent line holders and safeguard vulnerable individuals, including women and girls. Through the Programme, we are funding Catch22’s specialist support service for victims of county lines exploitation. The service includes dedicated support for women and girls exploited through county lines to help prevent exploitation or support their safe exit. It also conducts targeted awareness raising and training to professionals on the needs and experiences of young women and girls involved in county lines.
We are working across Government to drive a coordinated response to tackling the criminal exploitation of children. We will issue statutory guidance to police alongside non-statutory guidance for practitioners to support implementation of the new offences and improve identification of victims of child criminal exploitation. Our statutory and non-statutory guidance will highlight the importance of multi-agency working to support children and raise awareness and understanding of child criminal exploitation with all practitioners.
The Government-funded Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) service provides advocacy and support to child victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism. In September 2025, we launched the invitation-to-tender for the national contract, which will expand the service coverage from the current two-thirds of local authorities in England and Wales, to provide support to all child victims referred into the NRM in England and Wales.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of abolishing Police and Crime Commissioners on the provision of local victim support services.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise the important work Police and Crime Commissioners do to commission vital support services for victims and witnesses of crime locally. We are working closely with the Ministry of Justice to establish how their existing victims’ responsibilities will operate within the new police governance system. Ensuring continuity of support for victims in the future arrangements is a key priority of our design work.
We have established transition working groups to refine the design and implementation of the future governance arrangements. One of these is specifically focused on partnerships and commissioning, including victims’ responsibilities.