Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken for domestic abuse cases to reach a court hearing on the number of victims withdrawing support for a prosecution before trial.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Delays in the criminal justice system can have a significant impact on victims of domestic abuse. This Government is taking decisive action to revive our criminal court system to reduce delays and the impact they have on all victims, including those involved in domestic abuse.
We are investing heavily in Crown Court capacity, court infrastructure, uncapped sitting days, technology and legal aid. We are driving greater efficiency in the courts through measures such as responsible AI innovation, case coordinators for every Crown Court centre, and close collaboration with the judiciary on their reforms to listing practices and virtual hearings guidance.
We have also brought forward structural reforms via the Courts and Tribunals Bill which is currently before Parliament. Measures in the Bill are designed ease pressure on the Crown Court, ensure proportionate allocation of resource, and redress the balance between victims and defendants. These measures make a commitment to reduce the Crown Court backlog and get victims their day in court more quickly.
Alongside wider support measures, pre-recorded cross-examination (section 28) can help reduce the impact of delays by enabling victims to give evidence earlier. The Ministry of Justice’s 2025 section 28 impact evaluation found that, between January 2019 and September 2022, the measure reduced the time between an alleged offence and cross-examination by around five months.
We are separately committed to improving the criminal court response to domestic abuse and as recommended by the Independent Sentencing Review. This includes looking at how to expand the use of Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts to achieve better outcomes for victims.
Furthermore, the Government is committed to ensuring all victims have access to the information and support they need to navigate the criminal justice system. The Ministry of Justice is supporting victims with the largest ever investment of over £550 million in victim support services over the next three years. This includes Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to commission local victim support services for all victims of crime, based on their assessment of local need, including those affected by domestic abuse.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase access to domestic abuse perpetrator programmes to reduce repeat offending.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, we committed to expanding access to tailored interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators across England and Wales.
The Home Office has recently competed £74.5 million in funding for the Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. This funding will support the local delivery of domestic abuse and stalking perpetrator interventions, and interventions for children who use harm. This is in addition to the £53 million over four years (FY2025-29) to rollout the Drive Project, an evidence-based intervention for the highest risk, highest harm, serial perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to announce her decision on whether to apply the break clause for the Federated Data Platform contract with Palantir.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The supplier contract will be reviewed in line with standard contract management processes and the outcome will be announced in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure a joined-up response to preventing avoidable deaths due to drowning.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water safety is a cross-government issue involving a wide range of departments and organisations. In July, I convened a cross-government roundtable to strengthen collaboration, and we will continue working with partners to support water safety and help prevent avoidable drowning deaths.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle antisocial behaviour in rural towns and villages.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated anti-social behaviour lead who works with local communities and partners to implement anti-social behaviour action plans tailored to local needs and concerns. The ASB Action Plan for West Yorkshire Police can be found here: https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/advice/abuse-anti-social-behaviour/anti-social-behaviour/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan.
Through the Crime and Policing Act, we are also strengthening the powers available to the police and local agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour, including the introduction of Respect Orders for persistent offenders, extending dispersal powers from 48 to 72 hours and increasing the maximum fixed penalty for breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order from £100 to £500. That means stronger consequences for behaviour that damages public spaces and local confidence.
We are also rebuilding neighbourhood policing, with additional investment in neighbourhood officers and PCSOs. With the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets named and contactable officers dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to expand provision of police in semi-rural and rural areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is introducing the most radical and comprehensive policing reforms in nearly 200 years. This will support it to tackle cross-border crimes like wildlife crime and organised equipment theft, while also restoring neighbourhood policing.
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee means that every neighbourhood, including in rural areas, already has named, and contactable officers, dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally.
Every rural area will also be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 20 minutes in rural areas.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to support more businesses to expand into the high street.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The government’s Plan for Small Businesses includes measures to support high street businesses by addressing crime and antisocial behaviour, updating our licensing regime and targeting funding through our Pride in Place and High Street and Growth Incubator programmes.
Businesses on the high street are also benefitting from new tools to access finance, action on late payments and regulatory costs, greater digital adoption and easier access to business support through the Business Growth Service.
Government has also introduced permanently lower business rate multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth nearly £1 billion per year that will benefit over 750,000 properties. We have also introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills due to revaluation.
Further action will be announced in a new High Streets Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect moorland from wildfires.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to rewetting peatlands where it can reduce the likelihood of severe and sustained wildfire.
In 2025, we amended the Heather and Grass etc Burning (England) Regulations 2021, expanding restrictions on unnecessary burning practices, to enhance protection of upland deep peat and improve the resilience of our moorlands. Wetter, healthy-functioning peatlands are more resilient to the impacts of wildfire and deliver benefits for biodiversity and water security.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will have discussions with the Prime Minister on appointing a minister responsible for drowning prevention.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water safety and drowning prevention are of critical importance and involve a range of organisations and government departments. Defra works with navigation authorities, regulators, water companies and other government departments to improve coordination, information sharing and preparedness.
In July, I convened a cross-government roundtable to discuss water safety and ensure departments and key partners are working together to reinforce the importance of water safety and strengthen collaboration to help keep people safe around water.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to undertake a coordinated response to prevent avoidable deaths due to drowning.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsibility for water safety and drowning prevention is shared across government, local authorities, emergency services, regulators, education partners and asset owners.
I convened a roundtable in July with ministers and representatives from across government to reinforce the importance of keeping people safe around water. I was clear that all organisations must keep working to reduce risks.
The Government recognises the importance of working collectively to reduce drowning. It supports collaborative efforts through organisations such as the National Water Safety Forum, which brings together partners to reduce water-related deaths and associated harms.
The Government will carefully consider the UK Drowning Prevention Strategy 2026–2036 to identify that we are collectively doing all we reasonably can to support this vital work.