Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has her Department made of the adequacy of the capacity of local government to resource Trading Standards teams to tackle counterfeit goods sales from high street shops.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
In the 2025 Autumn Budget, the Government allocated £10 million per year for three years to tackle high street illegality. This funding includes the creation of the High Streets Illegality Taskforce, enhancements to Trading Standards capabilities and support for at least 45 additional law enforcement officers.
The Government does not have control over how local authorities plan their enforcement activities or apportion staff/resource to tackling harms. Local authorities are independent of central government and make their own workforce and enforcement decisions based on local need.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of bans on e-scooters and e-bikes riding in pedestrian areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police have a suite of powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Police Reform Act 2002 to seize e-scooters and e‑bikes being used illegally or antisocially, including ‑for offences such as riding on the pavement and in pedestrian areas.
We are strengthening enforcement through the Crime and Policing Bill, by removing the requirement for police to issue a warning before seizing vehicles used antisocially. We have also consulted on measures to allow police to dispose of seized vehicles, including e-scooters and e-bikes, more quickly, helping to tackle dangerous and anti-social behaviour impacting communities.
Enforcement of road traffic law is an operational matter for Chief Officers, who decide how to deploy resources in line with local policing priorities.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made in implementing the Injury on Duty Award Scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
I have met with those leading the campaign for a new award and I am working on proposals. Ultimately, any official award is a gift from the Government on behalf of His Majesty The King.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Section 22 of the Department's White Paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing, published on 26 January 2026, how does her Department define dangerous behaviour; and what criteria do they use to identify it.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is no one specific definition of ‘dangerous behaviour’ or any exhaustive list of the criteria for identifying it, as this changes as crime changes and evolves. However, the College of Policing (CoP) provide a non-statutory definition of Potentially Dangerous Persons (PDPs) which states that:
'A PDP is a person who is not currently managed under one of the three Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) categories, but reasonable grounds exist for believing that there is a risk of them committing an offence or offences that will cause serious harm.’
The MAPPA categories are explained Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) | College of Policing
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Part 3 of her Department's White paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, what her planned timetable is for the review of the police funding formula.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The White Paper represents the most significant reforms to policing for nearly 200 years. The reforms to our policing system set out in the White Paper will have significant consequences for the way policing is funded in future.
Changes to police governance, force mergers and the creation of the National Police Service require a new way of allocating funding between forces, aligned with these new structures. We will therefore review the police funding formula once the implementation of police reform is underway so that the new formula reflects the new police force structures.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Pillar 1 entitled Police Back on the Beat within the white paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing, published on 27 January 2026, CP 1489, how many police officers constitute a team; and whether neighbourhood policing area teams would be assigned to single council wards.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) commitments means every neighbourhood now has named, and contactable officers. The commitments were delivered in line with police forces’ existing team structures and neighbourhood areas based on local needs shaped by a range of factors, including geography, crime types, urban or rural context, and population size and density. The constitution of a neighbourhood policing team therefore varies by force.
The White Paper confirms that we will work with police forces to define and implement neighbourhood areas to ensure they are of a size that makes sense locally and are recognisable to communities. Ultimately, we aim to have neighbourhood areas aligned with local council wards.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Part 3 of her Department's White paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, how many (a) strategic authority mayors and (bi) council leaders will be placed on a Policing and Crime Board.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Policing and Crime Boards will be made up of upper-tier local authority leaders, and where they are present in the force area, Strategic Authority Mayors. This will ensure that the whole force area is represented by elected individuals. The exact number will be influenced by the number of upper-tier local authorities and Strategic Authorities in that area; we anticipate Policing and Crime Boards will be between 5 to 11 members.
Policing and Crime Boards will also include two independent members, to bring unique skills and expertise. They will be required to be supported by a Policing and Crime Lead, who will exercise many of the functions of the Board on their behalf, ensuring that there is a dedicated lead for policing on a day-to-day basis.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what are the current boundaries of operational independence for police forces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Operational independence of the police is a longstanding fundamental principle of British policing. This ensures that Chief Constables maintain direction and control over their police force so that they can perform their role without fear or favour.
There is no statutory definition of operational independence or its boundaries. However, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and the Policing Protocol Order 2023 set an expectation that Chief Constables, their officers, and staff exercise professional judgement free from improper political or operational interference.
The Government’s recently published White Paper ‘From Local to National: A New Model for Policing’ announced plans to clarify the boundaries of operational independence to provide policing with direction and support to drive improvement where necessary.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 aligning strategic authority mayoral boundaries with new regional policing boundaries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Reform White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, represents the most significant reforms to policing in England and Wales since the service was professionalised nearly 200 years ago. As part of this, the White Paper sets out an ambition to significantly reduce the number of police forces by the end of the next Parliament.
An Independent Review of police structures, which will report this Summer, will examine the optimal configuration of police forces. The review will consider alignment of public service boundaries, including mayoral and local authorities. Mayors and elected local leaders will continue to be a core part of the governance and accountability arrangements for policing.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on outcomes of asylum appeals since March 2023.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Data on asylum appeals is published in table Asy_D06 and Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Appeals data from April 2023 onwards is currently unavailable for publication due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new caseworking system. Work is ongoing to make this information available, and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly release.
Please note that figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. The latest data relates to January to March 2025.