Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps they have taken to reform the performance management regime for the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC); and when they expect substantive changes to that regime to be implemented.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has undertaken a period of engagement with its contracted Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract Providers regarding the performance management arrangements under these contracts. Discussions and a review of the performance management regime have now concluded. The Home Office and the providers were unable to reach agreement on proposed changes to the regime. As the Home Office cannot unilaterally amend the contractual terms without the agreement of the relevant providers, the existing performance management regime remains in full force and effect.
Excess profits of £45.9m have been returned to the Department since 2019 in relation to the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract’s profit share provisions. A further breakdown of this figure cannot be provided at this time.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if they will list the excess profits recorded under each of the seven regional Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) for each year from 2019 to 2024; and how much has been returned to the Department by the respective contract providers for each of those years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has undertaken a period of engagement with its contracted Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract Providers regarding the performance management arrangements under these contracts. Discussions and a review of the performance management regime have now concluded. The Home Office and the providers were unable to reach agreement on proposed changes to the regime. As the Home Office cannot unilaterally amend the contractual terms without the agreement of the relevant providers, the existing performance management regime remains in full force and effect.
Excess profits of £45.9m have been returned to the Department since 2019 in relation to the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract’s profit share provisions. A further breakdown of this figure cannot be provided at this time.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if they will list the total number of performance failures recorded under each of the seven regional Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) in each year from 2019 to 2024; and what the total value of the financial penalties levied in response was in each of those years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are currently engaged in the management and oversight of asylum accommodation contracts, broken down by (a) directly employed departmental staff and (b) external contractors and consultancy personnel; and what the total annual cost is of (i) directly employed staff, including salaries, employer National Insurance contributions and pension costs, and (ii) external contracts for consultancy or contract management services.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the payment of (a) PAYE income tax and (b) National Insurance contributions in respect of UK-based employees is considered as evidence that an organisation is operating in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In relation to the licensing of businesses for the purposes of Sponsoring overseas employers, the evidential options to demonstrate that they have a UK footprint and trading presence are set out in Appendix A of the Sponsor guidance.
This can be found at: Sponsor guidance appendix A: supporting documents for sponsor applications - GOV.UK
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, will her department make an updated assessment of the annual cost to the UK economy of serious and organised crime.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office has an updated assessment of the cost of Serious and Organised Crime. Officials are currently reviewing the findings and considering the appropriate next steps, including options and timing for publication.
In the interim, the department continues to draw on a range of evidence, including previous official estimates, which underline the significant harm serious and organised crime causes to the UK economy.
The most recent published assessment of the social and economic costs of organised crime to the UK is the estimate presented in the previous Government’s SOC strategy 2023-2028 Serious and organised crime strategy 2023 to 2028 - GOV.UK, which places the cost at approximately £47 billion in 2023/24 prices. This figure is derived from the last underlying assessment conducted for FY 2015 to 2016, which estimated costs at around £37 billion based on Home Office ‘Understanding Organised Crime Estimating the scale and the social and economic costs’, and was subsequently inflated using the November 2023 HMT GDP Deflator. We continue to keep this area under active review, including how best to reflect improvements in evidence and methodology across threat areas.
Since the most recent publication, the Home Office has been actively developing and refining cost methodologies across key threats, including contact child sexual abuse (The economic and social cost of contact child sexual abuse), modern slavery (Economic and social costs of modern slavery - GOV.UK), drugs (Dame Carol Black's Independent Drugs Review) and fraud, (Economic and social cost of fraud 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK). These updated methodologies have strengthened the evidence base and improved the accuracy of our cost estimates for individual threats.
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