Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many MP surgeries have Ministers in her Department had with MPs (a) in the period July 2024 to January 2025 and (b) since January 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Minister Jess Philips:
a.) 1, b.) 5
Minister Dame Diana Johnson:
a.) 1, b.) 2
Minister Seema Malhotra:
a.) 1, b.) 3
Minister Mike Tapp:
a.) n/a, b.) 8
Minister Dan Jarvis:
a.) 0, b.) 1
Minister Dame Angela Eagle:
a.) 2, b.) 4
Minister Natalie Fleet:
a.) n/a, b.) 0
Minister Alex Norris:
a.) n/a, b.) 17
Minister Sarah Jones:
None, instead regular engagement in a variety of ways.
Minister Lord David Hanson:
None, as he is not an MP.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of police officers in September (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 in East Grinstead and Uckfield Constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales, broken down by Police Force Area (PFA), on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
This data is collected by PFA level only, and information at lower levels of geography, such as parliamentary constituencies are not collected. Data on the number of police officers in Sussex, as at 30 September 2024 and 2025 on a full-time equivalent and headcount basis, can be found in Table 1 of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales: as at 30 September 2025’ release here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2025.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
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 number of asylum seekers on trends in levels of recorded crime in Sussex.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government takes any allegation of criminality involving asylum seekers extremely seriously. Allegations of criminal activity are matters for the police, who are responsible for recording, investigating, and progressing criminal reports, and no one in the UK, including asylum seekers, is above the law.
The Home Office is working closely with policing partners, local authorities, and accommodation providers to strengthen how risk linked to criminality and serious harm are identified, understood and managed, both within the asylum accommodation estate and in local communities. We are reviewing information available to improve our understanding of these issues and to support effective operational responses.
Through enhanced public protection arrangements, intelligence sharing and close operational collaboration, the Home Office is taking proactive action to identity and manage individuals who may pose a risk, supporting both community safety and confidence in the asylum system. Where incidents occur, established processes ensure appropriate action is taken to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and additional support is deployed where necessary.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of shoplifting in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We delivered more than 3,000 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles since March 2025.There are signs the tide is turning, with a small fall in shop theft offences by 1% in the year ending December 2025 compared with the previous year. This is compared with increases of nearly 30% in the period before the election.
We are removing the £200 threshold for shop theft and commencing the new offence of assaulting a retail worker as soon as possible.
We are also equipping the police to fight the organised crime gangs that drive shop theft across the country. Our £5m investment in the specialist OPAL policing unit is boosting intelligence-led policing to identify offenders, disrupt the tactics used to target shops, and bring more criminals to justice.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of Shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. This information is published at Force and Community Safety Partnership level for Sussex police.
The latest information, for the year ending December 2025, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/police-recorded-crime-and-outcomes-open-data-ta…
Data by constituency level is not published.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of shoplifting in East Sussex.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We delivered more than 3,000 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles since March 2025.There are signs the tide is turning, with a small fall in shop theft offences by 1% in the year ending December 2025 compared with the previous year. This is compared with increases of nearly 30% in the period before the election.
We are removing the £200 threshold for shop theft and commencing the new offence of assaulting a retail worker as soon as possible.
We are also equipping the police to fight the organised crime gangs that drive shop theft across the country. Our £5m investment in the specialist OPAL policing unit is boosting intelligence-led policing to identify offenders, disrupt the tactics used to target shops, and bring more criminals to justice.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of Shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. This information is published at Force and Community Safety Partnership level for Sussex police.
The latest information, for the year ending December 2025, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/police-recorded-crime-and-outcomes-open-data-ta…
Data by constituency level is not published.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of shoplifting in West Sussex.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We delivered more than 3,000 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles since March 2025.There are signs the tide is turning, with a small fall in shop theft offences by 1% in the year ending December 2025 compared with the previous year. This is compared with increases of nearly 30% in the period before the election.
We are removing the £200 threshold for shop theft and commencing the new offence of assaulting a retail worker as soon as possible.
We are also equipping the police to fight the organised crime gangs that drive shop theft across the country. Our £5m investment in the specialist OPAL policing unit is boosting intelligence-led policing to identify offenders, disrupt the tactics used to target shops, and bring more criminals to justice.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of Shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. This information is published at Force and Community Safety Partnership level for Sussex police.
The latest information, for the year ending December 2025, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/police-recorded-crime-and-outcomes-open-data-ta…
Data by constituency level is not published.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of recent trends in levels of shoplifting in Wales.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We delivered more than 3,000 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles since March 2025.There are signs the tide is turning, with a small fall in shop theft offences by 1% in the year ending December 2025 compared with the previous year. This is compared with increases of nearly 30% in the period before the election.
We are removing the £200 threshold for shop theft and commencing the new offence of assaulting a retail worker as soon as possible.
We are also equipping the police to fight the organised crime gangs that drive shop theft across the country. Our £5m investment in the specialist OPAL policing unit is boosting intelligence-led policing to identify offenders, disrupt the tactics used to target shops, and bring more criminals to justice.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of Shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. This information is published at Force and Community Safety Partnership level for Sussex police.
The latest information, for the year ending December 2025, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/police-recorded-crime-and-outcomes-open-data-ta…
Data by constituency level is not published.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when asylum seekers will vacate the Copthorne Hotel; and how many have vacated the Copthorne Hotel to date.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.
Additionally, the department does not publicly comment on the timing of closures. Instead, scheduled closures are managed through a nationally coordinated programme and communicated directly to local authority Chief Executives and local MPs when a hotel is identified for closure.
The Home Office publishes statistics on a quarterly basis detailing the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated, including those accommodated in hotels, broken down by local authority. These statistics can be found in at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support detailed datasets, year ending March 2026.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Copthorne Hotel is currently providing asylum accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.
Additionally, the department does not publicly comment on the timing of closures. Instead, scheduled closures are managed through a nationally coordinated programme and communicated directly to local authority Chief Executives and local MPs when a hotel is identified for closure.
The Home Office publishes statistics on a quarterly basis detailing the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated, including those accommodated in hotels, broken down by local authority. These statistics can be found in at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support detailed datasets, year ending March 2026.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers remain in the Copthorne Hotel.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.
Additionally, the department does not publicly comment on the timing of closures. Instead, scheduled closures are managed through a nationally coordinated programme and communicated directly to local authority Chief Executives and local MPs when a hotel is identified for closure.
The Home Office publishes statistics on a quarterly basis detailing the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated, including those accommodated in hotels, broken down by local authority. These statistics can be found in at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support detailed datasets, year ending March 2026.