Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure neighbourhood policing teams have sufficient resources to carry out preventative work to deter knife carrying in Surrey.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest data published on 29 January [Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK] shows that there has been a 7% reduction in overall police recorded knife offences in Surrey in the last 5 years (from 499 offences in year ending March 2020 to 465 offences in year ending September 2025).
Neighbourhood policing plays a vital role in our mission to halve knife crime by helping to prevent violence to keep communities safe. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver 13,000 additional policing personnel in neighbourhood roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament.
As at 31 March 2025, Surrey Police had 191 full-time equivalent (FTE) Neighbourhood Policing (NHP) officers, comprising 128 FTE police officers and 64 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). Based on their £2,588,427 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Surrey Police are projected to grow by 25 FTE NHP police officers in 2025-26. As at 30 September 2025, Surrey Police have grown by 11 FTE Neighbourhood Policing officers out of a delivery plan target of 25 FTE.
Every neighbourhood has named, and contactable officers dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally, with forces increasing patrols in town centres and other hotspots based on local demand and intelligence.
This strengthened, visible neighbourhood presence supports earlier intervention, builds community confidence, and helps reduce the risk of young people becoming involved in violence.
The Serious Violence Duty also plays an important role in preventing knife crime in Surrey. It brings key local partners together, including policing, health, education and local authorities, to prevent and reduce serious violence in a joined up, evidence-led way. The Home Office has made £546,000 available to Surrey in 2025/26 to deliver the Duty, funding a wide range of interventions that support Surrey Police in responding to knife crime among under 18s, including support for Op Shield and Surrey’s Primary Intervention Programme for youth related serious violence.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of knife-enabled crime in Surrey Police’s force area over the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest data published on 29 January [Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK] shows that there has been a 7% reduction in overall police recorded knife offences in Surrey in the last 5 years (from 499 offences in year ending March 2020 to 465 offences in year ending September 2025).
Neighbourhood policing plays a vital role in our mission to halve knife crime by helping to prevent violence to keep communities safe. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver 13,000 additional policing personnel in neighbourhood roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament.
As at 31 March 2025, Surrey Police had 191 full-time equivalent (FTE) Neighbourhood Policing (NHP) officers, comprising 128 FTE police officers and 64 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). Based on their £2,588,427 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Surrey Police are projected to grow by 25 FTE NHP police officers in 2025-26. As at 30 September 2025, Surrey Police have grown by 11 FTE Neighbourhood Policing officers out of a delivery plan target of 25 FTE.
Every neighbourhood has named, and contactable officers dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally, with forces increasing patrols in town centres and other hotspots based on local demand and intelligence.
This strengthened, visible neighbourhood presence supports earlier intervention, builds community confidence, and helps reduce the risk of young people becoming involved in violence.
The Serious Violence Duty also plays an important role in preventing knife crime in Surrey. It brings key local partners together, including policing, health, education and local authorities, to prevent and reduce serious violence in a joined up, evidence-led way. The Home Office has made £546,000 available to Surrey in 2025/26 to deliver the Duty, funding a wide range of interventions that support Surrey Police in responding to knife crime among under 18s, including support for Op Shield and Surrey’s Primary Intervention Programme for youth related serious violence.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional operational support has been provided to Surrey Police to respond to knife crime incidents involving under-18s.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest data published on 29 January [Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK] shows that there has been a 7% reduction in overall police recorded knife offences in Surrey in the last 5 years (from 499 offences in year ending March 2020 to 465 offences in year ending September 2025).
Neighbourhood policing plays a vital role in our mission to halve knife crime by helping to prevent violence to keep communities safe. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver 13,000 additional policing personnel in neighbourhood roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament.
As at 31 March 2025, Surrey Police had 191 full-time equivalent (FTE) Neighbourhood Policing (NHP) officers, comprising 128 FTE police officers and 64 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). Based on their £2,588,427 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Surrey Police are projected to grow by 25 FTE NHP police officers in 2025-26. As at 30 September 2025, Surrey Police have grown by 11 FTE Neighbourhood Policing officers out of a delivery plan target of 25 FTE.
Every neighbourhood has named, and contactable officers dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally, with forces increasing patrols in town centres and other hotspots based on local demand and intelligence.
This strengthened, visible neighbourhood presence supports earlier intervention, builds community confidence, and helps reduce the risk of young people becoming involved in violence.
The Serious Violence Duty also plays an important role in preventing knife crime in Surrey. It brings key local partners together, including policing, health, education and local authorities, to prevent and reduce serious violence in a joined up, evidence-led way. The Home Office has made £546,000 available to Surrey in 2025/26 to deliver the Duty, funding a wide range of interventions that support Surrey Police in responding to knife crime among under 18s, including support for Op Shield and Surrey’s Primary Intervention Programme for youth related serious violence.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much their department spent on X and xAI since July 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Communication Directorate has spent £0 on X and xAI since July 2024.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of police officer retention and morale.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. The retention of police officers is an important element of managing the police workforce.
Leaver rates for police officers in England and Wales, at 6.0% in the year ending 31 March 2025, have shown a reduction of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. Voluntary resignation rates of police officers in England and Wales, have also reduced 0.2 percentage. points, from 3.4% in the year ending 31 March 2024, to 3.2% in the year ending 31 March 2025. This is low compared to other sectors.
This Government is clear that police wellbeing must be prioritised to ensure a motivated and thriving workforce. The Police Covenant plays a crucial role in police morale by ensuring officers, staff, volunteers and their families are supported and are not disadvantaged as a result of their service. By formally recognising policing’s unique demands and strengthening support for those who serve, the Covenant plays an important role in building and maintaining morale across the workforce. We continue to keep the Covenant under review to ensure it is as effective as possible and will look to improve the Covenant including, if necessary, through legislation.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent police officers there were in England and Wales in each of the last five years.
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, on a bi-annual basis, as at 31 March and 30 September each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
The latest information on the number of police officers, as at 30 September 2025, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2025.
Table 4 of the data tables accompanying the release includes information on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers as at 31 March and 30 September each year from 2007 to 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Spielman (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 22 January (HL13397), whether they will now answer the question put.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
In light of the Baroness Spielman’s further Parliamentary question, the department has reviewed the response and is now able to offer further detail, subject to the constraints of commercial confidentiality during the live procurement process.
The Home Office has conducted comprehensive market engagement to assess the risks and opportunities of remote English language testing, recognising that all delivery models whether paper-based, in-person, or remote carry fraud risks. The new service shall be subject to a rigorous implementation regime of operational, security and technical testing for up 15 months. Once live, the new service shall include robust safeguards including two-stage identity verification, active session monitoring, tamperproof systems, comprehensive audit regimes, mystery shopping, and annual independent audits. Fraud will be monitored through these mechanisms as part of the overall provisions of the Government Model Services Contract that has been tailored and enhanced for these services.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will integrate Special Grant funding into the core settlement provided to Bedfordshire Police.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 2026-27 Final Police Funding Settlement confirmed £49.6m for Special Grant in the coming financial year. Funding for Bedfordshire Police will be up to £175.8m, an increase of up to £7.5m from 2025-26. Special Grant awards will be confirmed in due course.
The government has set out an ambitious programme of police reform in the Police Reform White Paper, and has committed to reform of the police funding model.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will provide an update on the status of Special Grant funding to Bedfordshire Police.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 2026-27 Final Police Funding Settlement confirmed £49.6m for Special Grant in the coming financial year. Funding for Bedfordshire Police will be up to £175.8m, an increase of up to £7.5m from 2025-26. Special Grant awards will be confirmed in due course.
The government has set out an ambitious programme of police reform in the Police Reform White Paper, and has committed to reform of the police funding model.
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 have absconded from the Copthorne Hotel Gatwick Airport to date.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work.
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.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).