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: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what number of people have been arrested as a result of mistaken identity due to Live Facial Recognition in the last year.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is not aware of anyone being arrested as a result of mistaken identity, due to live facial recognition in the last year. Forces also publish information about their deployments on their website. More details on LFR deployments can be found in the Met Police Force report Live Facial Recognition Annual Report September 2025.
Police use of live facial recognition is subject to safeguards that are designed to minimise the risk of misidentifications. These are set out in the Authorised Professional Practice guidance by the College of Policing found here: Live facial recognition | College of Policing]. They must also comply with data protection, equality, and human rights laws and are subject to the Information Commissioner’s and Equality and Human Rights Commission’s oversight.
Following a possible live facial recognition alert, it is always a police officer on the ground who will decide what action, if any, to take. Facial recognition technology is not automated decision making – police officers and trained operators will always make the decisions about whether and how to use any suggested matches. This means that the technology is not the deciding factor on any arrest.
In November we launched a 10 public consultation, ending on 12 February to help shape a new framework on biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies.
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: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the potential cost to the Metropolitan Police of the proposals set out in her Department's policy paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing published on 27 January 2026.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The reforms set out in the White Paper are fully funded to the end of the Parliament with nearly half a billion pounds invested. These reforms will make policing both more effective and more efficient with savings made through removal of duplication across the policing system. These savings will be reinvested into neighbourhood policing, including in London.
In addition, this Government has already announced record funding for policing of £18.4 billion next year to tackle crime and improve community safety. The Metropolitan Police will benefit from increased funding of up to £4.0bn next year, a 4.7% cash increase.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 20 January (HL13300), whether they have now reviewed whether it is necessary for the prescribed standards for police driving training to be set by legislation; and if so, what was the outcome of that review.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is vital that police drivers are trained to a high standard in order to maintain public and driver safety. This is why the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced new training requirements and a new test for police drivers, which are required by the Act to be prescribed in regulations.
The Government engages regularly with the College of Policing and other stakeholders to ensure that police driver training continues to meet these high standards. We will give full consideration to making changes if it becomes clear there is a need to do so to maintain flexibility of the standards
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 at the Copthorne Hotel London Gatwick are (a) single males and (b) family groups for which the latest data is available.
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).
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 been (a) moved from the Copthorne Hotel since 22 January and (b) are still located at the site.
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).
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).
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 will the Copthorne Hotel Gatwick Airport cease to provide asylum accommodation.
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).
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to Question 101725 tabled by the hon. Member for Widnes and Halewood on 2 January 2026.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Hon Member received a response to PQ 101725 on 4th February 2026.