Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of moving to digital by default on the security of English language testing.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have engaged the market to understand what capability is available to maintain the high standards of security and integrity of the test and have developed a robust security schedule and solution requirements to ensure this remains at the heart of the digital by default solution. Security measures will be assessed as part of the procurement process and assured during implementation.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness in meeting the 8-week processing deadline for applications under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UKVI are currently assessing Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme (UPE) visas within the published processing times. Information on visa processing times can be found at Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the evidence underpinning the proposal to merge Section 1 and Section 2 firearms licensing systems; and whether the Department has evaluated the current rate of serious incidents involving legally held shotguns.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has committed to publishing a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns. This was set out in the Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025.
Recommendations to strengthen the controls on shotguns had been made to Government by the Coroner following the inquest into the deaths of those who were shot and killed in Keyham, Plymouth in August 2021. Similar recommendations had also been made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following its investigation into the Plymouth shootings, and by the Scottish Affairs Committee following a fatal shooting with a shotgun in Skye in August 2022.
We intend to publish the consultation shortly and we will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to it, before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the additional workload that would fall on police firearms licensing units if Section 1 licence conditions were applied to Section 2 shotgun certificates.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has committed to publishing a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns. This was set out in the Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025.
Recommendations to strengthen the controls on shotguns had been made to Government by the Coroner following the inquest into the deaths of those who were shot and killed in Keyham, Plymouth in August 2021. Similar recommendations had also been made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following its investigation into the Plymouth shootings, and by the Scottish Affairs Committee following a fatal shooting with a shotgun in Skye in August 2022.
We intend to publish the consultation shortly and we will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to it, before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has assessed the potential economic impact on (a) rural communities, (b) sporting shooting activities and (c) conservation work of merging shotgun and rifle licensing regimes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has committed to publishing a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns. This was set out in the Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025.
Recommendations to strengthen the controls on shotguns had been made to Government by the Coroner following the inquest into the deaths of those who were shot and killed in Keyham, Plymouth in August 2021. Similar recommendations had also been made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following its investigation into the Plymouth shootings, and by the Scottish Affairs Committee following a fatal shooting with a shotgun in Skye in August 2022.
We intend to publish the consultation shortly and we will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to it, before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of merging Section 1 and Section 2 licensing on existing waiting times for firearms licensing; and whether the merger could exacerbate current delays.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has committed to publishing a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns. This was set out in the Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025.
Recommendations to strengthen the controls on shotguns had been made to Government by the Coroner following the inquest into the deaths of those who were shot and killed in Keyham, Plymouth in August 2021. Similar recommendations had also been made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following its investigation into the Plymouth shootings, and by the Scottish Affairs Committee following a fatal shooting with a shotgun in Skye in August 2022.
We intend to publish the consultation shortly and we will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to it, before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK children are currently missing with active investigations to locate their whereabouts.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold this data centrally.
Information about current missing persons incidents is held by individual police forces. The National Crime Agency’s UK Missing Persons Unit holds the national database for all missing incidents that are unresolved after 72hours, allowing the police to have access to missing persons information across force boundaries.
In addition, annual missing persons statistics, broken down to police force level,are published by the National Crime Agency’s Missing Person’s Unit in its annual data report which can be found here: Downloads - National Crime Agency
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when does she intend to launch the consultation on changes to firearms licensing.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We intend to publish this consultation shortly.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent glassware attacks at late night venues; and whether her Department plans to engage with the Bottle Stop campaign.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police are responsible for protecting the public by detecting and preventing crime. The government expects the police to respond to all allegations made, including those involving violence in the night time economy, and treat them seriously, investigate and consider any arrests or charging decisions as required.
The Home Office has responsibility for the Licensing Act 2003, which determines the regime for the licensing of, among others, venues which sell alcohol. The Act sets out four licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder; the prevention of public nuisance; upholding public safety and protecting children from harm.
Local licensing authorities are responsible for making licensing decisions in England and Wales and ensuring the licensing objectives are upheld. The Government publishes statutory guidance to assist licensing authorities in fulfilling these duties. The guidance sets out matters that should be considered by a licensing authority in relation to public safety. This explicitly includes giving consideration to requiring, as part of a premises licence, the use of plastic containers and preventing customer access to glass bottles.
The Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders on matters relating to the Licensing Act 2003 and the sale and supply of alcohol.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of licensing laws for supporting rural and community pubs.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Hospitality businesses are vital to our communities, both in town centres and in rural areas. As well as providing local jobs and supporting local supply chains, they help create places where people want to live, work, visit and invest.
No assessment has been made specifically of the link between licensing laws and supporting rural and community pubs, however a wider reform programme is underway following the report of a Licensing Taskforce and consultation with stakeholders over the past year. The Government aims to support all hospitality businesses, by developing reforms which lead to a more responsive and enabling licensing system for hospitality and leisure businesses that also protects and safeguards communities.
As part of the licensing reforms programme a Call for Evidence closed in November with over 2,000 responses to a range of questions about changes that could be made to the licensing regime. Following that we published a new National Licensing Policy Framework (NLPF) for the hospitality sector, which set how the Licensing Act should be applied to support the growth of hospitality businesses and highlights examples of good practice.