Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on securing public spaces from unauthorised drone activity; and whether her Department provides funding to local authorities for local counter-drone measures at high-risk public sites.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office oversees the UK government’s approach to countering the misuse of drones.
The needs and requirements of each local authority to prepare for and respond to unauthorised drone activity will vary. In order to manage their risks, local authorities should work with their local police, for example through their Local Resilience Forum, to agree their approach.
The Home Office provides cross-government coordination on counter-drone policy, and has supported the National Police Chiefs’ Council counter-drones team to develop local police capabilities. Police forces across the UK have been issued with equipment, guidance and training to prepare for and respond to drone misuse, and are responsible for their ongoing local risk assessments.
Guidance on the wider topic of drone awareness and security has been issued by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), focused on infrastructure but applicable to public spaces: Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) | Uncrewed Aerial Systems | NPSA. More broadly, guidance has also been provided following the passing of Martyn’s Law which outlines local authorities’ responsibilities to ensure public safety and security.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,with reference to her statement of 13 October 2025 on Manchester Terrorism Attack, Official Report, col 27, whether trade union picket lines outside workplaces would be considered within the scope of the cumulative impact, in the context of her proposed amendments to sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral contribution on 13 October 2025 during the statement on the Manchester Terrorism Attack, Official Report, column 29, what definition her Department plans to use for the term 'cumulative impact' in relation to protest activity under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her statement of 13 October 2025 on Manchester Terrorism Attack, Official Report, col 27, what discussions she has had with police forces on how they would take cumulative impact into account when determining restrictions on protest locations.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her statement of 13 October 2025 on Manchester Terrorism Attack, Official Report, col 27, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her statement of 13 October 2025 on Manchester Terrorism Attack, whether she plans to amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 through amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of times police forces in England and Wales have exercised powers under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation her Department has undertaken with (a) police forces and (b) Police and Crime Commissioners on the proposal to extend police powers to consider the cumulative impact of protests.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds data on the subject matter of protests at which sections (a) 12 and (b) 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 have been used in the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will allow senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
The Home Office regularly engages with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, and this clause has been developed in discussion with the NPCC and other operational policing partners, and informed by community concerns about the ongoing disruption caused by repeat protests.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and NPCC to include guidance on cumulative impact in the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document, which contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Police forces will be engaged in the development of the guidance, to help ensure the application of this legislation achieves the objective of addressing safety and security concerns of affected communities while ensuring that consideration of any cumulative disruption is balanced with the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
It will be for senior officers to consider whether to impose conditions on a protest having considered any relevant cumulative disruption to the life of the community in the area in which the protest is held or intended to be held.
Statistics on police protest powers are published here: Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK The latest figures cover the period up to March 2024.
In the period 28 June 2022 to 31 March 2024, 10 forces used powers under Sections 12, 14,14ZA of the Public Order Act (1986). The remaining 34 forces confirmed they had not used these powers in the period.
Since sections 12, 14 and 14ZA of the Public Order Act 1986 (as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022) came into force, they have been used to apply conditions to 473 protests. Of these 473 protests, 434 were recorded as processions (conditions imposed under section 12) and 39 were recorded as assemblies (conditions imposed under section 14); the powers have not been used to apply conditions to any one-person protests (section 14ZA). As part of this data collection, information is provided on the ‘theme’ of protests that had conditions applied to them under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, to indicate whether the protest had one of more of the following themes: social justice, anti-fascism, cultural nationalism, animal rights, international, anti-government, environmental.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83177 on Batteries: Storage, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Planning Practice Guidance in ensuring that battery developers consult fire services.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government engages regularly with the National Fire Chiefs Council, representatives of local authorities and other key stakeholders to gather feedback on the effectiveness of the safety framework for grid-scale batteries, including the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG).
The PPG sets a clear expectation that developers engage with fire and rescue services before they submit a planning application for a grid-scale battery site. It also encourages local planning authorities to engage with fire services as part of the formal period of public consultation and before reaching a planning determination. As such, government considers the PPG to be effective in setting out clear expectations for developers and decision-makers on grid-scale planning applications.