theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data she plans to collect on the impact of changes to the winter fuel allowance. \p Torsten Bell: Following the decision to target Winter Fuel Payments at pensioners on the lowest incomes, the Government took immediate action to maximise the take-up of Pension Credit.

The latest Pension Credit applications and awards statistics were published on 27 February. Details can be found at: Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK. The statistics show that the Department received 235,000 Pension Credit applications in the 30 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement – an 81% increase on the comparable period in 2023/24 and made 117,800 new Pension Credit awards – a 64% increase or 45,800 extra awards on the comparable period 2023/24.

Winter Fuel Payment statistics are published annually. The next release of Winter Fuel Payment statistics covering winter 2024 to 2025 will be published on 16 September 2025 and will report on recipients and beneficiaries of Winter Fuel Payment. The statistics will also include a measure of the proportion of the pensioner population who are beneficiaries of the Winter Fuel Payment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Wendy Chamberlain:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to share data between her Department and HMRC to identify households eligible for Pension Credit. \p Torsten Bell: HMRC and DWP already have well established data-sharing processes and procedures, which are governed by the rules on how data can be accessed, shared and used whilst safeguarding individuals’ data and privacy.

DWP officials are currently working with HMRC to explore how to use data more effectively to help identify pensioner households most likely to be eligible for Pension Credit and to target them directly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40712, what the cost to the public purse was of the Disability Confidence Scheme in each of the last four years. \p Alison McGovern: The Disability Confident scheme expenditure is not separately recorded within departmental budgets.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit are not claiming Pension Credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Using the latest published benefit combinations statistics from Stat-Xplore, out of the 1.24m benefit claimants of state pension age in Great Britain receiving Housing Benefit in August 2024, 448,500 were not in receipt of Pension Credit.

A DWP benefit claimant is defined as the individual who is claiming benefit on their own behalf, or in the case of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, an individual who is part of a single or couple claim for benefit.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Personal Independence Payment claimants there are in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority area. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be found on Stat Xplore. The requested data can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement from 2019’ dataset. You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

For data on claimants in receipt of PIP by local authority area there is a pre-populated table with the latest data. For data by constituency, you can filter by using the ‘Geography’ filter to select ‘Westminster Parliamentary Constituency 2024’.

PIP has been devolved to Scotland since April 2020 and existing claims are currently being moved to the Scottish replacement benefit Adult Disability Payment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of current Personal Independence Payments recipients do not meet four points on a single descriptor on the daily living activities assessment criteria. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Household Support Fund after March 2026. \p Alison McGovern: This Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty across the UK.

That is why we are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will enable Local Authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, and develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience.

However, no decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
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Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraphs 7.2 to 7.4 of her Department’s publication entitled Final stage impact assessment: Improve access to Statutory Sick Pay by removing the Lower Earnings Limit and removing the waiting period, published on 21 October 2024, what estimate she has made of the proportion of sickness absences that last at least four weeks; and what average length of sickness absence was estimated to calculate the annual cost of Statutory Sick Pay for businesses. \p Alison McGovern: There is no administrative data collected or recorded when an employee takes a sickness absence. The best evidence available uses findings from the Employee Survey (Employee research Phase 2: Sickness absence and return to work. Quantitative and qualitative research: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64108286d3bf7f02f6e38078/employee-research-phase-2-sickness-absence-and-return-to-work-quantitative-qualitative.pdf.)

The survey showed that 64% of respondents had no sickness absence. Of those that do have a sickness absence, 13% of those who have a sickness absence reported an absence of more than 3 weeks. The majority of sickness absences were for up to a week (57%) followed by between 1 to 2 weeks (20%), and between 2 to 3 weeks (10%). These figures demonstrate that when workers took sickness absence, it was usually for a short period of time.

Of those who have had a sickness absence, many would receive Occupational Sick Pay. The Employee Survey findings suggest 57% of employees said they would receive OSP, while a further 9% said they would receive some combination of both SSP and OSP. 26% would receive SSP, while the remaining 8% do not know.

The estimated cost to business of SSP reforms is derived from a simulation model that incorporates raw sickness absence data from the DWP Employee Survey 2023 alongside characteristic information from the Family Resources Survey. (Family Resources Survey: financial year 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK)
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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40715 on Universal Credit: Disability, what steps she is taking to ensure that savings reinvested into (a) work support and (b) training opportunities impact recipients of Universal Credit health top up in (i) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (ii) Scotland and (iii) other devolved administrations. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work. This is backed up by £1 billion of new funding across the United Kingdom, with the share of funding for devolved governments calculated in the usual way.

In Northern Ireland employment support is fully transferred. In Scotland and Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Scottish and Welsh Governments have concurrent powers to deliver employment support, with some provision delivered and funded directly by DWP and some funding devolved through the block grant.

As outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are committed to working in partnership with the Scottish and Welsh Governments on shared employment ambitions across devolved and reserved provision, which includes employment support measures in the Health and Disability Green Paper.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which body will administer the proposed merged housing and pension credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department is committed to delivering the Government’s goal of bringing together the administration of pensioner Housing Benefit and Pension Credit for new claimants from 2026, so that pensioners receive the support they are entitled to.

We are working closely with local authorities, to ensure reforms meet the needs of current and future pensioners.

In addition, we have already improved how we use existing data to target new pensioner Housing Benefit customers to ensure they are prompted to claim and receive any Pension Credit to which they are entitled.
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Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's official Spring Statement of 26 March 2025, whether the 1.3million homes to be built will be built in the UK or in England. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to reply to correspondence of 17 January 2025 from the hon. Member for Torbay on local government reorganisation; and if she will meet with the hon. Member for Torbay to discuss this issue. \p Jim McMahon: I will respond to the letter imminently.
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Carla Denyer:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for (a) introducing a registration scheme for short-term lets, (b) removing the furnished holiday let rules to ensure all income from property will be treated the same for tax purposes and (c) concluding her consideration of what additional powers she might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by short-term lets. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government remains committed to introducing a national mandatory registration scheme for short-term lets. The initial phase of digital development is now complete, and public testing is planned to start in the next 12 months. Further details about the implementation of the scheme will be announced in due course.

The furnished holiday lettings rules cease to apply in tax years commencing on or after 6 April 2025 for Income Tax and for Capital Gains Tax, and 1 April 2025 for Corporation Tax and for Corporation Tax on chargeable gains. This was enacted by the Finance Act 2025.

We are considering what further powers we might give to local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by second homes and short-term lets. We will announce further details on this in due course.
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James Wild:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has received any representations on fire safety guidance and the time within which care homes should aim to evacuate residents from protected areas. \p Alex Norris: The Fire Risk Assessment: Residential Care guide is being updated as part of a major work programme to update all fire safety guidance under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and will address evacuation times in premises such as care homes. This work is currently expected to run over the next couple of years given the number of guides in development, the detailed policy work required and the differing expert views regarding care home evacuation times.
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Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she expects to receive the final report of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods. \p Alex Norris: This Government has recently announced the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a £1.5 billion programme to invest in 75 areas over the next decade, offering a long-term strategy to fix the foundations of places that have been left behind. This plan will help to tackle deprivation at the root cause, creating neighbourhoods where people can thrive, communities are stronger, and people have control over the things that matter to them. In each of these areas, we will help set up a Neighbourhood Board, bringing together residents, local businesses, and grassroots campaigners to draw up a new vision for their neighbourhood. I welcome the launch of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhood’s interim report and look forward to seeing, their insights on how we can build on this agenda to support the most in need neighbourhoods.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her plans are for projects that received funding through the Levelling Up Fund in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire. \p Alex Norris: The Levelling Up Fund is fully committed, with £4.8 billion going to 271 projects across the UK. In Lancashire this includes 10 projects worth £260 million.

We are supporting Local Authorities to help deliver the benefits of this investment to communities across the UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 32222 on Homes England: Equality, whether this expenditure was signed off by the Principle Accounting Officer for Homes England. \p Alex Norris: The Whitehall Diversity & Industry Group (WIG) Diversity & Inclusion event is a conference with key note speakers, panel discussions and interactive sessions and therefore does not fall under the EDI restrictions and/or require sign off from the Principal Accounting Officer for Homes England.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that purchasers are not financially disadvantaged by incorrect EPC certificates. \p Alex Norris: The Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2012 place a duty on accreditation schemes to ensure that Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are produced in a consistent and accurate manner and the energy assessors are suitably qualified and experienced to carry out their duties. Government regularly audits accreditation scheme to assess whether they are fulfilling their duties and takes action to address any issues found.

We have recently consulted on EPC Reforms including proposals to improve the accuracy and reliability of Energy Performance Certificates. This includes reviewing the training standards of energy assessors and strengthening auditing processes to more effectively capture and correct errors. We have also proposed that additional metrics be added to EPCs to provide a broader perspective on building performance, alongside measures to make the underlying data used to calculate these metrics more transparent. This increased transparency will allow any errors to be identified sooner and corrected.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer by Lord Khan of Burnley of 13 March 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 822, whether the grant funding agreement with Tell MAMA has been signed. \p Alex Norris: As with all government funding, funding to Tell MAMA is subject to grant funding agreements which are rightly kept under constant review and are subject to continued monitoring and evaluation. Following Tell MAMA’s signing of the required Grant Funding Agreement, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has made payment for the 2024/25.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the members of the working group on the definition of Islamophobia will be remunerated; and what is the process by which they have been selected. \p Alex Norris: Members of the Anti-Muslim Hate/Islamophobia Definition Working Group will not be remunerated but will be able to claim expenses for travel and/or costs incurred whilst carrying out their role. Members are technical experts and have been selected for their ability to deliver against the group’s objectives. All members must follow The Seven Principles of Public Life and the Government retains the right to end the relationship if any member does not abide by the principles. All appointments are subject to assessment of any potential or actual conflicts of interest, which must be fully disclosed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government. Further details are provided in the Group’s Terms of Reference which have been published on GOV.UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36103 on Islamophobia, what the public appointment process will be. \p Alex Norris: The Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia working group has been established to provide government with a working definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred which is reflective of a wide range of perspectives and priorities of British Muslims. The Working Group is made up of representatives from Muslim communities, independent experts, and academics.

Full membership details of the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group have been published on GOV.UK. The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. Further details of the Government’s public appointments process and the Governance Code of Public Appointments can be found on GOV.UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31935 on Civil Society: Islam, how such decisions are (a) recorded and (b) communicated to teams within her Department. \p Alex Norris: The responsibility for decisions around who departments engage with sits with respective departments and the appropriate policy areas. All policy decisions are taken and recorded in the usual way, as per standard practice.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 38627 on Democracy and Elections, if she will name each of the stakeholders who have been consulted to date. \p Rushanara Ali: The Government engages with a broad range of stakeholders including local authorities, Civil Society Organisations and electoral bodies including the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators, The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and the Scottish Assessors’ Association. The Government is committed to working proactively and collaboratively with those groups where the Government’s ambitious agenda for electoral reform will have the most impact and we will continue to build on these trusted relationships.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to review cross-Government spending on tackling homelessness, in the context of the Spending Review. \p Rushanara Ali: As part of the current Spending Review, the government will be reviewing all spending across government, including spend on tackling homelessness. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has plans to repeal part 1, Schedule 13 of the Elections Act 2022. \p Rushanara Ali: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 23541 on 22 January 2025.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many first time applications there were for British passports in 2024. \p Seema Malhotra: The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she plans to use in applying her discretionary powers to give an exception to the current ban on citizenship being granted to an asylum seeker who has arrived irregularly. \p Seema Malhotra: We have strengthened measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally or who arrives without a required valid entry clearance or electronic valid authorisation having made a dangerous journey, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused. The change applies to citizenship applications made from 10 February 2025, regardless of the time that has passed since the illegal entry took place.

However, citizenship applications have always been, and will continue to be, considered on a case-by-case basis considering all positive and negative factors. The Secretary of State may choose to apply discretion to grant citizenship on an exceptional basis where there are particularly exceptional, compelling, or mitigating circumstances and where necessary to comply with our international obligations.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the National Police Chiefs' Council on the handling of FOI requests by the Central Referral Unit. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Responding to Freedom of Information requests and ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is a matter for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), or any public authority which receives such a request.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of refugees received indefinite leave to remain in the latest period for which data is available. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home Office publishes statistics relating to indefinite leave to remain and asylum in the Immigration system statistics publication.

Data on the number grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) to refugees, is published in table Se_D01 of the Settlement detailed datasets. The latest data relates to 2023. In addition, information on the number of ILR grants to refugees, including persons given ELR (Exceptional Leave to Remain), HP (Human Protection) or DL (Discretionary leave) is published in table Se_D02 of the Settlement detailed datasets for which latest data relates to 2024.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37197 on Visas: Seasonal Workers, what steps she is taking to facilitate Scheme Operators in enforcing welfare on farms. \p Seema Malhotra: UKVI Seasonal Agricultural Worker Officers visit farms, interviewing both workers and farm managers to ensure that worker welfare, accommodation standards, as well as pay and conditions meet the requirements of the route.

Regular bi-monthly meetings are held with the licensed sponsors to ensure any complaints raised or issues identified are addressed as soon as possible.

Should systemic issues relating to worker welfare be identified that are not acted upon, UKVI will consider taking punitive action against the associated provider, up to and including the revocation of their licence.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will instruct relevant Departmental officials to engage with the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth's inquiry into grooming gangs. \p Jess Phillips: I refer the Hon Member to the various statements to the House made on these issues by Home Office ministers in recent months. Most recently on 8 April.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK Visas and Immigration Compliance Unit inspections were carried out in 2024 in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland. \p Seema Malhotra: The information requested is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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Tonia Antoniazzi:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40390 on Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, what steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Sullivan Review. \p Jess Phillips: The Government has now published the independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by the previous Government.

We are considering the findings in light of ongoing policy work in this area.

The Home Office recognises the contribution of this review to the important issues of accurate and consistent recording of data on sex and gender in statistics and research. We are considering the recommendations and the implications for policing and across the Criminal Justice System.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the Immigration White Paper. \p Seema Malhotra: Our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system, end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth. The paper will be published in due course, and announced in Parliament in the normal way.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with local authorities on the potential impact of migrants from the Chagos Islands on levels of service provision. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home Office has made funding available to support local authorities in meeting their statutory duties in relation to Chagossian British citizens arriving in the UK. Alongside other responsible departments, the Home Office continues to engage in discussions and work with the local authorities most impacted by the arrival of Chagossian British citizens in the UK.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to refugees on the process of applying for indefinite leave to remain. \p Seema Malhotra: Guidance setting out the rules on settlement protection for refugees is available on GOV.UK at: Settlement protection.
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Apsana Begum:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to help ensure that UK Border Force eGates are configured to permit entry to holders of Irish passport cards travelling from outside the Common Travel Area. \p Seema Malhotra: Irish nationals can travel to the UK on either an Irish passport or associated passport card. In line with other identity cards, Irish passport cards cannot be used at eGates and there are no plans to change this.

If an Irish national wishes to use their passport card to enter the UK from outside the Common Travel Area, they are required to present it to a Border Force officer.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37194 on Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority: Inspections, how many complaints were received by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. \p Jess Phillips: 'Complaints' is taken to mean referrals received by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) about labour abuses, mistreatment of workers, labour providers operating without a licence or a business using an unlicensed gangmaster.

The GLAA reports the number of referrals received in each of the GLAA's regions, over the last 5 years, as:

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

2024-25

TOTAL

North East

326

414

269

213

182

1,404

North West

214

198

117

77

127

733

South East

515

499

375

228

337

1,954

South West

270

263

224

132

186

1,075

Multi-Region

29

22

27

10

12

100

Region not listed

152

129

75

22

13

391

TOTAL

1,506

1,525

1,087

682

857

5,657

'Regions' denote the regions of England. However, 'North West' includes reporting related to Scotland and Northern Ireland; 'North West' includes reporting related to North Wales; and 'South West' includes reporting related to South Wales and Dyfed.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle money laundering in (a) shops and (b) other services using high street premises. \p Dan Jarvis: The Government recognises that cash intensive businesses such as barber shops and nails bars can be exploited by criminals who seek to legitimise their criminal cash, enabling them to profit from their illegal activities. Addressing cash-based money laundering is one of the strategic priorities of the National Economic Crime Centre, which sits within the National Crime Agency, who are currently working with partners to drive an increased operational response to this threat, including money laundering through cash intensive businesses.

In parallel, the National Police Chiefs Council economic crime co-ordinators are engaged in the development of Clear Hold Build strategies to help police forces tackle serious and organised crime. Clear Hold Build aims to reclaim and rebuild neighbourhoods affected by organised crime and increase public confidence in the police and partner agencies. This includes tackling financial crime on the high street.

While businesses such as barber shops are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority they interact with regulated businesses, such as banks, who under the Money Laundering Regulations are required to undertake customer due diligence and under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 submit reports to the National Crime Agency if they suspect money laundering.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of people of Chagossian descent who have arrived at Heathrow Airport since 1 July 2024. \p Seema Malhotra: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to help prevent online intimate image abuse. \p Jess Phillips: Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in all of its forms, including when it takes place online, is a top priority for this Government. This is why we have set out an unprecedented ambition to halve it in a decade.

As of 17 March 2025, online platforms have new legal duties to assess the risk of illegal harms on their services and to take additional steps to tackle priority offences. These priority offences include sharing and threatening to share intimate images including 'deepfake' pornography without consent.

We have also announced our intention to legislate to make the creation of intimate images, including sexually explicit deepfake images, a criminal offence. In addition, Ofcom are required to produce guidance setting out how providers can take action on harmful content and activity that disproportionately affects women and girls. The consultation on their draft guidance is currently open and closes on 23 May 2025.

The Government is also funding the Revenge Porn Helpline. The helpline provides high-quality support and advice to victims of intimate image abuse, engages with law enforcement and other stakeholders to improve processes to respond to intimate image abuse, and raises awareness of the nature of intimate image abuse and the harm that it can cause.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-08 conversation_229

Uma Kumaran:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of incidences of upskirting. \p Jess Phillips: Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government and we are committed to addressing all forms of VAWG, including non-contact sexual offences, such as exposure and voyeurism (such as so-called 'upskirting').

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, three new offences will be introduced, for the taking of intimate images without consent, alongside two offences for the installation of equipment with intent to enable these offences. This will cover a broader range of behaviour than the two existing voyeurism offences that they will replace.

We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes, bring perpetrators to justice and manage sex offenders. More broadly, we will be publishing a new VAWG Strategy later this year, taking forward our unprecedented mission to halve VAWG over the next decade.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-08 conversation_230

Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what demographic information is held about the subjects of DBS checks in England and Wales. \p Jess Phillips: The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is operationally independent from the Home Office and as such the Home Office does not hold any demographic information about the subjects of DBS checks in England and Wales. The DBS itself only holds demographic information that is mandatory for the processing of disclosure checks and barring referrals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-08 conversation_231

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of refuge spaces for victims of domestic abuse are committed to supporting male survivors. \p Jess Phillips: The Crime Survey for England and Wales year ending September 2024 showed that 3% of men aged 16 and over were victims of domestic abuse between September 2023 and September 2024 (compared to 6.6% of women).

The Government funds services that provide essential support to male victims, including support in accessing safe accommodation. These include Respect, Galop, SignHealth and Hourglass.

According to Women's Aid 2025 Annual Audit report, there were 50 refuges in England with bedspaces for men in May 2024, an increase of 11 from the previous year.

Since 2021, Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act has required local authorities in England to ensure support is available to all victims of domestic abuse in safe accommodation such as refuges.

Local authority data shows that in 2023/24 there were 63,950 individuals supported in safe accommodation, of which 3% (1,830) were men.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children were referred to the national referral mechanism in Huntingdon constituency in each year since its start. \p Jess Phillips: The Home Office does not hold or publish data on the number of National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals received for individuals on a constituency level.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the NRM including the nationality of children referred. NRM statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

Further disaggregated data is published via the UK Data Service and can be accessed here: https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8910
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-08 conversation_233

Susan Murray:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the private security licencing regime. \p Dan Jarvis: The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has been brought under the Security Minister’s portfolio in a move that will ensure that the SIA is provided clear, strategic direction from the Home Office on both regulation of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill and also the Private Security Industry Act moving forward. The Home Office and the SIA are overseeing a substantial programme of work to ensure that the SIA can deliver for the public. This will include:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-08 conversation_234

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37318 on Animal Experiments: Animal Welfare, how many animals were bred for use in procedures licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 but deemed surplus and disposed of without being used for scientific purposes in the last full calendar year for which data is available. \p Dan Jarvis: The most recent statistics in this category were published in 2017, when 1.81 million non-genetically altered (non-GA) animals were bred for scientific procedures but were killed or died without being used in regulated procedures. These statistics can be found here:

Additional statistics on breeding and genotyping of animals for scientific procedures, Great Britain, 2017
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-08 conversation_235

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2562 on Jewish Safety, when the Jewish Community Crime, Policing and Security Taskforce last met. \p Dan Jarvis: The taskforce last met on October 23rd, 2023. To discuss the surge in antisemitism seen in UK following the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7th, 2023.

We continue to work closely with the Community Security Trust (CST) and other stakeholders in the Jewish community to discuss the scourge of antisemitism and the protection of Jewish synagogues, schools and other communal centres. The Home Secretary addressed these and other issues in her speech to the CST annual dinner on 26 March 2025, which can be read here: Home Secretary speech at the Community Security Trust - GOV.UK.

Antisemitism has absolutely no place in British society, and we are funding measures to protect Jewish communities and places of worship. We have assigned £72M from 2024/25 to 2027/28 as part of the Jewish Protective Security Grant, which is administered by the Community Security Trust.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-08)

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Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what specific first aid equipment will be required under Martyn’s Law for (a) venues and (b) events; and whether there will be different requirements based on (i) venue size and (ii) risk level. \p Dan Jarvis: The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act requires those responsible for certain premises and events to consider how they would respond to a terrorist attack. In addition, appropriate steps to reduce vulnerability to terrorist attacks must also be considered at certain larger premises and events. The Act does not have specific requirements relating to the provision of medical treatment and associated equipment.

Wider work is ongoing to strengthen Healthcare Standards. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is working with partners to put in place updated guidance for health care at events. Once published the Event Healthcare Standard will be assessed in partnership with NHS England to determine whether this standard should become a statutory obligation.   DHSC has also undertaken work with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and health sector partners to standardise the contents of Public Access Trauma kits.

The Home Office will be issuing statutory guidance, which will assist those responsible for qualifying premises and events in understanding the requirements set out in the legislation. The Home Office will also continue to engage with sectors affected by the legislation, to support them in understanding their obligations.