theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that the regulatory framework for the postal sector supports (a) reliable and (b) sustainable postal services in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey. \p Blair McDougall: Royal Mail is an independent business and therefore recruitment and retention policies are for its management. The government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.

As the independent regulator for the postal sector, it is for Ofcom to oversee Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and this involves conducting thorough investigations where failures have been identified.

In October, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for failing to meet its quality-of-service targets and has told Royal Mail it must urgently publish and deliver a credible plan that delivers major and continuous improvement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of checks on new company formation with Companies House. \p Blair McDougall: Companies House has developed and is continuing to develop capabilities in data analysis and measures to prevent the registration of misleading information and to better understand what measures will prove effective in preventing the registration of misleading information.

As of 31 October 2025, Companies has addressed 148,084 compliance issues involving 85,201 companies. Performance in this reporting period is on track to meet the ministerial target set out in Companies House’s 2025-2026 Business Plan to act against 150,000 companies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that postal workers and trade unions are consulted on reforms to the Universal Service Obligation. \p Blair McDougall: On 10 July this year, Ofcom announced its decision on its review of the universal service obligation. This involved a consultation to which the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and Unite CMA responded.

The government is aware that Royal Mail's management and the new owners are in discussion with the CWU and encourages both parties to continue their constructive engagement to agree the best approach to reform that supports workers, and delivers for customers and secures the long-term financial sustainability of the universal postal service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet published on 31 October 2025, if he will specify the importing organisation and the goods involved in the import of £36 million worth of Russian planes in 2025. \p Chris Bryant: The Government’s sanctions regime has seen UK goods imports from Russia fall by 99.6% since the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Imports of Russian aircraft are banned. The Russian imports referenced in the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet are of aircraft parts, which are not sanctioned. The sanctions regime constrains Russian war revenues, whilst protecting critical supply chains and the stability of global markets. We are investigating manufacturers’ reliance on Russian aircraft parts.

The Government does not speculate on future import controls as to do so could reduce their impact. We continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.

HMG is prevented from disclosing information regarding importers under section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.

Statistics notes and sources:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Gareth Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many complaints the British Business Bank received about a) the cost of loans to SMEs, b) debt recovery behaviour by people offering to lend to SMEs and c) fees charged by lenders when lending to SMEs in each of the last three years for which data is available. \p Blair McDougall: Where the British Business Bank receives complaints about lenders' actions on debt recovery, cost of lending and fees charged by lenders, these are referred to the relevant lender. While all complaints are logged, the current system does not include a specific category for debt-recovery-related issues. No fees were charged under the COVID-19 loan schemes, and there are no fees for Start Up Loans other than interest payments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement on the UK; and if he will publish a report on that agreement since its implementation. \p Chris Bryant: The Department’s impact assessment of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreements was published under the previous government on 16th December 2021. This impact assessment set out the potential long-run incremental economic impact of the FTA and is available on gov.uk. On a recent visit to Australia for the CPTPP Commission I saw how the FTA – and the trade advantages consequent upon our membership of the CPTPP – are being used.

The Department is currently considering our approach to FTA Monitoring, not least because we want to see how effectively FTAs are being used by UK businesses and we will provide an update on this in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement on the UK; and if he will publish a report on that agreement since its implementation. \p Chris Bryant: The Department’s impact assessment of the UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was published under the previous government on 28th February 2022. This impact assessment set out the potential long-run incremental economic impact of the FTA and is available on gov.uk. On a recent visit to New Zealand I saw how the FTA – and the trade advantages consequent upon our membership of the CPTPP – are being used.

The Department is currently considering our approach to FTA Monitoring, and we will provide an update on this in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to promote recognition of UK professional IT qualifications, including CITP status, in trade negotiations with international partners. \p Chris Bryant: Provisions on the recognition of professional qualifications (RPQ) are an important part of the services chapters in the UK’s international trade agreements, including within the UK-Switzerland RPQ Agreement and our Free Trade Agreements with Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Australia, New Zealand and India.

DBT works closely with our overseas partners to promote the UK’s world-leading professional qualifications. Under our international arrangements DBT has committed to encourage our independent occupational regulators and professional membership bodies, including the British Computer Society, to consider pursuing RPQ agreements with international partners. DBT supports these bodies to do so.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Chinese market dumping of (a) electric vehicles and (b) internal combustion engine vehicles on UK automotive sector. \p Chris Bryant: The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) is the UK’s investigatory body that exists to defend the UK against unfair international trade practices, including dumping.

I encourage UK industry to engage directly with the TRA if they believe they are being injured by dumped goods.

While the Department remains vigilant to any reports of potential injury to industries from unfair trading practices, and regularly engages with the automotive sector, I am not aware any application to the TRA at this time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Gareth Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he will make an assessment of the potential benefits of the mutual recognition of professional qualifications by the UK and European Union. \p Chris Bryant: DBT is continually assessing benefits of opportunities to improve recognition of professional qualifications with the EU. Improvements would reduce market access barriers, address skills gaps, and promote growth.

The UK Government is committed to improving recognition of professional qualifications with the EU. At the 2025 UK-EU Summit we agreed to establish dedicated dialogues with the Commission on the relevant provisions in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. HMG is encouraging and supporting UK regulators to work with their EU counterparts, including through guidance and targeted funding.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help increase trade between the UK and Canada. \p Chris Bryant: Canada is a close ally and valued partner of the UK, with the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) underpinning our bilateral trade, which was worth £30 billion in the 12 months to June 2025, up 15% in current prices on the previous 12 months.

In June, our Prime Ministers issued a Joint Statement making it clear we want to enhance this important relationship in a number of areas – including on trade, defence, digital, quantum, and critical minerals. They established the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group with the objective of growing bilateral trade, including by addressing existing market access barriers and building on existing arrangements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the time taken for and costs associated with Court of Protection applications for care decisions and (b) ensure families have access to clear, publicly available guidance on those processes. \p Sarah Sackman: HMCTS is working to increase overall system capacity to decrease processing times across all types of applications. Measures taken include a targeted action plan to allocate additional administrative resources in response to higher demand, as well as training and upskilling new staff. Additional judicial sitting days have been added to support performance improvement. HMCTS is also working on improvements to the new case management system, to help reduce overall end-to-end processing times.

Guidance on the court process is publicly available on GOV.UK. In addition, online application forms which assist users with ‘in application’ guidance and prompts are also available for some types of applications.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made in replacing the key supplier for the 10K Additional Prison Places Estate Expansion Category D programme. \p Jake Richards: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 November 2025 to Question 87997.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 17th November 2025, to question 88464 on Prison Accommodation, how many a) places at new prisons, b) permanent cells at existing prisons and c) Rapid Deployment Cells will form the 650 places in the North East. \p Jake Richards: As set out in the 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, published in December 2024, we are delivering an additional 14,000 prison places, and aim to do so by 2031, having already delivered c.2,600 since taking office. The following table provides a breakdown of the places to be delivered in each region by new prison places, permanent cells at existing prisons and rapid deployment cells (RDCs), with each number rounded to the nearest 50 places. Due to rounding, total places may not align to the other categories.

Region

Total Places

New Prison Places

Permanent Cells

RDCs

South West & Central

c.3,250

c.1,450

c.1,600

c.200

South East & East

c.2,400

0

c.2,100

c.250

Wales

c.350

0

c.250

c.100

Midlands

c.2,750

c.2,000

c.700

c.50

North West

c.2,900

c.1,700

c.1,100

c.100

North East

c.650

0

c.400

c.200

This breakdown represents current projections which may vary when compared to previous projections due to changes in programme scope or our delivery approach, as well as the inclusion in the original response of temporary additional places used in private prisons (which are not covered in the questions above).

Due to rounding, and contingency within the programmes, our delivery total exceeds the 14,000 place commitment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress has she made in implementing the 10K Additional Prison Places Estate Expansion Houseblocks and Refurbishment programme. \p Jake Richards: To date, the Houseblocks and Refurbishments programme has delivered c.1,000 places, c.200 of which were delivered under this Government. As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering 14,000 additional prison places, aiming to do so by 2031. We are currently on track to meet this target, having delivered c.2,600 since taking office.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of utilising alcohol interlock technology as part of judicial sentencing criteria. \p Jake Richards: We believe that the courts should have the flexibility they need to sentence offenders appropriately and, as part of a community or suspended sentence the courts have a range of robust powers to punish and rehabilitate offenders and protect the public. This includes the option for an Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) which imposes an alcohol ban for up to 120 days, with compliance electronically monitored using an alcohol tag.

Published statistics show a compliance rate with the ban of 97.2% for days monitored, since introduction: Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication, June 2023 - GOV.UK. The courts also have powers to include treatment requirements as part of a sentence served in the community, with the aim of addressing the root causes of offending.

The Ministry of Justice is committed to continuous improvement and innovation, and we will continue to assess the capabilities and reliability of technology.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been released early from prisons in the West Midlands in 2025 due to overcapacity. \p Jake Richards: This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

The Ministry of Justice has published SDS40 release data alongside the quarterly Offender Management Statistics which includes figures on SDS40 releases by prison (Table 8) to June 2025: Standard Determinate Sentence 40 (SDS40): September 2024 to June 2025 - GOV.UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing turnover-based penalties for (a) systemic and (b) repeated equality breaches. \p Jake Richards: Where a claim under the Equality Act 2010 is upheld, courts and tribunals are able to award an appropriate remedy, including compensation. The Ministry of Justice has no plans to introduce turnover-based penalties for equality breaches.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of CAFCASS in supporting children during family court proceedings who have (a) experienced or (b) witnessed domestic abuse. \p Alex Davies-Jones: As a Non-Departmental Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the oversight and assurance arrangements for Cafcass are carried out in accordance with the Arms-Length Body Code of Practice. Specific areas of oversight are also covered in the Framework Document between the Ministry of Justice and Cafcass. Cafcass is subject to regular inspection by Ofsted; at the most recent inspection conducted in January 2024 Cafcass was rated as “outstanding”. The key findings of the Ofsted report are available here. Ofsted also carried out a ‘focused visit’ between 21 and 23 October 2025, which considered Cafcass’s work in relation to private law proceedings where domestic abuse is a factor. Ofsted’s findings are available here.

Cafcass Family Court Advisers complete mandatory domestic abuse training, including on using Cafcass’ Child Impact Assessment Framework which has guidance and tools for assessing when domestic abuse is a feature of the child’s case. Family Court Advisers are also trained to follow Cafcass’ Domestic Abuse Practice Policy which sets out the actions they must undertake when working with children and adults who have experienced domestic abuse.

This Government is determined to take action to improve the experience of those involved in family law children proceedings, including both adults and children who are victims of domestic abuse and other serious offences. With our partners across the family justice system, we are committed to long-term reform of the family courts and recognise the wide-ranging issues that can make the experience of private law proceedings difficult for vulnerable court users.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Algerian Government concerning Mohamed Tadjadit. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, including in Algeria, and consistently urges all states to uphold international law and international human rights standards. Our Embassy in Algiers remains in regular contact with the Algerian authorities to promote the importance of upholding human rights, and we continue to monitor the situation closely.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Iranian counterpart concerning the imprisonment of Christian converts Hossein Mohammadi and Zahra Gholami; and what diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure their release. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: Further to the answer I gave on 29 October to Question 83265, we are concerned by the reported cases of Hossein Mohammadi and Zahra Gholami, and we continue to monitor the situation for Christians in Iran.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of holding discussions with financial institutions on reparatory (a) funds and (b) initiatives relating to the transatlantic slave trade. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 10 March 2025 to Question 32987.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Tunisian authorities on the recent crackdown on human rights organisations. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 18 September to Question 70304.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to review aid spending channels to ensure a greater proportion reaches frontline, locally-led development organisations. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the evidence provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to the inquiry by the International Development Committee into the FCDO's Approach to Value for Money in Official Development Assistance, published on 29 October, and available here: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/142772/default/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department plans to increase support for women and girls in conflict-affected and climate-vulnerable regions. \p Chris Elmore: The UK continues to place women and girls at the heart of our international work, including playing a key role in the global effort to tackle violence against women and girls. We are also continuing to support countries to build resilient and sustainable health systems, and partner with governments to strengthen their own education systems. Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29 will be announced in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Sir Desmond Swayne:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Nigerian counterpart on the recent abduction of students and teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri; and what diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure their release. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 27 November 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of consular support provided to British nationals in Jamaica during and after Hurricane Melissa, including the evacuation flight operated on 2 November and the handling of over 700 consular enquiries. \p Chris Elmore: The consular team at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) provides 24/7 assistance to British nationals and dealt with 850 consular enquiries related to Hurricane Melissa. The Register Your Presence portal was launched from the outset of the crisis to identify and contact British nationals in Jamaica, enabling us to provide targeted assistance.

The FCDO provided regularly updated information and advice to British nationals in Jamaica. Between 22 October and 2 November, the FCDO made 11 public updates to Jamaica's Travel Advice related to Hurricane Melissa.

The evacuation flight which operated on 2 November carried 104 passengers. Commercial options were available shortly thereafter resulting in low demand for further HMG flights.

The Rapid Deployment Team were present at both Kingston and Montego Bay Airports every day when commercial airlines were running their own flights between Friday 31 October and Tuesday 4 November to assist British nationals travelling on commercial flights to the UK. During that time, roughly 2,150 passengers passed through Kingston and 2,274 through Montego Bay on TUI and Virgin flights bound for the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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James Wild:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 82390 on Iraq and Syria: Islamic State, what contribution the UK is making to Coalition efforts to address the security risks associated with detained (a) Daesh fighters and (b) Daesh-supporting non-combatants held in detention camps in Syria. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: As stated in the answer to which the Hon Member refers, the UK's priority remains the enduring defeat of Daesh in all regions where they or their affiliates are operating, and we continue to work closely with a wide range of international partners towards that goal.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms she uses to monitor and evaluate the return on investment generated by British International Investment. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 12 May in response to Question 49375.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the benefits of co-operative enterprise in international development. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 1 April to Question 39533.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Sudan including in El Fasher have access to emergency assistance and long-term psychosocial and medical support. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary to the House on 18 November 2025.

As the Foreign Secretary said: "The UK has committed over £125 million this year alone, delivering lifesaving support to over 650,000 people - treating children with severe malnutrition, providing water and medicine, and supporting survivors of rape. [...] We are urgently pressing for a three-month humanitarian truce to open routes for lifesaving supplies...we desperately need a lasting ceasefire underpinned by a serious political process."
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will commission a review of long-term outsourcing contracts with private sector suppliers involved in UK aid delivery to make an assessment of the potential impact of those long-term contracts on (a) value for money and (b) long- term expertise in her Department. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Hon Member to the written evidence provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to the inquiry by the International Development Committee into the FCDO's Approach to Value for Money in Official Development Assistance, which can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/142772/default/
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development, if she has made a recent assessment of delays in processing visa applications for British nationals at the Consulate of Spain in Manchester. \p Stephen Doughty: The process for obtaining a Spanish visa is a matter for the Spanish authorities, and any issues with that process will need to be raised with the Spanish consulate themselves.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Department is taking in its capacity as penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council to secure a ceasefire and to strengthen international action in response to recent atrocities in Darfur. \p Chris Elmore: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary to the House on 18 November 2025.

As the Foreign Secretary said: "The UK has committed over £125 million this year alone, delivering lifesaving support to over 650,000 people - treating children with severe malnutrition, providing water and medicine, and supporting survivors of rape. [...] We are urgently pressing for a three-month humanitarian truce to open routes for lifesaving supplies...we desperately need a lasting ceasefire underpinned by a serious political process."
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the theft of (a) farm equipment and (b) livestock. \p Sarah Jones: We will be implementing the Equipment Theft Act, making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen vehicles and equipment and assisting the police with identifying the owner.

The Act’s secondary legislation will require forensic marking to be applied to new All-Terrain Vehicles and for the details to be registered on a property database, for forensic marking to be applied to all new GPS units for use in agricultural and commercial settings, and for the details to be registered on a property database. This provides an important additional tool to help police identify if an item is stolen and to return it to its rightful owner.

Additionally, the Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, which will help the police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.

This financial year we have provided the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit. The NRCU, takes the lead on improving co-ordination and partnership working, which provides police forces with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime, such as the theft of farming machinery and livestock theft.

We have also worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the new Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy which has just recently been published (25th November). The strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities, including theft of farming machinery and livestock theft as priority areas of focus for policing.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of retail crime in the West Midlands; and what steps her Department is taking to support local police forces to help tackle (a) persistent and (b) organised shop theft. \p Sarah Jones: Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level. There were 33,363 shoplifting offences recorded by West Midlands police in the year ending June 2025, a 28% increase on the previous year. Nationally shop theft increased by 13% on the previous year.

We are ensuring the right powers are in place. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are bringing in a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.

Additionally, we are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.

Tackling retail crime requires a partnership approach between policing representatives and business. The previous Minister for Crime and Policing launched the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy’, which was jointly developed by the police and industry and aims to provide a collaborative and evidence-based approach to preventing retail crime, including organised shop theft.

The Police Funding Settlement of £200 million will support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vehicles were seized as a result of drivers not having the required insurance in place in England for each year from 2015 to date. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office does not centrally collect information on the number of vehicles seized by police forces in England and Wales, as a result of drivers not having the required insurance.

The Home Office publishes information on Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences, including licence, insurance and record-keeping offences, as a part of its annual Police powers and procedures: Roads policing statistical publication.

The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales

Under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, police officers have the power to seize and remove a vehicle if they reasonably believe it is being driven without a valid driving licence or without insurance. Before seizing, the officer should warn the driver that the vehicle will be taken unless the required documents are produced immediately. Once seized, the vehicle is taken to a designated recovery compound, and the owner must provide proof of licence and insurance and pay statutory removal and storage fees to reclaim it. If unclaimed within the set period, the vehicle may be disposed of under Section 165B.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support local enforcement action against illegal off-road bikes and antisocial vehicle use in the West Midlands. \p Sarah Jones: Tackling criminality and anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.

Our Crime and Policing Bill will give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles used for anti-social behaviour including street racing, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing the vehicles.

The Government has also consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose in quicker time of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially and ridden without insurance or a driving licence.

Combined, these actions will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and illegally by sending a clear message to would be offenders and to communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of tool thefts on lost working days to the economy. \p Sarah Jones: This Government recognises that tradespeople are often targeted by criminals who seek to steal tools. We also recognise the deeply damaging impact on victims who rely on their tools to earn a living.

Whilst we do not have an official estimate of the costs of tool theft, recent research commissioned by industry indicated that 9% of victims in their cohort lost over three days of work as a result.

In the Government’s Small Business Plan, published on 31 July, we committed to working alongside industry and small business representatives to tackle the problem of tool theft. We are partnering with tradespeople’s representatives, policing and other partners, including retailers and manufacturers, to co-design actions Government and industry can take to encourage theft prevention.

A key part of making acquisitive crime less attractive to criminals is making stolen goods harder to sell on. That is why we work closely with policing and academic leads to examine what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the profit from acquisitive crime.

We are providing £2m funding for the National Business Crime Centre over the next three financial years to help tackle the crimes most affecting businesses today, including tackling the sale of stolen goods.

The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years and more detail on force funding allocations for 2026-27 will be set out at the forthcoming police funding settlement.

The 2025-26 settlement represents a 6.4% cash increase and a 3.9% real terms increase in funding.

The Police Funding Settlement of £200 million will support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel.
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Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has had recent discussions with Thames Valley Police on tackling number plate thefts in Oxford East. \p Sarah Jones: Everyone should have confidence in the law and should feel protected. That is why the Home Office works closely with the police, industry, and other government departments to ensure we are collectively doing everything we can to cut crime and prevent it from happening in the first place.

We work closely with the National Police Chiefs Council to find solutions to all types of vehicle theft. We do this via the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, which focus on the prevention and deterrence of theft of vehicles.

Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities, and we expect them to take all forms of crime seriously. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues.

This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by spring next year.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of exposure to online drug marketing on teenage drug use in West Dorset. \p Sarah Jones: The Government has not made an assessment of the potential impact of online drug marketing on drug use among young people. We are committed to protecting young people from the harms of drug use through a range of universal and targeted prevention activity and are using the recent report from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) ‘A Whole-System Response to Drug Prevention in the UK’ to inform our approach.

Furthermore, the Government is taking a co-ordinated approach to tackle harmful online content, which includes illegal drugs. This strategy combines law enforcement activity, stronger engagement with technology companies, improved education to raise awareness of risks and harms, and the introduction of measures that require internet companies to take responsibility for content on their platforms.

This includes strengthening the regulatory framework to address online harms. The unlawful sale of controlled drugs online is a priority offence under the illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act 2023. In-scope providers are legally required to implement measures to protect their users and to remove illegal content from their platforms. Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the Act, is closely monitoring compliance with the regime.
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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of measures to deter antisocial behaviour among young people in rural areas, such as North East Hampshire. \p Sarah Jones: Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

Under the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we are putting neighbourhood officers back into communities, both urban and rural, and restoring public confidence by bringing back community-led, visible policing. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary will receive £5,187,776 as part of the funding settlement for 2025-26.

In addition, the Home Office is providing £66.3 million funding in 2025-26 to all 43 forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence and anti-social behaviour. As part of the Hotspot Action Fund, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary will be in receipt of £1,454,452.

Following on from the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, the Home Secretary has announced a “Winter of Action” in which police forces across England and Wales will again partner with local businesses, councils and other agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour and other local issues that matter most to their communities.
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Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish data, broken down by police service, of all offences by category associated with suspects or offenders who were detected using live facial recognition (LFR) technology during each calendar year since 2016, along with any other categories of people added to LFR watchlists, if these were not suspects or offenders. \p Sarah Jones: The Government is committed to equipping police forces with the tools they need to tackle serious crimes, locate offenders and bring them to justice. As part of this commitment, the Home Office has funded the roll-out of ten live facial recognition (LFR) vans.

The National Audit Office reports on Home Office expenditure which is then independently scrutinised and reported on by the Public Accounts Committee.

Oversight of LFR is provided by a number of independent bodies including the Information Commissioner, Equality and Human Rights Commission and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services.

However, oversight is fragmented and we want to improve it through the creation of a bespoke new legal framework. Subject to consultation, that framework will include specific oversight for the use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies.

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of arrests made following the police’s use of facial recognition technology, including the use of LFR, as specific LFR deployment decisions rest with individual police forces. The department is however funding national evaluation work to understand better the impact of facial recognition on police and crime outcomes.

Where police forces are using LFR, the number of arrests made following each deployment are published on their respective websites. Further, the Met Police have published these in their recent Live Facial Recognition Annual Report September 2025
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Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 20th November to question 86600, to whom Dorset Police is accountable for discontinuing investigations into serious fraud. \p Dan Jarvis: Operational policing is not a Home Office matter. Chief Constables are operationally independent, with decisions often made based on threat, risk and harm.

The Home Secretary has powers under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 to ensure an efficient and effective policing system, which includes the power under S.40 and 40A of the Police Act 1996.

Under the Policing Protocol these powers can only be used in exceptional circumstances in order to prevent or mitigate risk to the public or national security. Where necessary, this Government has been clear it will provide active leadership for policing to make it more efficient and effective.

Fraud is now incorporated into His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) Police Efficiency Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) framework. The upcoming inspection cycle will formally assess each police force in England and Wales on their performance in tackling fraud. This will provide valuable insight on investigative practices whilst also improving standards and consistency across police forces.