theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1540
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1540

Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support male victims of domestic violence. \p Jess Phillips: We recognise that men and boys experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse, and sexual violence. That is why we are committed to ensuring male victims and survivors get the support they need. We are working tirelessly across government to deliver the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy as soon as possible, which will set out commitments for all victims, including for men and boys that are victims of abuse.

We know that male victims may face different barriers to accessing support. The Home Office and Ministry of Justice fund specialist services for victims of these crimes, including services for male victims, such as Respect, Galop, SignHealth, Hourglass, and Mankind UK. This includes the Men’s Advice Line, run by Respect, which offers vital support to male victims of domestic abuse.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1541
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Catherine Fookes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure victims of sex trafficking are adequately safeguarded from being trafficked in the future. \p Jess Phillips: The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out a mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this ambition.

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement activity aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators. We will also work closely with the voluntary and community sector to help sexually exploited people and ensure that those who want to exit prostitution are able to.

To support victims to escape and recover from their exploitation, the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of exploitation and trafficking in England and Wales. This support includes safe accommodation where necessary, financial support and a support worker to help them access wider support services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.

The Home Office is also providing £475,000 to Changing Lives from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, to address the current gaps in evidence around the levels and types of online abuse and exploitation that are happening, and to help us better understand the pathways that are needed to improve support.

We recently ran a public Call for Evidence on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery, including for victims who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Following analysis of the responses from this Call for Evidence, we will consider whether any future policy changes are needed.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1542
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1542

Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department are taking to tackle (a) modern slavery and (b) human trafficking through (i) earlier identification and (ii) long term support for victims. \p Jess Phillips: The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery and human trafficking in all its forms and to giving survivors the support they need to recover. The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting potential victims of modern slavery.

In July 2025, the Home Office launched a public Call for Evidence on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery, human trafficking and exploitation. This closed on 8 October 2025, and we are now analysing the responses received.

The Home Office is in the process of procuring the new Support for Victims of Modern Slavery contract, which aims to deliver positive outcomes for adult survivors, supporting them to achieve long-term stability, live independently and reduce their risk of re-exploitation

In September, the Home Office also launched the tender for the new Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship contract, which will expand the service coverage from two-thirds of local authorities in England and Wales to provide support to all child victims referred into the NRM in England and Wales.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1543
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1543

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for launching a national inquiry into grooming gangs. \p Jess Phillips: The Government is driving forward work to establish the National Inquiry into Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse under the Inquiries Act 2005. It will be overseen by an Independent Commission with statutory powers to compel evidence and testimony so that institutions can be held to account for current and historic failures. The inquiry will be independent of government and designed to command the confidence of victims and survivors and the wider public.

The first step in establishing the inquiry is the appointment of the Chair to the inquiry. A rigorous selection process is currently underway, which we are undertaking properly and thoroughly, with appropriate due diligence and meaningful engagement with victims and survivors. This is a non-negotiable part of this process and remains ongoing. Once the Chair is appointed, the Government will provide a full update to Parliament.

In line with the Inquiries Act, the appointed Chair will play a central role in shaping the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference. These will be published in draft once the Chair is appointed and subject to consultation with stakeholders, including victims and survivors.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1544
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1544

Leigh Ingham:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support police forces to tackle (a) anti-social behaviour in town centres and (b) rural crimes in Staffordshire. \p Sarah Jones: Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

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 25/26, Staffordshire Police are in receipt of £1m.

On 10 April, the Prime Minister announced the details of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee as part of which forces are also getting 200m on neighbourhood policing.

The Safer Streets Summer Initiative launched on 30 June and ran until 30 September 2025, targeting over 600 town centres across England and Wales, through visible policing and swift, meaningful consequences. The Home Secretary has announced a “Winter of Action” in which police forces across will again partner with local businesses, authorities and police and crime commissioners to target shop theft and ASB. Staffordshire will be once again encouraged to participate.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector. Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.

This financial year the Home Office will be providing the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). This funding will enable them to tackle the crimes that mostly affect rural communities.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1545
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1545

Chris Philp:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of the cases included in her formal review of grooming gang investigations are in London; in which London boroughs these cases are; and what the dates are of each case. \p Jess Phillips: We can confirm that over 1,200 cases have been identified for review in the first phase of the review of cases that ended with ‘No Further Action’ that was announced by the previous Home Secretary in January 2025. This is now a component part of Operation Beaconport. The Operation has advised that work has already begun on reviewing the 216 most serious cases. We do not hold the detailed data on the breakdown of cases under review by force or local authority area.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1546
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1546

Liz Saville Roberts:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he will publish the Police Reform White Paper. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Secretary is committed to publishing a Police Reform White Paper this year. More information on the White Paper and the future of Policing in England and Wales will be shared with Parliament in due course.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1547
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1547

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of police station front counter closures on community policing in rural areas. \p Sarah Jones: Decisions regarding the management of local police resourcing and estates, including police stations, is a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents). They are best placed to make these decisions based on their knowledge of local need and their experience, in line with their existing budgets. The Home Office does not collect data on the number or location of police stations, or the impact of their closure.

Police stations are just one of the ways in which people can access their local police, including reporting online and by phone 24/7 via 999 for emergencies and 101 for non-emergency calls.

A key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission is focused on restoring neighbourhood policing, and rebuilding trust and confidence in policing, The commitments set out in the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee are now making a considerable difference to the service communities receive from their neighbourhood policing teams. We have also provided £200 million in FY 2025/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of the Parliament. This increase in neighbourhood policing, alongside the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will strengthen the connections between the police and the communities they serve.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1548
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1548

Sir Mark Hendrick:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all police forces have mandatory training to support victims of online harassment and stalking. \p Sarah Jones: It is vital that the police and other frontline professionals have the right framework to follow when supporting victims of stalking, both online and offline. That is why the Government is legislating in the Crime and Policing Bill to introduce multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking and ‘Right to Know’ statutory guidance for the police to set out the process by which they should release identifying information about online stalking perpetrators to victims.

The Home Office has also allocated £13.1 million to launch the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection and their work includes enhancing the police response to stalking. Centralising policing expertise to tackle these crimes will drive national coordination, with the development of strengthened specialist training for officers across the country ensuring they offer consistent protection for victims.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1549
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1549

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of legislation on the use of e-scooters in public places. \p Sarah Jones: Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving e-scooters, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizure. This will allow police to put an immediate stop to offending.

The Government also recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles, including privately owned e-scooters, which have been used anti-socially or illegally more quickly. The consultation closed on 8 July and the Government response will be published in due course.

These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of e-scooters ridden anti-socially or illegally and will send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Enforcement of road traffic legislation is an operational matter for Chief Officers of local forces to decide how best to use their powers depending on the specific circumstances.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1550
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with police forces on improving the harmonisation of record-keeping on animal-related crime between forces. \p Sarah Jones: Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full force of the law.

Along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit to help tackle these crimes.

The National Wildlife Crime Unit provides intelligence, analysis and investigative assistance to forces and other law enforcement agencies across the UK to support them in investigating wildlife crime including providing training to police officers.

The Unit has a far-reaching impact, assisting in detecting high-profile and high-value crimes globally including serious organised crime and money laundering. This includes disrupting a number of organised crime groups.

Wildlife crimes that are non-notifiable can still be investigated by Police as Chief Constables have operational independence.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1551
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) standard and (b) capacity of custody cells in Greater Manchester. \p Sarah Jones: Police custody is overseen by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). HMICFRS published its most recent custody inspection report into Greater Manchester Police’s custody provision on 8 February 2023. The report identified six causes of concern and 13 areas for improvement, including one area for improvement focused on the safety and environment of the custody suites. A further review in December 2023 led HMICFRS to take the view that, in light of the progress that the force had made, the six areas of causes of concern could be reduced to the less serious category of areas for improvement.

National standards for police custody design, construction and refurbishment of police custody suites in England and Wales are set out in the Home Office Police Custody Design Guide, which provides guidance and national standards for police forces to adopt regarding police custody design and construction along with the refurbishment of existing suites.

Policing is operationally independent of Government. Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners are responsible and accountable for the operational management of their force and for local resourcing and estates, including custody suites.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1552
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1552

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where can residents find the details of their named neighbourhood officer. \p Sarah Jones: As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every neighbourhood across England and Wales now has named and contactable neighbourhood officers, dedicated to addressing the issues that matter most to their communities.

The public can find the details of their neighbourhood officers and how to contact them via their force website by typing in their postcode.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1553
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1553

Afzal Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the National Youth Agency’s document entitled National Youth Sector Census Snapshot Report - Summer 2025, published in September 2025, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help (a) increase the level of targeted youth work and (b) improve referral pathways to safeguard young people from violence and exploitation in (i) deprived areas (ii) all areas. \p Sarah Jones: We welcome the National Youth Agency’s (NYA) National Youth Sector Census Report.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) Million Hours Fund provides youth organisations with funding to deliver over a million additional hours of positive activities for young people in areas with higher levels of anti-social behaviour. It gives young people more places to go and positive things to do. Announced in July 2025, Phase 3 of the Million Hours Fund will receive a £19 million joint investment (£12 million from DCMS and £7 million from the National Lottery Community Fund). In addition, DCMS are working across government to develop a National Youth Strategy due to be published this Autumn, to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Through its Young Futures Programme the Government is intervening earlier, to ensure Children and Young People (CYP) who are facing poorer outcomes and are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way. As part of this, we are already piloting new Young Futures Panels – new local multi-agency approaches to proactively identify and support those young people at risk of being drawn into violence and crime. Alongside this, we are launching our first early adopter Young Futures Hubs next year to ensure that the right support is available to the right young people in the right places.

As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we are also introducing a new offence of criminal exploitation of children in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime. We are also delivering new civil preventative orders to disrupt and prevent child criminal exploitation from occurring or re-occurring.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1554
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1554

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a list of the named, contactable police officer in every neighbourhood in England and Wales. \p Sarah Jones: The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is ensuring a more consistent standard of neighbourhood policing across England and Wales. This includes every neighbourhood in England and Wales now having named and contactable officers.

Details of all named, contactable officers can be found on force websites, where the public are able to type in their postcode to find out about their neighbourhood policing area, local policing priorities and how to contact their neighbourhood teams.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1555
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1555

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to which (a) law enforcement, (b) military, (c) Sovereign Base Area police and (d) other arms Length Bodies her Department plans to provide access to Police National Database application programming interfaces. \p Sarah Jones: At present there is no direct application programming interface (API) between PND and the organisations mentioned. Data feeds to PND allow a national search of intelligence. The PND gives a national view of 6.3 billion searchable records, 19.9m images and information from 198 systems/databases. It is used by 49 UK police forces and 56 Law enforcement agencies. A set of processes and security protocols govern access by suitably authorised and vetted individuals.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1556
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1556

Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with police forces on ensuring consistent implementation of the Retail Crime Action Plan (a) across all police forces and (b) in Mid Leicestershire constituency. \p Sarah Jones: The government is supporting a new strategy, Tackling Retail Crime Together, published by policing, retail sector representatives and industry as part of collective efforts to combat shop theft.

The strategy builds on previous progress made by police and retailers via the Retail Crime Action Plan but provides a more comprehensive and intelligence-led approach to tackle all perpetrators of shop theft – not just organised criminal gangs.

We are investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1557
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1557

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to (a) increase restrictions on (i) buying and (ii) importing antique firearms and (b) improve the monitoring of the ownership of those firearms. \p Sarah Jones: The Government keeps the law and controls on antique firearms under review. The Antique Firearms Regulations 2021 provides a statutory definition of antique firearm in order to clarify which firearms can safely be exempt from firearms controls and which should be subject to licensing requirements.

We undertake a review of the firearms that are exempt from control annually, to assess whether any antique firearms feature in crime, with a full review of the Regulations every three years. The most recent review identified no need for further changes to the controls on buying, possession or importing of antique firearms at this time. The Government will not hesitate to take action in relation to any antique firearms if the evidence shows that this is necessary.

Since antique firearms are exempt from most firearms controls, including the need for licensing, we do not routinely monitor their ownership.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1558
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1558

Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to help tackle rural (a) rural crime and (b) thefts in the last two years. \p Sarah Jones: Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector.

Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft, anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.

This financial year the Home Office will be providing the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). This funding will enable them to tackle the crimes that mostly affect rural communities.

Additionally, we are committed to the implementation of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act and fully support its intentions to tackle the theft and re-sale of All-Terrain Vehicles.

The Government’s response to the Call for Evidence on the scope of the legislation will be published soon. We hope to introduce the necessary legislation to Parliament this year.

The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, where the items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and are on those premises, and where it has not been reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court.

This will provide a valuable tool for police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1559
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1559

Patrick Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of unresolved asylum claims on local (a) councils and (b) services in Suffolk; and what additional resources she is providing to Suffolk Council to help mitigate that impact. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office continues to work closely with local authorities to manage all the pressures arising from the provision of asylum accommodation including the impact on wider local authority obligations and plans.

The Home Office has delivered various grants through which we provide funds to support local authorities housing asylum seekers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1560

Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 904439 on Protest, what her Department's planned timetable is for considering the Court of Appeal judgment in relation to Serious Disruption Regulations. \p Sarah Jones: The Government has accepted the Court of Appeal’s judgment, which upheld the quashing of the Serious Disruption Regulations. The Home Office is currently reviewing the implications of the judgment and will set out any further action in due course.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1561
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1561

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that rural areas receive adequate police funding to maintain (a) visible and (b) accessible policing. \p Sarah Jones: The funding formula used for distributing Home Office Police Main Grant to police forces in England and Wales as part of the annual police settlement divides funds between different activities that the police undertake. A portion of total funding is also distributed according to population sparsity, to address the specific needs of rural forces.

The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years. The allocation of funding to police forces remains an important consideration and as with previous years, more details on force funding allocations for 2026-27, including decisions on police force funding allocations, will be made via the provisional police funding settlement later in the year.

It is the responsibility of Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including Mayors who exercise PCC or equivalent functions, to take decisions around their resourcing and estates. They are best placed to make decisions with their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1562
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Helen Grant:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Tribunal system reforms to speed up asylum decisions, published on 24 August 2025, whether she plans to stipulate time limits for dealing with cases. \p Alex Norris: The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the policy objective is of advising police forces to release (a) ethnicity and (b) other details of suspects before trial. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office does not direct operational policing decisions, including those related to the disclosure of information about a person suspected or charged with committing an offence. These matters rightly fall under the purview of Chief Constables.

The NPCC and the College of Policing issued interim guidance to police forces in August, which aims to support forces in managing sensitive investigations and mitigating risks associated with them.

The interim guidance encourages police forces to confirm a suspect’s ethnicity and nationality (where known or recorded) in certain high-profile or sensitive investigations where they determine it is necessary to maintain public safety and reassure the public.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1564
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1564

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority Annual Report 2024/25, published on 11 August 2025, for what reasons the senior responsible officer delivery confidence assessment in the Police National Database programme has changed from amber to red. \p Sarah Jones: The Police National Database is a live intelligence-sharing service. It provides a national view of 6.3 billion searchable records, 19.9m images and information from 198 systems/databases. It is used by 49 UK police forces and 56 Law enforcement agencies, and around 1.3m searches are made each month.

The change in confidence rating from amber to red was primarily related to delays to a platform upgrade and transition to the cloud.

The Home Office is currently considering its options for future delivery of the Police National Database transformation programme and further information will be issued once a decision has been taken.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1565
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1565

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the news story entitled Live Facial Recognition technology to catch high-harm offenders, published on 13 August 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the use of this capability from Bedfordshire to the tri-force area that includes Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office has funded the roll-out of ten live facial recognition (LFR) vans to seven host police forces, with Bedfordshire Police being one of those forces. Access to the LFR vans is available to all forces including Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, subject to operational need and local decision-making.

No formal assessment is therefore needed by the government as the capability is already available to those forces should they choose to deploy it.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1566
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1566

Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Gloucestershire Constabulary on anti-social behaviour. \p Sarah Jones: Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission and through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to police and other relevant agencies under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to improve the tools agencies have at their disposal to tackle ASB.

As part of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative Gloucestershire Constabulary have been focusing on Anti-Social Behaviour, Retail Crime and Street Crime in six town centres.

The Safer Streets Summer Initiative launched on 30 June and ran until 30 September 2025, targeting over 600 town centres across England and Wales, through visible policing and swift, meaningful consequences.

On 10 April, the Prime Minister announced the details of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee which includes that every force area will have a dedicated lead officer for ASB. They will work with communities to develop an action plan to reduce and prevent ASB. Forces will be expected to publish their respective plan by April 2026.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1567
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1567

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the current police funding formula in meeting the needs of (a) rural areas and (b) West Dorset. \p Sarah Jones: The funding formula used for distributing Home Office Police Main Grant to police forces in England and Wales as part of the annual police settlement divides funds between different activities that the police undertake. A portion of total funding is also distributed according to population sparsity, to address the specific needs of rural forces.

This Government is committed to ensuring that policing has the resources it needs. Dorset Police will receive up to £194.8 million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £14.7 million when compared to 2024-25.

The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years. The allocation of funding to police forces remains an important consideration and as with previous years more details on force funding allocation for 2026-27 will be made via the provisional police funding settlement later in the year.
wrans/answers2025-10-20 conversation_1568
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) suicide-related and (b) mental health-related emergency callouts on frontline emergency services in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office is responsible for policing, while the impact on other emergency services falls to their respective departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The Government has been clear that the health and wellbeing of our police is a priority and that those who have faced suicide-related or mental health-related incidents in the line of duty receive the support they need to recover and continue serving.

Work is underway nationally to support improvements in mental health provision and to reduce inappropriate demand on police resources through the Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) approach. This aims to ensure people in mental health crisis receive care from appropriately trained professionals while enabling the police to focus on core policing duties.

Almost all forces across England and Wales are now adopting RCRP or similar models. The impact of this approach will vary by area, depending on local needs and partnership arrangements. Local governance structures are responsible for reviewing impacts on police time, health and social care services, and outcomes for individuals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Youth Endowment Fund in reducing (a) youth violence and (b) knife crime. \p Sarah Jones: The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) plays a central role in evaluating and supporting interventions aimed at reducing youth violence and knife crime. This is critical to us properly understanding the challenges of youth violence and knife crime and how to most effectively address them.

The Home Office periodically reviews the YEF’s activities and assesses the impact of projects funded by the YEF and the reach of resources developed by the fund such as the YEF Toolkit.

The YEF has generally made good progress in these key areas over the period of the Grant. More widely, the YEF provides essential support across seven sectors including education, children’s services, and youth justice to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.

The Home Office will continue to work with the YEF on reducing the impact of youth violence and knife crime, including through our commitment to halve knife crime in a decade.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Katie Lam:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential link between (a) organised crime groups facilitating illegal migration across the Channel, (b) organised crime groups engaged in the UK's illegal drug trade, and (c) organised crime groups engaged in the UK’s illicit tobacco trade. \p Alex Norris: Organised Immigration Crime differs from other forms of organised crime as we often see loose affiliations of criminal networks, sometimes working together when it suits, enabling various stages of people’s journeys.

The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) 2025 National Strategic Assessment does note that a core characteristic of Serious Organised Crime (SOC) in 2024 was the continued diversification of criminal activity beyond previous understandings of the SOC threat. This is the result of the emergence of new groups of offenders with a broader range of motivations, diversification of methodologies, and more crossovers between different SOC threats.

A key trend in 2024 was for offenders to broaden their criminal activity across multiple threat areas, enabled by online connectivity, use of new technology, and reliance on the specialist services offered by ‘crime as a service’ providers. It is becoming increasingly easier for SOC offenders to connect with other offenders or to enter new criminal marketplaces.

The NCA continues to lead the UK law enforcement system to tackle the harms posed by serious and organised crime and protect the public.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the consultation entitled Amendments to secondary legislation on the police removal, storage and disposal of vehicles, closed on 8 July 2025, if her Department will make and assessment of the potential merits of (a) donating seized vehicles, motorbikes and e-bikes to charity and (b) using them for the delivery of public services. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office has no plans to regulate the method of disposal following vehicle seizure. Decisions on the best method of vehicle disposal is an operational matter for Chief Officers of local forces to decide based on the specific circumstances and how they can recoup the vehicle recovery costs as set out in the statutory fees.

We will support the police and recovery operators to ensure they have the necessary tools to deal with vehicle recovery.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has to deport failed asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: Asylum related returns are set out at table Asy_00a of the Asylum summary tables, published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables

Caseworker guidance on arranging returns is published on gov.uk at Returns preparation: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of extreme weather related to climate change since 1 January 2020. \p Sarah Jones: The government’s third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), published in 2021 under the UK Climate Change Act 2008, includes a Monetary Valuation of Risks and Opportunities assessment of the current and future costs of climate change to the UK. A 2022 study from LSE’s Grantham Institute estimates that with current policies, the total UK cost of climate damage is equivalent to 1.1% of GDP currently.

For estimating future costs of extreme weather, decisions on key government spending are subject to clear requirements through the Green Book. This includes supplementary guidance which covers the impacts of climate change, i.e. accounting for the effects of climate change. This ensures that policies, programmes and projects are resilient to the effects and future costs of climate change, and that such effects are being taken fully into account when appraising policy options.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many named neighbourhood officers are in place in England and Wales. \p Sarah Jones: The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee ensures that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers, with details available via each local police force’s website.

As part of the Guarantee, 3,000 additional officers and PCSOs will be deployed to neighbourhood policing teams across England and Wales by March 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Alex Ballinger:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help improve the confidence of the Sikh community in the police to report hate crimes that (a) include and (b) do not include extreme violence. \p Sarah Jones: This Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime, including those targeting the Sikh community. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion, and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has provided funding to True Vision – the police hate crime programme and online reporting portal – to encourage communities to report hate crime and reinforce relationships between communities and policing. As part of this, True Vision has been working with the Sikh Guard (established by the National Sikh Police Association) and Rakkha (a third-party reporting site) to encourage reporting from within Sikh communities. The Home Office also funds the National Online Hate Crime Hub which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with all forms of online hate crime.

We back the police in taking strong action against those targeting our communities. As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, communities are now benefitting from more visible patrols, and more focused local engagement.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), including sexual violence, is a top priority for this Government. We will deliver a cross-government transformative approach, underpinned by a new strategy which we aim to publish as soon as possible. The Home Office also announced £13.1 million funding to launch a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP).  The Centre will improve the police response to VAWG, helping officers respond effectively to these crimes and to offer victims consistent protection.

Whilst the police are operationally independent and work in line with the College of Policing’s operational guidance to respond to all forms of hate crime, we expect the police to fully investigate these appalling offences and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the estimated annual cost to police forces is of maintaining vacant police station buildings in (a) Essex and (b) the UK. \p Sarah Jones: Decisions regarding the management of local police resourcing and estates, including police stations, are a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents). They are best placed to make these decisions based on their knowledge of local need and their experience and in line with existing budgets. The Home Office does not collect data on the number or location of police stations, or the impact of their closure, including any associated costs to policing.

As set out in the Revised Financial Management Code of Practice (FMCP) for police forces in England and Wales, the accounting for assets including property should comply with the requirements of the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom. Any plans for the significant rationalisation or expansion of the estate should be included in a police force’s medium-term financial strategy. PCCs should consult with the Chief Constable when developing the budget and medium-term financial strategy, including a full assessment of the assets required to meet operational requirements.

Police stations are just one of the ways in which people can access their local police, including reporting online and by phone 24/7 via 999 for emergencies and 101 for non-emergency calls.

A key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission is focused on restoring neighbourhood policing, and rebuilding trust and confidence in policing, The commitments set out in the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee are now making a considerable difference to the service communities receive from their neighbourhood policing teams. We have also provided £200 million in FY 2025/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of the Parliament. This increase in neighbourhood policing, alongside the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will strengthen the connections between the police and the communities they serve.