theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 67436 on Immigration, when her Department plans to consult on the earned settlement scheme; and whether that consultation will include an assessment of the potential impact of that scheme on British National (Overseas) visa holders seeking indefinite leave to remain. \p Mike Tapp: The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.

I welcomed the opportunity to listen to the views of Members around these subjects in the recent 8th September Westminster Hall Debate on Indefinite Leave to Remain.

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year. All will be welcome to participate. We will provide details of how the scheme will work after that consultation.

We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what processes are in place to review the effectiveness of the new co-operation with the United Arab Emirates in disrupting cross-border money laundering and terrorist financing activities. \p Dan Jarvis: The UK-UAE Partnership to Tackle Illicit Financial Flows is long-standing. Engagement to strengthen international cooperation on illicit finance is a Government-wide approach, and cooperation between the UK and UAE includes cross-Department Ministerial oversight.

The UAE’s and UK’s next mutual evaluations by the Financial Action Task Force will be in 2026 and 2027 respectively, which will provide an independent assessment of the effectiveness of our respective anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regimes, including international cooperation.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to expedite the processing of visa applications for charity workers volunteering in adult care homes. \p Mike Tapp: Any Charity Worker applying for Entry Clearance who qualifies under the Immigration Rules will have their case decided within 15 working days as a maximum.

Charity Workers must not be filling permanent positions, even if they are on a temporary basis. This includes performing routine activities for the sponsor.

Current visa processing times can be found at: Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of social care visa holders have transferred to another visa type since July 2024. \p Mike Tapp: The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

You may be interested to note, information on sponsored work visas by occupation and visa route are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a sponsor breakdown.

Information on Grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by previous category of leave are published in table ‘Exe_D02’ of the Extensions data tables in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a breakdown of social care visa holders that have transferred to another visa type.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of (a) 30 April 2025 to Question 46025 and (b) 24 April 2025 to Question 38415, whether her Department has considered aligning the data collection processes of police forces in relation to (i) contacts with individuals experiencing suicidal ideation and (ii) incidents where a suicide is in progress with the equivalent data collection processes used by UK Fire and Rescue Services in order to ensure consistent recording of such incidents across frontline. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office does not collect data from police on calls about suicidal ideation or where an apparent suicide is in progress and has no current plans to do so.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of officer hours spent policing protests by Palestine Action since 1 January 2025. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office does not hold this information.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with police forces on the potential impact of policing protest activity by Palestine Action on the allocation of police resources. \p Sarah Jones: Decisions on how to police individual protests, including those by Palestine Action, are for Chief Constables, who are operationally independent and best placed to assess local threat and risk.

Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the powers they need to respond.

It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to publish a strategy to help tackle motorcycle theft. \p Sarah Jones: This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police, to ensure the strongest response possible to this damaging crime. We do not currently plan to publish a specific strategy on motorcycle theft.

The Motorcycle Crime Reduction Group is represented on the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, to ensure police, motorcycle groups and Government can work together to reduce these thefts. The National Vehicle Crime Working Group includes a network of vehicle crime specialists, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime.
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Imran Hussain:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing funding to the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service to support the expansion of its operations in areas with high levels of vehicle crime. \p Sarah Jones: The National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) is a national policing unit funded by industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers, to provide dedicated specialist intelligence and enforcement. NAVICS undertakes enforcement action at ports which are intelligence-led operations to tackle vehicle crime.

Whilst the Government does not fund NaVCIS, we provided £250,000 last year to other law enforcement partners to help support enforcement at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime. We are working with the automotive industry and police, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on the issue, to ensure the strongest response possible. The former Policing Minister recently met the previous NPCC vehicle crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, as well as other law enforcement representatives and representatives from industry, to discuss how we work together to tackle these damaging crimes.

Via the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.

In the Crime and Policing Bill we have banned electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing, importing and supplying them.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of recorded offences related to the illegal use of an e-scooter in a public place in the past 5 years. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office collects information on the number of notifiable offences recorded by the police in England and Wales.

The Home Office does not hold information on whether an offence was related to the use of e-scooters.
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of levels of funding for policing Leicester on trends in levels of bicycle theft in that area. \p Sarah Jones: As set out at the final police funding settlement, overall funding for policing will total up to £19.6 billion in 2025-26, an increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement.

Of this, Leicestershire Police will receive up to £272.9 million in funding in 2025-26, an increase of up to £16.9 million when compared to the 2024-25 police settlement, equating to a 6.6% cash increase.

Bike theft has a significant impact on individuals and for too long many of the victims have felt that not enough was being done to prevent their bikes being stolen or track down the thieves responsible.

As policing has operational independence, it is for local decision-makers to determine operational priorities, including how to allocate resources based on their knowledge and experience.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to help reduce the number of irregular migrants arriving in the UK on small boats. \p Alex Norris: The Border Security Command (BSC) is leading the national response to prevent small boat crossings in the English Channel.

The BSC continues to focus on tackling the organised immigration crime gangs that are facilitating small boat crossings, working with domestic partners such as the National Crime Agency, and overseas counterparts in a range of countries, to dismantle the gangs and disrupt their supply chains. This work has already led to a number of widely publicised raids and arrests, as well as agreements with France, Germany, Italy, Iraq and other key partners which will increase enforcement activity and cooperation further over the coming months.

This summer, the Home Office announced a £100 million funding injection to further strengthen existing law enforcement operations. The funding will pay for up to 300 extra National Crime Agency officers (NCA), state-of-the art detection technology and new equipment to smash the networks putting lives at risk in the Channel.

We have also signed a landmark agreement with France to prevent dangerous small boat crossings. This agreement means that anyone entering the UK on a small boat can be detained on arrival and returned to France by the UK government. The aim is to test the deterrent effect to prevent dangerous journeys by demonstrating that small boat crossings are not a viable way to enter and remain in the UK and to disrupt the organised immigration crime gangs.

Ensuring we have the right legislation in place to take robust, meaningful action to address these challenges is crucial. With this in mind, the UK’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament, creates new powers for law enforcement through new criminal offences, expanded data-sharing capabilities and an improved intelligence picture to identify, intercept, disrupt and prevent serious and organised crime, including tackling those who facilitate small boats crossings.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to use recently closed independent schools as alternative accommodation for illegal immigrants. \p Alex Norris: No, there are no current plans. Home Office officials work in collaboration with other government departments on a future strategy for asylum accommodation, aiming to develop a better, long-term model of accommodation supply, which may be more locally led, should reduce competition for affordable housing, and help deliver new supply. Greater emphasis is being placed on engagement and collaboration with local authorities, and a variety of options are being tested. Value for money, community cohesion and the wellbeing of asylum seekers will continue to be at the forefront of decision making as officials continue to explore options and develop this strategy.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of barracks sites on the health of people seeking asylum. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office remains firmly committed to ensuring that destitute asylum seekers are provided with safe, secure, and appropriate accommodation, and that they are treated with dignity throughout the asylum process.

To support this commitment, mechanisms are in place—managed by Migrant Help—to enable asylum seekers to request assistance or report any issues. This support is available 24/7 via telephone, webchat, or email.

Migrant Help actively seeks feedback from service users to help identify areas for improvement.
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Carla Denyer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were dispersed in the asylum system while in the late stages of pregnancy in (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024; and how many of those dispersals were at the request of (i) the pregnant woman and (ii) her treating clinician. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office did not record this data in a reportable format for the years requested but has since developed a tool that should enable the Department to do so in the future. This is still being tested given the complexities involved.
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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to provide community-based alternatives to immigration detention for women. \p Alex Norris: The Department will keep under review the feasibility of alternatives to detention, taking account of effectiveness and cost efficiency, as part of our plans to transform the asylum and returns system.
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Steff Aquarone:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 74527 on Asylum: Staff, how many asylum decisionmakers were employed on 28 April 2025. \p Alex Norris: The number of full time equivalent (FTE) asylum caseworkers employed per month until June 2025 is published in the ASY_05(M) tab of the published migration transparency statistics, located here: Immigration and protection data: Q2 2025 (Migration transparency data - GOV.UK)

At the end of April 2025, there were 1,995 FTE asylum caseworking staff. Attrition would likely occur since that time.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, over what period of time Operation Gull has been functioning in Northern Ireland. \p Alex Norris: Immigration officers in Northern Ireland took responsibility for Operation Gull in the financial year 2010-11.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral contribution of 1 September 2025 on Borders and Asylum, Volume 772, column 51, what are the locations of the three accommodation pilots. \p Alex Norris: We are actively working with local authorities to develop several potential accommodation models that could ‘pilot’ a more sustainable, flexible and collaborative outcome. These ‘pilot’ models will examine potential alternative accommodation sources – in collaboration with local authorities – promoting community cohesion and joint initiatives. Decisions on specific locations will be made on a case-by-case basis, and we will continue to work closely with local authorities and in compliance with published policy.
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Chris Philp:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether landlords in Croydon are being offered rents above market rates to house asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office has a legal obligation to provide accommodation for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, whilst their claims are being processed.

This Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. This includes our accommodation sites, as the Home Office continues to identify a range of options to minimise the use of hotels and ensure better use of public money, whilst maintaining sufficient accommodation to meet demand.

Our accommodation strategy is to support exit from hotels and deliver a more sustainable model for asylum seekers, local partners, local authorities, and communities as a whole. We are working closely with Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver this, with a focus on community cohesion.

Accommodation providers are responsible for sourcing and securing suitable properties. They work closely with local authorities to ensure that local knowledge, intelligence and context inform procurement decisions, helping to place accommodation where it is most appropriate and sustainable.

The procurement process is guided by principles of sustainability and measured growth, ensuring that accommodation is not only available but also suitable for long-term use and integrated within local communities.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Alternative to Detention schemes piloted under the Home Office’s Community Engagement Pilot series. \p Alex Norris: Following analysis of the pilots’ published evaluations, the Department did not see sufficient evidence to progress these. We will keep under review the feasibility of alternatives to detention, taking account of effectiveness and cost efficiency, as part of our plans to transform the asylum and returns system.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 75 of the Home Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published in July 2025, HC1133, how many (a) contracted asylum hotels, (b) people residing in asylum hotels, (c) people residing in a individual asylum hotel on average there were in (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2024-25. \p Alex Norris: Since coming into office this Government is delivering on its pledge to close asylum hotels; drastically reducing taxpayer costs and giving control back to local communities. This Government is committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of the Parliament.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 35311 on Asylum: Health Services, whether any local authorities have commissioned independent health sector providers to provide health care to asylum seekers using central government funding in the last 12 months. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office does not hold this information.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure women’s shelters are in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025. \p Jess Phillips: Duty bearers must follow the law and should take appropriate specialist legal advice where necessary.

The EHRC has submitted the draft updated Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations to the Minister for Women and Equalities. This will provide guidance to service providers, including those who run women's shelters.

The Government will consider the draft updated Code and, if the Minister approves it, lay it before Parliament.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of asylum seekers on the safeguarding of children and young people. \p Alex Norris: All those who claim asylum undergo a series of security checks against immigration and police databases and are screened to identify individuals who may have been involved in criminality both in the UK and outside the UK or are of national security interest. Further information regarding security checks during the asylum screening process is available in published policy guidance on GOV.UK at: Screening and routing.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk).

The Home Office takes the safety and welfare of all children extremely seriously and protecting vulnerable people is a cross-cutting departmental priority. Officials are constantly alert to any signs that a child is at risk of harm or abuse or may have been trafficked.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of (a) digitising and (b) centralising the firearms licensing process on police time. \p Sarah Jones: The Government has no plans to introduce the centralisation of the firearms licensing process. The Firearms Act 1968 places statutory responsibility for firearms licensing on the Chief Officer of Police of each individual force in England, Wales and Scotland.

This framework is supported by Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police issued by the Home Secretary in respect of firearms licensing and by Authorised Professional Practice issued by the College of Policing.
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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing the refugee move-on period to 28 days on levels of risk to women of (a) homelessness and (b) exposure to violence and abuse. \p Jess Phillips: From 1 September 2025, the Home Office has taken the decision to pause the 56 day move on period pilot for single adults in receipt of a positive asylum decision, with the exception of individuals who are pregnant, over the age of 65 or have a known/evidence disability, as defined by the 2010 Equality Act. All families and single adults that fall within the exception criteria granted asylum will continue to be given the 56-day pilot move on period until the end of December. We are committed to providing all our partners with appropriate notice of any further changes to the Move On period through our regular engagement forums and in writing.

We closely monitor the impact of all our policies, including the move on period, on the number and occupancy of asylum hotels, the overall costs of the asylum accommodation estate, the wider effect on local communities, and any pressures placed on local authorities and public amenities. We remain committed to working closely with our partners to identify improvements and make efficiencies in supporting newly recognised refugees move on from asylum accommodation. We are committed to keeping our partners informed through regular engagement.

This Government is also delivering a cross-government transformative approach to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published this year.
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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce the criminalisation of asylum-seeking survivors of violence against women and girls. \p Jess Phillips: Asylum-seeking victims of VAWG must be treated as victims, first and foremost. We recognise the challenges asylum-seeking victims of VAWG can face and the VAWG Strategy will include more detail on our approach to criminalisation of victims of VAWG. It is vital that we get this right, and we are committed to publishing the Strategy as soon as possible.

We are committed to delivering an asylum process that is gender sensitive, building on the Government’s wider strategy to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).

In addition, the Government provides support to migrant victims of VAWG through the Migrant Victims Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and works with sector leads on this group to ensure they are part of the broader strategy on VAWG.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking with international partners to disrupt cross-jurisdictional fraud networks. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office is committed to leading international efforts to tackle fraud, which is why we are supporting the next Global Fraud Summit in March 2026, hosted by UNODC and INTERPOL. This will be a key event to strengthen the global fight against fraud and will include ministers, private industry and civil society from across the world.

We are also working bilaterally with key countries to build capability and strengthen their ability to tackle and disrupt fraud before it reaches the UK. This has already resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding between UK and Nigeria, signed this spring by Lord Hanson in Abuja, agreeing a clear framework of future collaboration, including on policy development, law enforcement, and information sharing to tackle fraud.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the partnership with the United Arab Emirates on tackling illicit finance is aligned with the objectives set out in the UK’s Economic Crime Plan, 2023 to 2026. \p Dan Jarvis: The UK-UAE Illicit Finance Partnership incorporates objectives from the Economic Crime Plan 2 (ECP2), which sets the UK’s whole-system response to economic crime. Strong progress was made against ECP2 objectives during the UK-UAE Illicit Finance Dialogue in September 2025, when the UAE visited London to advance talks on cooperation in areas such as asset recovery and fraud.

As a global financial centres, the UK and UAE have joint responsibility to tackle illicit finance through our partnership, while achieving strategic outcomes set out in the Economic Crime Plan 2.
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Phil Brickell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the (a) number and (b) differing typologies of incidents of transnational repression in the last five years. \p Dan Jarvis: This Government is committed to addressing foreign state directed threats, including those actions which amount to transnational repression (TNR). We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and a key focus of the Defending Democracy Taskforce’s Review of transnational repression was to understand the scale and nature of TNR in the UK. I set out the findings of the Review and Government’s response in my statement to the House on 14 May.

This Government works closely with law enforcement and other partners to continue to strengthen our understanding of reporting trends and methodologies of TNR to ensure sufficient safeguards and mitigations are in place to prevent, detect and counter the threat. Attempts by any foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals in the UK will never be tolerated, irrespective of the perpetrating country.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department issue updated guidance for rural local authorities as part of the proposed review of Contest. \p Dan Jarvis: The delivery of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, is kept under constant review. Specific guidance will be considered at the point of publication of future iterations of the strategy.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has considered reviewing the standard police caution to include a reference to the potential impact of legal advice to remain silent on a defendant’s defence. \p Sarah Jones: A review of the standard police caution is not being considered for the reasons set out in my earlier answer to written question UIN 73157.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of provisions to protect vulnerable individuals from online scams in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Dan Jarvis: This Government is working extremely closely with industry, regulators, law enforcement and consumer groups to close the vulnerabilities that criminals exploit and stop scams reaching people.

This includes regulation through the Online Safety Act, which entered into law in April, and which requires in-scope companies to tackle fraud originating on their platforms. Ofcom, acting as the independent regulator, has the power to levy significant fines on companies who they deem are not doing enough in doing so.

Beyond regulation, the Government continues to support the national Stop! Think Fraud campaign to help people spot and take action to avoid fraud. The campaign and supporting website, make it easier for the public to safeguard themselves, their family and friends through a range of protective behaviours.

The Government is also working with the City of London Police in coordinating the Fraud Protect Network. The network is made up of local, regional and national law enforcement officers and is designed to reduce the threat of fraud and revictimization by providing consistent protect messaging and safeguarding advice to the public.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has consulted police forces on their capacity to implement changes to shotgun licensing procedures. \p Sarah Jones: The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation published on 13 February this year, included a commitment to consult on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns.

We will be undertaking a public consultation which will launch later this year. We will carefully consider the views put forward through this consultation in due course, which will include the possible impact of any changes on policing.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_136
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_136

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will have discussions with (a) police forces and (b) rural stakeholders on the potential benefits of a (a) digitised and (b) centralised firearms licensing system. \p Sarah Jones: The Government has no plans to introduce the centralisation of the firearms licensing process.

The Firearms Act 1968 places statutory responsibility for firearms licensing on the Chief Officer of Police of each individual force in England, Wales and Scotland.

This framework is supported by Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police issued by the Home Secretary in respect of firearms licensing and by Authorised Professional Practice issued by the College of Policing.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_137
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_137

Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with (a) businesses and (b) sectors on how businesses can protect themselves from the inadvertent employment of hoax remote workers who conceal their North Korean identity. \p Dan Jarvis: On Thursday 12th September 2024, The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published an advisory notice on North Korean Information Technology (IT) workers. OFSI assessed that it is almost certain that UK firms are currently being targeted North Korean IT workers disguised as freelance third-country IT workers to generate revenue for Designated Persons (DPs) operating on behalf of the North Korean regime. DPRK IT workers have skills in areas including, but not limited to, software development, IT support, graphic design, and animation.

The advisory identifies six key threats linked to North Korean IT workers’ activity affecting UK firms, lists red flag indicators for UK firms to identify North Korean IT workers, and makes recommendations for mitigation measures for UK firms to better protect themselves against this threat.

OFSI continues to work with wider Government and international partners to track the deployment of DPRK IT workers abroad and map the development and evolution of this threat of proliferation financing in light of increased industry awareness. OFSI will take robust, proportionate action in response to breaches of financial sanctions. In the most serious cases, we will not hesitate to impose civil monetary penalties or refer cases for criminal investigation where appropriate.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_138
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_138

Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the safety of Uyghur (a) exiles and (b) dissidents residing in the UK. \p Dan Jarvis: The first duty of government is to keep its citizens safe. The National Security Act 2023 provides the necessary tools to deter, detect and disrupt modern-day state threats.

The Government, working alongside operational partners, continuously assess the risks and threats faced by people living within the UK. Where we identify individuals at heightened risk, we are front footed in deploying protective security guidance and other measures as appropriate.

Where individuals have concerns for their safety, they are advised to contact the police via 101, a local police station or dial 999 in an emergency.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_139
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_139

Laura Kyrke-Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of routinely (a) recording and (b) reporting the number of animals bred for and not used in scientific research. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office is presently reviewing the potential merits of recording and reporting the number of animals that were bred for and not used in scientific procedures.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_140
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_140

Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) nature of instances in which members of the public have been subject to monitoring by government agencies on social media platforms in the last 12 months. \p Dan Jarvis: It is the longstanding policy of successive UK Governments that we do not comment on operational intelligence or security matters.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_141
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_141

James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested for being a supporter of (a) the Maniacs Murder Cult, (b) Palestine Action and (c) the Russian Imperial Movement since the passing of the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2025. \p Dan Jarvis: The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.

The Home Office releases statistics which cover arrests for terrorist-related activity on a quarterly basis. It would not be appropriate to provide a running commentary on arrests relating to proscribed organisations.

On Palestine Action specifically, the Metropolitan Police Service has also released statistics on the arrests made at the central London protests on 9 August 2025 and 6 September 2025 which can be found here: https://news.met.police.uk/news/update-532-arrested-during-protest-policing-operation-499897 and https://news.met.police.uk/pressreleases/update-on-demonstration-in-support-of-palestine-action-3403168

Operational decisions, including arrests, are a matter for the police, who are independent of Government.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_142
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_142

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to meet with her Irish counterpart to discuss the increase in the amount of illegal drugs being smuggled into that country. \p Sarah Jones: The National Crime Agency’s latest National Strategic Assessment notes the Common Travel Area, and particularly the routes between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain, continue to be exploited by criminals for the purposes of serious and organised crime including the smuggling of illicit commodities.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland have a strong operational relationship which includes continual engagement and practical joint operations to present a combined deterrent to organised criminals targeting both the UK and Ireland.

This is supported by senior twice-yearly dialogues, which Home Office officials feed into. At these we discuss key issues that are shared between Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_143
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_143

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to support (a) local authorities and (b) police forces to tackle anti-social behaviour (i) in town centres and (ii) on high streets. \p Sarah Jones: This Government wants town centres to be vibrant, welcoming places where businesses thrive and people feel safe and come to shop, socialise and live.

The Safer Streets Summer Initiative commenced on 30 June and runs until the end of September. It is tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in town centres, including city centres, through enhanced police visibility and meaningful consequences.

Police and Crime Commissioners are leading on targeted action to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) that blights our town centres and high streets. The work is being delivered in partnership with councils, schools, health services, business, transport providers and community groups all playing a role over the summer. Under the initiative, partners will use targeted enforcement, visible policing and place-based interventions to reduce retail and street crime and ASB in over 500 town centres and high streets, across England and Wales, including Slough.

£200m has been made available to forces in 2025/26 to kickstart the delivery of 13,000 more neighbourhood officers across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament - of which up to 3,000 will be in place by March 2026. In particular, Thames Valley Police has been awarded £6,093,042 as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

In addition to this, £66.3 million in Hotspot Action (HAF) funding has been made available for 2025/26 to all 43 territorial police forces across England and Wales. The Fund will increase visible uniformed patrols (delivered by police and local authority wardens) in Town Centres and areas (hotspots) most impacted by knife crime, serious violence and ASB. This includes allocating £1,690,460 to Thames Valley Police.

In support, all police officers are receiving national guidance, a policy toolkit and access to hyper-local ASB crime mapping analysis, which overlays crime concentration data against hotspot responses and points of interest such as town centres. It aims to support analysis, identification of priority town centres, planning, and delivery.
wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_144
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-16 conversation_144

Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 69839 on Schools: Employers' Contributions, how much and what proportion of the cost of the increase in employers' National Insurance Contributions will be covered by the £1 billion additional funding that will be provided. \p Georgia Gould: The department is providing mainstream schools and high needs settings with over £930 million to support with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025. We are also providing £25 million in respect of schools with early years provision and £155 million for post-16 schools and academies and further education colleges. Taken together, this is an increase of over £1.1 billion. This funding is designed to provide schools with support to manage NICs pressures. We recognise that the balance between funding and costs will vary between schools.

The amount of public sector support was based on an estimate of the proportion of employer NICs receipts paid by public sector organisations, using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) classification of the public sector boundary. HM Treasury routinely uses the ONS classification of the public sector boundary, for example in relation to public sector spending, borrowing and debt.

This funding was then allocated to departments based on a weighted average of the headcount and wage/salary data that all departments submitted to HM Treasury.

Our funding system is not designed so that every school and college receives funding that fully matches their precise spending, as spending, including NICs costs, varies across institutions because of the decisions each takes on its staffing.