Written questions by Jogee.

Whether new police recruits will be trained on the impact of (a) waste crime and (b) retail crime on victims in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, (ii) Staffordshire and (iii) England and Wales.

This Government is committed to ensuring there are consistent, high standards for training in the police. This will help to maintain public confidence and ensure the workforce is equipped to respond to the crime challenges they face every day.The College of Policing sets and maintains standards for training and professional development, including initial police education. This includes setting the national policing curriculum for initial training.The Government has provided funding for the national rollout of the Neighbourhood Policing Pathway. This training will provide all neighbourhood officers and PCSOs with specialist training and will include modules on community engagement, problem-solving and tackling anti-social behaviour.Under the previous government, shop theft soared to record highs and it continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers.As set out in the Autumn Budget 2024, we will provide £100,000 of additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on retail crime prevention tactics. This will build on funding this financial year to the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, for development of training for both police and retailers to help combat retail crime and promote partnership working.Through our Crime and Policing Bill, introduced on 25 February, this Government has brought forward a new offence of assaulting a retail worker, to protect hardworking and dedicated shop workers, including small and independent retailers. The offence carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and/or unlimited fine, as well as a presumption on the courts to impose a Criminal Behaviour Order. This will prohibit the offender from doing anything described in the order, which might include a condition preventing specific acts which cause harassment, alarm or distress, or preventing an offender from visiting specific premises.Also included as part of the Bill is the removing of the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, which blights communities, damages the environment and undermines legitimate businesses. Waste crime and poor performing waste sites undermine legitimate businesses, deprive the public purse of tax income, harm the environment and communities and in the worst cases directly threaten our health.

What recent steps her Department has taken to tackle criminal activity via county lines.

County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. To deliver our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the drug gangs that run county lines through violence and exploitation. Since July 2024, policing activity delivered through the County Lines Programme has resulted in over 400 deal lines being closed, 500 arrests (including the arrest and charge of over 200 deal line holders) and 800 safeguarding referrals for children and vulnerable people. Over 220 children and young people have also received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service since July. In addition, the Government’s Manifesto included an unambiguous commitment to “introduce a new offence of criminal exploitation of children, to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime”. A new criminal offence is necessary to increase convictions against exploiters, deter gangs from enlisting children, and improve identification of victims. This will be brought forward as part of the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill.

What her Department's planned timetable is for implementing the recommendations of the Final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in October 2022.

On 16 January the Home Secretary set out to Parliament the steps the Government is taking forward to tackle the terrible crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse.This includes setting out a clear timetable, before Easter, for taking forward the 20 recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report and implementing all the remaining recommendations in IICSA’s separate standalone report on child sexual exploitation by organised networks from February 2022.

What data her Department holds on the total number of calls Staffordshire Police have received requesting help on domestic abuse incidents between 20 December 2024 and 2 January 2025.

The Home Office does not hold this data.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the level of net migration in the last five years.

Under the previous government, between 2019 and 2023, net migration more than quadrupled, heavily driven by a big increase in overseas recruitment.This Government is clear that net migration must come down and is committed to tackling skills shortages and labour market failures here in the UK.We have already set out a new approach to end the over reliance on international recruitment and boost economic growth to link the UK’s immigration, labour market, and skills systems to train up our homegrown workforceWe have also commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to review key sectors, and our long-term plan will see departments working across government, alongside other agencies and experts, to build our skills base and reduce our reliance on migration.Furthermore, following the Prime Minister’s speech on migration on 28th November 2024 - the Government will publish a White Paper later this year setting out measures to reduce net migration and link the points-based system with requirements for training in the UK.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Serious Crime Prevention Orders.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders are a powerful tool for preventing and disrupting the activities of the highest-harm criminals involved in serious crime. However, the orders are not currently being used to maximum effect. Between 2011 and 2021, only two applications were made to the High Court for an SCPO in the absence of a conviction, of which only one was successful, compared to a total of 1,057 SCPOs being made in the Crown Court on conviction in the same period. This is significantly lower than Parliament anticipated when it introduced SCPOs in the Serious Crime Act 2007.As announced on 2nd January, the Government is seeking to improve the SCPO regime by introducing new interim SCPOs. Currently, securing an SCPO on suspects, including people smugglers, can be a complex and lengthy process. Interim orders will speed up the process for placing restrictions on people under investigation so as to prevent, deter and disrupt serious and organised crime, including people smuggling. These new interim orders will allow the National Crime Agency, the police and other law enforcement agencies to apply directly to the High Court to impose immediate restrictions whilst a full order is considered. The Government will bring forward further measures to improve the functioning of SCPOs in due course.These figures are experimental, based on HMCTS management information and are not equivalent to official statistics published by the Ministry of Justice.The Explanatory Notes to the 2007 Act state that “the main route for making an order will be an application to the High Court”. In addition, at Lords Committee Stage of the Serious Crime Bill, Baroness Scotland of Asthal stated that operational partners had indicated that there may be 25 or 30 such orders – see Hansard, Volume 690, 7 March 2007: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2007-03-07/debates/07030790000002/SeriousCrimeBill(HL)

What steps she is taking to tackle organised immigration crime.

Since entering office, we have already launched the Border Security Command (BSC), led by Martin Hewitt CBE QPM, with £150m invested over this financial year and next.The Border Security Command will act as the system leader across HMG leveraging functions across policy, operations, international engagement and uplifted capabilities to tackle organised immigration crime, driven by outcome focussed, system-wide plans.Since the establishment of the Border Security Command, successes against organised immigration crime include:NCA’s continued successful operations and arrests against prolific people smugglersCommitment to up to 100 new specialist intelligence and investigations officers deployed to the NCAthe recent agreement with Iraq and the Kurdish Region of Iraq to target people smuggling gangs and strengthen border security co-operationthe joint action plan with Germany to collaboratively break the business model of people smuggling gangs.

Whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to designate misogyny as a hate crime.

Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and we are committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade.The Government is carefully considering how best to tackle hate crime. We will set out next steps in due course.

What steps she is taking to reduce food waste in her Department.

In line with the Greening Government Commitments the Home Office has committed to measure and report on food waste.Over the period 2017 to 2024, Home Office food waste arisings increased from 183 to 207 tonnes (13% increase) an increase primarily driven by an increase in food waste collection across the estate, from 7 facilities in 2017 to up to 20 facilities in 2023/24.

What steps she is taking to help improve standards of policing in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and b) Staffordshire.

The Government committed to rebuilding confidence in policing as part of its safe streets mission and has been clear on its determination to raise standards in policing.This will include introducing mandatory professional standards on vetting and improving police suspension provisions. Further detail will be set out in due course.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken for visa applications to be processed for (a) adults and (b) children.

We are seeking to ensure visa applications are processes as quickly as possible. Customer service standards exist for all types of visa applications, however the time taken to process a visa application may take longer under certain circumstances such as if the information provided is not accurate or further evidence is required.If there is a delay, the applicant will be notified of this within the current processing times.Data relating to the performance against visa service standards for all types of applications are produced as part of the Migration Transparency publication.These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration(opens in a new tab)(opens in a new tab).

What estimate she has made of the number of reported hate crimes in Staffordshire.

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level.Data for Staffordshire police can be found in Appendix Table 1 here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

What recent discussions she has had with the (a) Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for the Staffordshire Police force area and (b) Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police.

Meetings are regularly published in a quarterly transparency returns.

What discussions she has had with the National Fire Chief Council.

Meetings are regularly published in a quarterly transparency returns.

How many times she has (a) met and (b) spoken to the Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner of Staffordshire since her appointment.

Meetings are regularly published in a quarterly transparency returns.