Written questions by Cooper.

What progress has been made on the implementation of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023; and what steps she is taking to support rural businesses in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England in deploying (i) advanced Human Form Recognition systems and (ii) AI-enhanced security systems to combat the theft of (A) high-value agricultural machinery and (B) fuel.

The Government is committed to the implementation of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which will introduce measures to make it harder for criminals to steal and re‑sell high‑value machinery and equipment. The Home Office has completed a Call for Evidence to inform delivery and is working closely with industry, policing and other partners to develop the necessary secondary legislation, which will be introduced in Parliament as time allows.To support rural businesses the Government is strengthening the policing response to acquisitive crime through improved neighbourhood policing, specialist national capability and legislative tools to support enforcement. This includes continuing to fund the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit, which work with forces to tackle organised machinery and fuel theft.The deployment of specific security technologies is an operational matter for policing and business. Police reforms and wider crime prevention measures are intended to ensure that forces have the capability and flexibility to work with rural communities and businesses to tackle theft, such as agricultural machinery and fuel, that affect rural locations.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a right of appeal for visitor visa refusals.

Where a visitor visa is refused, the applicant will receive reasons for the decision which they can address in a further application. There are no current plans to change this position.

What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of (a) unlawful employment practices and (b) labour exploitation in the nail salon industry.

The Government takes all reports of labour exploitation very seriously, and we remain committed to tackling the crime of modern slavery, – in which ever sector it occurs. We do not currently hold data for the number of victims of modern slavery and human trafficking within the nail salon industry. Nonetheless, we will continue to monitor the sector closely alongside the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, to ensure we target our work effectively.The Government is establishing the Fair Work Agency, which will bring under one roof multiple agencies and bodies, including the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC’s National Minimum and Living Wage Team. This will ensure a more cohesive and streamlined response to exploitation across the economy. The Fair Work Agency will have enhanced powers and resources to identify and address labour exploitation more effectively.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of social media on perpetuating violence against women and girls.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in all of its forms, including when it takes place online, is a top priority for this Government. Our upcoming VAWG Strategy will set out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver our unprecedented ambition to halve VAWG in a decade.In addition, the Online Safety Act 2023 requires all in-scope companies, including social media platforms, to take swift and effective action against criminal online abuse. However, social media companies must still do more to protect women and girls. The Secretary of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has laid before Parliament the Government’s draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for Online Safety, which aim to ensure the Online Safety Act delivers improved online safety outcomes. This includes how the Act will deliver on tackling illegal and misogynistic content to ensure increased safety online for women and girls.We are also taking action on non-consensual intimate image abuse. The Online Safety Act inserted new offences of sharing or threatening to share intimate images into the Sexual Offences Act 2003. These new offences apply to a broader category of image and in a wider array of circumstances than the previous offences. We are going further by introducing offences of taking an intimate image without consent or reasonable belief in consent and installing equipment with the intent to take intimate images without consent or reasonable belief in consent, via the Crime and Policing Bill. We are also introducing new offences to create or request the creation of intimate images without consent or reasonable belief in consent, via the Data (Use and Access) Bill. This will criminalise the creation of deepfake intimate images without consent.Our efforts to tackle VAWG and child sexual abuse needs to evolve to meet changes in social media and technology head on. As such, in the dawn of an increase in AI- generated child sexual abuse (CSA), we are taking forward several measures through the Crime and Policing Bill to better safeguard children and young people at risk of sexual abuse. These measures are:CSA image generators - This offence will criminalise AI models that have been optimised to create the most severe forms of child sexual abuse material.AI paedophile manuals - This measure will ensure that offenders in possession of AI paedophile manuals – which provide guidance about using AI to abuse children sexually – will be criminalised.Moderators and administrators of CSA sites – A specific criminal offence targeting offenders who run sites dedicated to child sexual abuse. On these sites, offenders share child sexual abuse material (CSAM) content, or advice on how to groom children.CSAM at the Border - This measure will give Border Force officers the power to compel individuals reasonably suspected of posing a sexual risk to children to unlock their digital devices for inspection.This Government is committed to tackling VAWG and CSAM and will remain agile to the threats and act accordingly.

What steps she is taking to help protect young people from drink spiking.

Spiking is an appalling crime that undermines the public's right to feel safe when they are simply enjoying a night out. It can happen to anybody regardless of age, gender or sexuality. We are taking tough new action to prevent spiking incidents, ensure that victims of spiking receive enhanced protection and support when they are out and about - creating a safer night out for everyone.The Government has introduced new legislation, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.We have also rolled out specialist spiking training for staff in the night-time economy to ensure they have the skills to detect possible spiking incidents, support victims who have been spiked and to support law enforcement with evidence collection.Additionally, we are committed to supporting the Office for Students and Department for Education in implementing a new registration condition which, from August 2025, will require all higher education providers to implement policies and procedures to prevent and tackle sexual misconduct and other forms of harassment affecting their students; including all forms of spiking.

What discussions she has had with agricultural machinery manufacturers on the potential impact of enhanced security measures on agricultural vehicles on the level of rural crime.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. That is why this Government is committed to tackling crime in rural areas.We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and support its intentions to fend off the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting. I recently met with Ruth Bailey, CEO of Agricultural Engineers Association on the 5th November 2024.The Act requires secondary legislation before it can come into effect. We are currently considering the views of those who may be affected by the legislation and its regulations, including manufacturers, to understand the potential implications and determine the scope of the legislation, including what equipment it will include.

What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of fraud in each of the last five years.

No. of estimated fraud incidents against individualsYear Ending June202020212022202320244,332,0005,035,0003,819,0003,335,0003,560,000The ONS’ Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW) has been used to assess trends in the level of estimated fraud against individuals in England and Wales in each of the last 5 years (Year ending June 2020 to Year ending June 2024)1. Estimated incidents of fraud peaked sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a peak of over 5 million incidents in 2021. Fraud incidents then declined gradually, falling to 3.335 million incidents in YE June 2023.The latest CSEW data shows that, in the year ending June 2024, there were an estimated 3.560 million incidents of fraud against individuals in England and Wales.This Government takes the treat of fraud extremely seriously, and is committed to bring forward a new, expanded fraud strategy covering all elements of pernicious and damaging crime. 1 The CSEW only represents estimated incidents of fraud against individuals in England and Wales and does not capture fraud against businesses or HMG. Therefore, the true scale of fraud is likely to be larger than the figures presented above.

What estimate she has made of the proportion of crime committed online in each of the last three years; and what proportion of reported online crime over that period resulted in someone being charged in each police force area.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish statistics on the proportion of police recorded crime in England and Wales each quarter in their official statistics.This can be found in Table F11 of ONS’ Crime in England and Wales: Other Related Tables (available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesotherrelatedtables).Data on the proportion of such crimes that result in a charge is not currently available.

What (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to help prevent crime in (i) Mid Cheshire constituency, (ii) Cheshire, (iii) England.

The 2024-25 police funding settlement provides funding of up to £18.5 billion. Cheshire Police’s funding will be up to £264.2m in 2024-25. This is in addition to £2.5m provided for the 2024-25 pay award which has been allocated outside of the police funding settlement.Further funding has been provided through the Hotspot Response Programme, under which Cheshire has been allocated £1,000,000 for 2024/25 to deliver visible uniformed patrols in the streets and neighbourhoods worst affected by serious violence and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB).In addition, this Government has put prevention front and centre of our plans to improve the lives of people across the United Kingdom. We have committed to rolling out a network of Young Futures Hubs which will bring together services to help improve the way young people can access the support they need. We will be engaging with local communities, the police, charities, and other key partners to support the design of the hubs and explore options for their delivery.Finally, the Home Secretary has also made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which includes the addition of thousands more neighbourhood police personnel, as part of the Safer Streets mission. Funding for 2025/26 will be subject to the Spending Review.