Every parliamentary written question tabled by James Wild this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–17 of 17 · Home Office
What training is provided to Border Force officers on the handling of CITES documentation for musical instruments.
All Border Force officers receive relevant mandatory training on dealing with international trade documentation, which includes CITES permits, to aid the detection of illicit goods linked to the illegal wildlife trade, including musical instruments.
What assessment her Department has made on the potential impact of the Police Funding Settlement (England and Wales) 2026-27 on the response times to rural crime incidents in North West Norfolk constituency.
As a result of the 2026-27 police funding settlement, Norfolk Police will receive up to £248.7 million in 2026-27, which is an increase of £9.5 million on the previous year. This equates to a 4.0% cash increase in funding.Forces are operationally independent, and the deployment of officers and staff remains an operational decision for Chief Constables.
How many full time equivalent police officers there were in Norfolk Constabulary on (a) 1 September 2024 and (b) 1 September 2025.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales, on a bi-annual basis, as at 31 March and 30 September each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.The latest information on the number of police officers, as at 30 September 2025, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2025.Table 1 of the data tables accompanying the release includes information on full-time equivalent police officers in England and Wales, broken down by Police Force Area, as at 30 September 2024 and 2025.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on the Police Funding Settlement (England and Wales) 2026-27 on the provisions for tackling fly tipping in rural areas.
As a result of the 2026-27 police funding settlement, Norfolk Police will receive up to £248.7 million in 2026-27, which is an increase of £9.5 million on the previous year. This equates to a 4.0% cash increase in funding.Forces are operationally independent, and the deployment of officers and staff remains an operational decision for Chief Constables.
What assessment her Department has made on the potential impact of the Police Funding Settlement (England and Wales) 2026-27 on the number of police officers in North West Norfolk constituency.
As a result of the 2026-27 police funding settlement, Norfolk Police will receive up to £248.7 million in 2026-27, which is an increase of £9.5 million on the previous year. This equates to a 4.0% cash increase in funding.Forces are operationally independent, and the deployment of officers and staff remains an operational decision for Chief Constables.
When she plans to announce the (a) scope and (b) timetable of the forthcoming consultation on proposals to merge shotgun and firearms licensing regimes.
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety.We intend to publish this consultation shortly.
Whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of permitting self-defence weapons on personal safety.
The Government has no plans to permit the possession or use of currently prohibited weapons, such as pepper sprays or tasers, for self-defence purposes. Pepper sprays and tasers are prohibited under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968.The Government considers that increased availability of such items potentially increases the risk of them being used by violent criminals, alongside a risk that they may be used inappropriately or irresponsibly in a variety of different circumstances, increasing the risk of serious injuries.
What steps her Department is taking to support police forces in tackling shoplifting in North West Norfolk constituency.
Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level. We will not stand for this.We are ensuring the right powers are in place. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are bringing in a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.Additionally, we are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team – in partnership with the retail sector - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.Tackling retail crime requires a partnership approach between policing representatives and business. The previous Minister for Crime and Policing launched the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy’, which was jointly developed by the police and industry and aims to provide a collaborative and evidence-based approach to preventing retail crime, including organised shop theft.
How much funding her Department has allocated to local policing in North West Norfolk in the last 12 months.
Norfolk Police will receive up to £239.2 million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £16.5 million when compared to 2024-25.In addition to the funding announced at the settlement, the Home Office provided £1.3 million to Norfolk Police to help with the cost of the 2025-26 police pay award.
Whether she plans to provide additional support to police officers to tackle drug-related crime .in North West Norfolk constituency.
To deliver on our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the gangs that lure children and young people into crime and run county lines through violence and exploitation. County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade.Between July 2024 and June 2025, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 2,300 deal lines closed, 6,200 arrests (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,100 deal line holders), 3,200 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 600 knives seized.While the majority of county lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police, we recognise that this is a national issue which affects all forces, which is why we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate a national law enforcement response. We also have a dedicated fund to help local police forces, including Norfolk Constabulary, tackle the scourge of county lines.As part of the Programme, the NCLCC regularly coordinates weeks of intensive action against county lines gangs, which all police forces take part in, including Norfolk Constabulary. The most recent of these took place 23-29 June 2025 and resulted in 241 lines closed, as well as 1,965 arrests, 1,179 individuals safeguarded and 501 weapons seized.
Whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of current powers available to police officers to address anti-social behaviour in North West Norfolk constituency.
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, including Norfolk Constabulary, with a range of tools and powers that they can use to respond to anti-social behaviour. These powers are kept under review to ensure they remain effective. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are making our streets and neighbourhoods safer by strengthening the powers available to the police and other agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour. This includes introducing new Respect Orders to give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most persistent adult anti-social behaviour offenders, and powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, and other vehicles which are being used in an anti-social manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender.
What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of police staffing levels in Norfolk.
The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. An effective, well-supported police service is central to achieving this.All members of the police workforce play a vital role in delivering an effective police service to communities across England and Wales. As at 31 March 2025, Norfolk Constabulary had a total paid workforce of 3,193 full-time equivalent (FTE). This includes, a total of 1,911 (FTE) police officers, 1,281 (FTE) police staff and designated officers and 101 (FTE) special constables.It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions, to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. This includes how best to allocate the resources at their disposal to provide an effective service to local communities.
Pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61219 on Government Departments: Reviews, how many lines of activity in her Department were considered as part of the zero based review.
At Spending Review 2025, the government conducted the first zero-based review (ZBR) of department budgets in 18 years, with every line of spending scrutinised to ensure value for money.Through the zero-based review, the Home Office carried out a line by line review of its current budgets. The review involved differing levels of granularity depending on the type and size of expenditure under review.To ensure consistency in approach, cross-government guidance set expectations for the level of granularity each review should consider, recommending that departments review all spending within individual programme expenditure – at a minimum reflecting any lines of spending in excess of £1m per annum.Savings identified through this process will support delivery of the government's commitment for all departments to deliver at least 5% savings and efficiencies by 2028-29.
Whether she plans to house asylum seekers in North West Norfolk constituency.
The priority is to ensure that the procurement of secure, safe and sustainable dispersed accommodation is carried out in a fair and equitable manner so that the Home Office continues to meet its statutory obligations while also carefully considering the impact on local areas.The Home Office operates a Full Dispersal model which works to ensure that asylum accommodation is equitably and fairly spread out across the country. Dispersed accommodation offers accommodation that delivers better value for money for the taxpayer and helps the Home Office work towards the fair and equitable spread of accommodation. The Home Office continues to work with local government to allocate asylum seekers based on a range of evidence, including the availability of housing, pressure on services and community cohesion.
What steps she is taking to help tackle the theft of farm machinery in rural areas.
We will be implementing the Equipment Theft Act, which is aimed at preventing equipment being stolen, making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen vehicles and equipment and assisting the police with identifying the owner.We published the Government Response to the Call for Evidence on 17 October which sets out the scope for the necessary secondary legislation to be introduced.The Act’s secondary legislation will require forensic marking to be applied to new All-Terrain Vehicles and for the details to be registered on a property database, for forensic marking to be applied to all new GPS units for use in agricultural and commercial settings, and for the details to be registered on a property databaseAdditionally, the Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, which will help the police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.This financial year we are providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit. This funding will enable the Unit to continue to increase collaboration across police forces, harnessing the latest technology and data to target the serious organised crime groups involved in crimes like equipment theft from farms.
How many foreign national offenders have (a) been deported more than once and (b) returned to the UK since being deported in each year since 2019.
The Home Office publishes data on FNO returns in the quarterly Immigration System Statistics release. Quarterly data on enforced, voluntary and port FNO returns (of which ‘deportations’ are a legal subset) are published in table Ret_D03 of the Returns detailed datasets accompanying the release.Information on FNOs who have been deported more than once, or who have returned to the UK after deportation, 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.A deportation order requires a person to leave the UK and prohibits them from lawfully entering the UK while it remains in force. Entering in breach of a deportation order is a criminal offence under section 24(1)(a) of the 1971 Act, with a maximum sentence of five years under section 40 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
Pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59412 on Government Departments: Reviews, if her Department will publish the line by line review of its spending conducted for the Spending Review 2025.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was given on 17 June to Question 59412.