Written questions by Shannon.

What steps are being taken to ensure reports of domestic abuse are taken seriously and not missed by the system.

We expect police to take all reports of domestic abuse seriously, taking necessary steps to protect victims. Missed opportunities are costing lives and far too many have already been lost.At present, we know many domestic abuse victims do not receive an adequate response when they phone the police. The government will not stand by while women are failed by systems charged with keeping them safe. That's why earlier this year we launched 'Raneem's Law' in the first five police forces. Under 'Raneem's Law', domestic abuse specialists are embedded in 999 control rooms to improve the police response to reports of domestic abuse. The specialists use their expertise to advise on risk assessments, review 999 calls and support officers responding to domestic abuse incidents.Through an expert-led and cohesive police response, ‘Raneem’s Law’ helps ensure that when a victim has the courage to come forward it will be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves.We are also committed to ensuring policing have the right skills and training to respond appropriately to reports of domestic abuse, and are working closely with the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection to deliver this.The Home Office has already invested £13.1 million this year into the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP). This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to deliver a robust package of training improvements.Grounded in academic research and behaviour change science, new training programmes will prioritise trauma-informed learning to ensure that all officers are well equipped to investigate these crimes and provide support to victims.The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. These steps are just some of many that we are taking towards tangible and impactful change.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of waiting times for firearms licensing.

The issuing of firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners. In the interests of consistency and transparency, the National Policing Chiefs Council Lead for Firearms Licensing has published performance data for firearms licensing teams in all forces. This includes performance against a target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months, unless there are concerns about the suitability of the applicant.Working with the National Policing Chiefs Council Lead for Firearms Licensing, we continue to review the licensing performance of all forces and we will continue to engage with individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners where there are specific concerns about any forces’ performance.

What steps she is taking to help reduce business crime.

We encourage retailers to join their local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) or Business Improvement District (BID) to support local community efforts to reduce crimes, including business crime.We are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, £2 million of which has been specifically allocated to the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC). NBCC provide a valuable resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime. This funding will help tackle the crimes most affecting businesses today.We also supported the recent Safer Business Action week (SaBA) organised by the NBCC. SaBA weeks are a joint initiative by police, business, private security, Business Crime Reduction Partnerships and Business Improvement Districts, who work in together and focus resources into a designated location, creating a significant impact to reduce crime.The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will also ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses. This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by Spring next year, as part of our ambition to deliver 13,000 neighbourhood officers into police forces across England and Wales by the end of this parliament.Additionally, the Home Secretary recently announced a “Winter of Action”, building on the success of our Safer Streets Summer campaign to tackle town centre crime including shop theft and anti-social behaviour.

What steps she is taking to increase the number of prosecutions for people arrested for upskirting.

We recognise the devastating impact of non-contact sexual offences, such as upskirting, have on victims and are committed to ensuring more perpetrators are bought to justice.The Home Office has supported the development of new training for police on these crimes which was made available to all police forces in February. The training will help ensure officers use the principles from Operation Soteria when responding to or investigating these offences and understand how to identify risk factors to safeguard victims and disrupt offending.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle underage drug use.

This Government is committed to protecting young people from the harms of drug use through a range of universal and targeted prevention activity and are using the recent report from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) ‘A Whole-System Response to Drug Prevention in the UK’ to inform our approach.The Home Office is also working with The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to deliver an Innovation Fund to Reduce Demand for Illicit Substances to help us build our longer term understanding of how to prevent and reduce drug use, prevent associated harms and facilitate behaviour change.Ketamine use in young people is increasing, so we have commissioned the ACMD to update their harms assessment on the drug, and DHSC have launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the risks posed by new drug trends and products. The campaign focusses on the adulteration of counterfeit medicines with other drugs like synthetic opioids, ketamine harms and adulteration of ‘THC vapes’.

What information her Department holds on the number of people who have been arrested for knife crime-related incidents in the last 12 months.

The Home Office collects data on arrests in England and Wales, by offence group, as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical series. The latest available data, to the year ending March 2025 can be accessed here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UKHowever, data is collected by broader offence group, for example ‘Violence against the person’, therefore data on more specific offences such as knife crime-related incidents is not available.The Government does hold data on police recorded knife crime which sets out that in the year ending June 25, there were 51,527 selected violent and sexual offences involving a knife or sharp instrument recorded by the police, a 5% reduction on the previous year, this includes an 18% reduction in homicide and a 6% reduction in knife-enabled assault.

What steps she is taking to ensure police officers are able to perform day to day duties during protests outside hotels housing migrants.

The Government recognises the operational challenges posed by protests including those taking place outside hotels housing asylum seekers and remains committed to supporting policing so that forces can maintain core duties while managing public order.Routine abstraction of officers from core roles impacts policing teams’ ability to work with communities to tackle crime and local issues, as well as delivering a consistent and visible presence. However, the deployment of officers and force priorities are matters for the operationally independent Chief Constables.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle recruitment to Palestine Action.

This Government is clear that encouragement of terrorism, including glorifying the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism, fundraising for the purposes of terrorism, and inviting support for a proscribed terrorism organisation, such as Palestine Action are all criminal offences. Those under the Prevent duty should not provide a platform for an offence to be committed, or facilitate this activity through provision of endorsement, funding or other forms of support. The Prevent Duty Guidance sets out how local partners should reduce permissive environments to disrupt those who radicalise others to terrorism.Through the Prevent programme, the Home Office works closely with local partners, policing, and other government departments to raise awareness of the signs of radicalisation and disrupt those groups that radicalise others, online and in communities. This includes ensuring that individuals, particularly those subject to the Prevent duty, are aware that a Prevent referral should be made if there are concerns that a person may be on a pathway that could lead to terrorism.More broadly, our efforts to counter extremism span a broad range of Government and law enforcement activity and we must persist in our efforts to challenge extremist narratives, disrupt the activity of radicalising groups, and directly tackle the causes of radicalisation.

How many people have been prosecuted for espionage in the last 12 months.

From 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025, eight people have been convicted of espionage offences.These convictions were contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 and conspiracy to spy offences contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

What steps she is taking to tackle car theft.

We are working with the police and the automotive industry, to ensure the strongest response possible to vehicle crime.The National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group 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 are banning the electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing, importing and supplying them.We are providing £485,000 this financial year to the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership to tackle the export of stolen vehicles.

What steps she is taking to help (a) discover and (b) seize cannabis farms.

Local police forces and Regional Organised Crime Units deliver the bulk of enforcement and seizure activity against cannabis production and supply. The Home Office has provided funding to enable Operation Mille which is one of the most significant operations of its kind aimed at disrupting organised crime groups (OCG) by identifying and dismantling large-scale cannabis farms which provide a key source of illicit income.Since June 2023, in Phases 1-3 of the operation, police have executed 1,368 search warrants and arrested over 1,000 individuals. They have also seized a significant number of cannabis farms including the recovery of over 100,000 cannabis plants worth over £100 million, as well £1m in cash and many weapons including 14 firearms.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring football clubs to contribute towards the cost of matchday policing.

Section 25 of the Police Act 1996 allows the police to recover costs for Special Police Services. This includes the policing of events, including football matches.However, the proportion of costs recoverable is currently constrained by case law. As a result, each year police forces in England and Wales incur costs in the tens of millions of pounds from policing commercial events like football.The Home Office is concerned that the cost of policing football matches that is currently falling to the public purse is too high and is exploring ways to address this. This is an important issue that requires careful consideration in order to ensure a balance between the costs to the public purse and the wider cultural and economic value of these events.

What steps her Department is taking to help support skilled fishermen in Northern Ireland through the visa system.

We are aware of concerns around labour shortages in the fishing industry and seafood processing sectors. The generally more remote location of the jobs, as well as pay and the challenging working conditions, all present challenges for UK and devolved governments, and the industry, to address. It is important that the industry looks to the domestic workforce to fill vacancies.Following publication of our Immigration White Paper, the threshold for Skilled Worker visas was raised to graduate professions, but fishing occupations remain on the Immigration Salary List, as a transitional measure until the end of 2026. The industry will need to adapt away from relying on the visa system in that time.

If she will make it her policy to share the findings from the national inquiry into grooming gangs with her counterparts in the devolved administrations.

Whilst child protection is fully devolved in the UK and policing devolved except for Wales, all parts of the UK must work together to protect children and bring perpetrators to justice and we are engaging with devolved administrations as part of our response to Baroness Casey’s recommendations.We expect any relevant findings to be shared with devolved administrations to support a comprehensive approach across the UK. All parts of the UK must work together to protect children and bring perpetrators to justice. We will set out further details on the establishment of the national inquiry in due course and how this may interact with the responsibilities of devolved administrations.

How many foreign nationals have been deported in the last five years.

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.

How many people have been arrested for non-fatal strangulation in the last 12 months.

The Home Office does not hold the data requested.The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales, including reason for arrest, as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical series. The data is available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UKHowever the data is collected by wider offence group, for example “Violence against the person”, therefore data on arrests for non-fatal strangulation is not available.

If she will take steps to reduce the cost of the firearms licence application fee.

Increased firearms licensing fees were introduced on 5 February 2025, enabling full cost recovery for police forces and fulfilling a manifesto commitment.Firearms licensing fees were last updated in 2015 and had fallen significantly below the cost of delivering the service. We will keep the level of fees under close review.

What recent steps her Department has taken to help reduce the number of irregular migrants arriving in the UK on small boats.

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.

What discussions she has had with police forces on the adequacy of police resources allocated to tackling fraud.

Tackling fraud is a clear priority for this Government, and I am committed to working with police forces to ensure resources are in place to effectively combat this crime and support victims.That is why we are publishing a new, expanded Fraud Strategy to strengthen our national response to this crime.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce the number of attacks on gamekeepers.

Rural communities – which includes gamekeepers – can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. This Government is clear that when you report a crime, it should be properly investigated with victims having faith that justice will be delivered, and criminals will be punished – no matter where you live.A physical assault or threat to someone’s safety should always be reported and responded to appropriately - in the case of common assault, if convicted, it carries a six months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime. That is why we are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy. The strategy will set out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities.