Written questions by Shannon.

When she plans to publish the (a) eligibility criteria and (b) application process for (i) employers and (ii) sectors seeking to have occupations included on the proposed Temporary Shortage List; and what the criteria for inclusion on that list will be.

An interim Temporary Shortage List (TSL), containing occupations at RQF levels 3-5 which the Department for Business and Trade and His Majesty’s Treasury have identified as being important for the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy was included in Immigration Rules changes laid before Parliament on 1 July 2025 (HC 997). The TSL will be subject to review by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). Occupations will only be included or retained on the list where the MAC has advised it is justified, where there is a workforce strategy in place, and where sectors are key to the industrial strategy or delivering critical infrastructure. The MAC will be commissioned to undertake this review shortly and will issue a call for evidence to which interested stakeholders should engage.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of people who have been victims of fraud in the last 12 months.

The latest Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) release in April 2025 estimated that there were 3.4 million victims of fraud in the year ending December 2024 in England and Wales.Further information for Year Ending December 2024 Edition can be found here (Worksheet A4):https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle paramilitarism.

The work to tackle paramilitarism in Northern Ireland is led by the Northern Ireland Executive and delivered through the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime.The UK Government provides 50% of the funding for the cross-Executive Programme: currently £8m per year. As announced in the Spending Review, a further £8m has been secured for the period from April 2026 to March 2027. The allocation of funding across the Programme is a matter for the Executive and the Programme Sponsor Group.

What steps she is taking to increase funding for local policing forces.

The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement.Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.6 billion, an increase of up to £1.2 billion compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement. This equates to a 7.1% cash increase, and 4.6% real terms increase in funding. The Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to effectively tackle crime. That is why we have committed £200 million to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs in communities across England and Wales.

What steps she is taking to prevent vandalism on war memorials.

The Government is committed to protecting war memorials from vandalism and disrespect. Causing criminal damage to such memorials is a serious offence, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.The Crime and Policing Bill introduces an additional new offence of climbing on specified memorials without a lawful excuse, including the Cenotaph in Whitehall and the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, reinforcing our efforts to safeguard these important sites.It is a matter of deep regret that His Majesty’s Official Opposition chose to vote against these measures at the Third Reading of the Crime and Policing Bill on 18 June.

What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the length of prison sentences for people convicted of offences in connection with paedophile rings.

Home Office Ministers have regular discussions with their counterparts across Government, including the Ministry of Justice, on measures to tackle the heinous crime of child sexual abuse and exploitation and ensure perpetrators face the full force of the law.Through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government is legislating to make grooming a statutory aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences. This will include (but is not limited to) offences committed by individuals involved in grooming gangs.Where a sentencing court concludes that a child sex offence was involved or was facilitated by grooming behaviour, it will be obliged to treat this as an aggravating factor, for which a more substantial penalty is accessible.

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

From 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2025, seven people have been convicted under espionage offences.These offences were contrary to section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 and conspiracy to spy offences contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.A number of related cases are proceeding through the courts at various stages though these have not yet concluded.

What steps she is taking to raise awareness of online scams.

The national Stop! Think Fraud campaign helps the public recognise fraud and scams, including common scams people may see online, and the steps they can take to protect themselves, their family and friends.The website can be accessed at Stop! Think Fraud - How to stay safe from scams and is regularly updated. We are also working with tech companies to promote the messaging of the Stop! Think Fraud campaign on their platforms, as a commitment under the Online Fraud Charter.Improving public awareness and victim support will be one of the seven key areas in the next Fraud Strategy.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of cyber fraud incidents in the last six months.

We committed in our manifesto to introduce a new Fraud Strategy, which covers a range of areas including improved public awareness and victim support, better collaboration with Technology and Telecom industries and with international partners. Development of the Strategy has begun and further details will be set out in due course.Through our Stop! Think Fraud campaign, work continues to help the public protect themselves from fraud. We’re also working closely with our strategic partners to make fraud a global priority and dismantle international networks of scammers. Furthermore, as of March 2025, the Online Safety Act’s illegal content duties are now enforceable by Ofcom. Under the Act, the largest firms will also be required to do all they can to prevent fraudulent advertising appearing on their platforms.

What estimate she has made of the number of drug seizures across the UK in the last 12 months.

The Home Office latest published data on the number of drug seizures made by the police and Border Force for England and Wales covers the period April 2023-March 2024, and it can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2024In the year ending March 2024, the latest published statistics show that a total of 217,644 drug seizures were made by police forces and Border Force.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using drones in police searches.

Decisions on operational equipment are made independently by police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public.The wider adoption of drones by police forces is developing at a rapid pace. Therefore, in FY 24/25, the Home Office allocated over £4m to national police-led programmes of work to support police use of drones and explore the benefits that future drones’ capabilities may provide to police operations – including, standardising police operations, trailing innovative use of drones to improve police productivity, and supporting the progression of a future operating model for police aviation that considers both crewed and uncrewed aircraft.We are currently finalising the funding arrangements for these police-led drones programmes in FY25/26 to continue supporting the use of drones by police forces.

How many people have been arrested for defacing (a) monuments and (b) statues in the last 12 months.

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on arrests in England and Wales as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical series.The most recent data for the year ending March 2024 is available here: Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions, March 2024 - GOV.UKHowever, this data is collected by broader offence group only, e.g. “criminal damage”, and detailed information on specific offences is not available.

What steps she is taking to increase security for online shopping to tackle cyber attacks.

The Home Office continues to work closely with enforcement partners and industry representatives to assess the risk of cyber attacks across a range of platform, and take action both to mitigate those threats, and hold perpetrators to account.

What steps she is taking to reduce thefts of (a) mobile phones, (b) handbags and (c) other personal items.

Through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will place thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers in neighbourhood policing roles to provide a more visible and effective service to the public, with each neighbourhood having a named, contactable officer dealing with local issues, including the theft of mobile phones, handbags and other personal items.To tackle mobile phone theft specifically, on 6 February the Home Secretary brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, leading tech companies and others to drive greater collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves. The Summit resulted in clear commitments from attendees to work in partnership, including to significantly boost the sharing of data and intelligence on mobile phone theft to build a comprehensive picture of the problem, better understand the role of organised crime networks and identify the most effective means of tackling these crimes. As part of ongoing work on this, the Policing Minister recently met with the National Crime Agency and Border Force to consider how best they may be able to contribute to efforts to tackle this criminality.In addition, the Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property that has been electronically geo-location tracked to those premises, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.

What discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on tackling shop lifting.

The measures relating to shop theft in the Crime and Policing Bill will be enacted in England and Wales; however, we have had regular engagement with the Northern Ireland Executive – and will continue to do so as the Bill makes its passage through Parliament - on measures in the Bill.

What data her Department holds on the amount of cannabis seized in the UK over the last 12 months.

The Home Office latest published data on cannabis seizures made by the police and Border Force for England and Wales covers the period April 2023-March 2024 and it can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2024The latest published statistics show that police forces and Border Force seized 85.01 tonnes of herbal cannabis, 4.16 tonnes of resin cannabis and 0.48 million cannabis plants in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024.Border Force also release quarterly transparency data which include cannabis seizures. The latest available data are below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-force-transparency-data-q4-2024

How many first time applications there were for British passports in 2024.

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.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of financial crimes across the UK in the last 12 months.

Financial crime can encompass a wide range of crime types used to gain funds in an illicit way.Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there were an estimated 3.86 million incidents of fraud experienced by adults aged 16 and over in England and Wales based on those interviewed in the twelve months to end of September 2024. This was an increase of 19% compared with the previous year’s survey (3.24 million incidents).This Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and we are working with law enforcement, industry, and civil society to better protect the public and businesses from this appalling crime. That is why we appointed Lord Hanson as the first dedicated Minister for fraud, played a central role in the adoption of the first ever UN resolution on fraud and introduced a new offence of failure to prevent fraud. Later this year, the Home Office will be publishing an expanded Fraud Strategy that covers the full range of threats that our society faces from this crime.

What information her Department holds on the number of people charged with drug trafficking in the last 12 months.

The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on the number of charge or court summons recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis, which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesThis includes drug trafficking offences.

What recent steps she has taken to reduce terrorism threats in the UK.

The aim of CONTEST, the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, is to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens and interests overseas, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.The Government constantly keeps our counter-terrorism approach under review to ensure it is fit for purpose.