Written questions by Smith.

What her planned timetable is for the implementation of the recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

In April, the Government published the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update setting out the action we are taking on the IICSA recommendations, and we are delivering on those commitments.For example, we have this month published a consultation on proposals for a new Child Protection Authority, to improve national oversight and consistency of child protection practice, and we have introduced stronger vetting checks for adults working with children. We have also announced up to £50 million funding to expand the Child House model of support for children who have experienced sexual abuse. This a significant step in delivering against IICSA’s recommendation on improving the provision of specialised therapeutic support for child victims of sexual abuse.Several measures in the Crime and Policing Bill will also directly address IICSA’s recommendations, including a new mandatory duty to report sexual abuse for individuals in England undertaking activity with children and the removal of the three-year limitation period for victims and survivors to bring child sexual abuse claims in the civil court.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of phasing out the general sale of sharp-tipped culinary knives.

We recognise that the issue of knife crime and the harm caused by any knife has a very real impact on individuals, families and communities and we aim to halve knife crime in the next decade. The Government keeps the law in this area under constant review, but we do not have any plans to phase out the sale of sharp-tipped culinary knives.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of placing a ban on a) machetes and b) large hunting knives.

Knife crime has a devasting impact on families and communities across the country, and the Government is aiming to halve knife crime in the next decade. We keep the law in this area under constant review, and this includes the continuing availability of machetes and large hunting knives.The Government has already taken action to ban zombie style knives and zombie style machetes in September 2024, and more recently, we took action to ban ninja swords in August 2025. We are continuing to take measures to strengthen the law on knives.In the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, currently going through Parliament, we are increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence, a duty on sellers to report bulk or suspicious sales, strengthened age checks on online sales and delivery, and we are giving the police a new power to seize knives likely to be used in unlawful violence. On 16 December, the Government also published a public consultation paper on proposals to introduce licensing schemes for those who sell or import knives or other bladed articles and this builds on the earlier recommendations in the Independent End to End Review of Online Knife Sales published in February 2025.

What steps she is taking to reduce knife crime.

Tackling knife crime is a priority for Government. Since this Government has been in office, knife homicides have fallen by almost 20% while knife crime overall has fallen for the first time in 4 years, dropping by 5% in our first year from 54,215 to 51,527. Stabbings have fallen by 10% (as measured by hospital admissions for assault with a sharp object – NHS data).60,000 knives have also been removed from the streets of England and Wales under this Government, through weapons surrender schemes, knives seized by Border Force and those recovered through County Lines Programme operations.Our approach to tackling knife-crime is centred around smart, targeted interventions and enforcement, and a tough legislative landscape to remove dangerous weapons from our streets. Whilst also working across government to tackle the root causes of knife-crime, including through Violence Reduction Units and the new Young Futures Programme supporting those most at risk.We have introduced tougher knife control measures by banning zombie-style knives and machetes in September 2024 and ninja swords in August 2025. Ronan's Law tightens online knife sales with stricter age checks and penalties and we are introducing new powers to strengthen policing’s ability to seize, retain and destroy dangerous knives.These efforts are supported by smarter policing – including data led hotspot patrols, knife arches, facial recognition – and strong partnerships with charities and communities.We are also introducing new, innovative tools to fight knife crime, identifying crime hotspots by breaking towns and cities into small hexagonal zones where hyper-local issues can be spotted. It will allow the police to partner with local communities, advocacy groups, local authorities and youth outreach teams to spot a problem and take action together to stop it.

What recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in the police on reducing knife crime.

Home Office Ministers meet regularly with Chief Constables and other senior policing leaders to discuss knife crime. For example, the Home Secretary discussed knife crime at the National Policing Board in July 2025 and the Policing Minister chaired the Knife-Enabled Robbery Group in November 2025.

What steps she is taking to reduce the time taken for passengers travelling to the UK to go through UK passport control at Gard du Nord Station.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 30 April to Question 46921.

How many people are currently in custody who have exhausted all rights of appeal and have signed deportation orders but have not yet been deported; and what steps her Department is taking to expedite their removal from the United Kingdom.

The number of individuals who simultaneously fall into all these categories cannot be readily obtained from available data, and such a snapshot exercise could only be conducted for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.