Written questions by Cocking.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the (a) cultural and (b) religious backgrounds of grooming gang offenders.

Earlier this year, the Home Secretary commissioned Baroness Louise Casey to undertake a national audit into the nature, scale and characteristics of this type of offending, including considering the cultural and societal drivers for this offending. I will ensure the Hon Member receives a copy of Baroness Casey's report when it is published in the coming weeks.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that criminal (a) prosecution and (b) sentencing is applied consistently.

Charging decisions are a matter for the independent Crown Prosecution Service and sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary, based on the circumstances of individual cases.Equality before the law is a fundamental principle of our justice system. This Government will protect and defend this.

Whether her Department has received representations on the sentencing of Lucy Connolly.

Sentencing decisions in individual cases are entirely a matter for the independent judiciary, based on the facts of the case before them. It would not be appropriate for Government Ministers to comment on individual cases.

What assessment she has made of the cost to the public purse of incarcerating foreign national offenders in the last 12 months.

We do not disaggregate prison running costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on the category of prison. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on GOV.UK alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Report and Accounts. Data on the number of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) in custody is published in Offender Management Statistics quarterly on GOV.UK.This Government is deporting more foreign national offenders than the last Conservative Government. Between 5 July 2024 and 18 May 2025, 4,436 FNOs have been returned which is 14% more than the 3,879 in the same period 12 months prior. We are also investing £5 million to 82 new FNO Specialist roles in prisons to speed up the removal of prisoners who have no right to be in this country.

How many and what proportion of people who arrived in the UK illegally were granted leave to remain in the last 12 months.

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on outcomes of asylum claims from small boat arrivals is published by arrival date in table Irr_D03 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, and by initial decision date in table Asy_02c of the ‘asylum summary tables’, with the latest data up to the end of March 2025. Data on asylum outcomes for people who arrived irregularly by other routes is not published.

How many illegal immigrants have been granted asylum after being convicted of a criminal offence in the UK in the last 12 months.

This information is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.

What steps she is taking to help end the use of (a) vape shops, (b) barbers and (c) other high street businesses by organised crime groups.

There are a range of powers available to deal with criminal use and exploitation of high street properties. Authorities can use closure powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to close quickly premises which are being used, or are likely to be used, to commit nuisance or disorder. Courts may in turn grant a Closure Order where a person has engaged in criminal behaviour on the premises. This power is designed specifically to protect victims and communities by enabling swift action where premises are creating harm.Law enforcement agencies are taking robust action to deal with criminal use of high street properties wherever they see it. For example, in March the National Economic Crime Centre, part of the National Crime Agency, coordinated Operation Machinize, a three-week crackdown against cash-intensive businesses linked to serious and organised crime across England and Wales.

If she will make it her policy to (a) bring forward legislative proposals and (b) strengthen enforcement on fast food delivery companies to ensure they are not employing illegal immigrants.

Yes.Through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the Government is introducing tough new laws to clamp down on illegal working, including in the food delivery sector. This means that for the very first time, employment checks will be extended to cover businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like food delivery.The Government is also already working closely with all major food delivery platforms to ensure they understand their responsibilities in terms of preventing illegal working. As a result, Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat are now undertaking employment checks on all of their workers, including registered substitutes.

What assessment has he made of the potential financial impact of net zero policies on people in poverty.

The net zero transition will not only be the economic opportunity of the century, but it will also support the creation of hundreds of thousands of good jobs across the UK, protect our economy from future price shocks that reliance on fossil fuels create, while delivering a range of social and health benefits. The Warm Homes Plan, for example, will transform homes across the country, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps, helping households make their homes cleaner and cheaper to run. As the OBR has noted [July 2021 Fiscal Risks Report], the costs of failing to get climate change under control would be much larger than those of bringing emissions down to net zero.

How many and what proportion of deportation orders issued to foreign criminals in the last five years have been enforced.

This Government pledged to deliver the highest rate of removals since 2018 and this has been surpassed, with a surge in returns activity since the election leading to almost 30,000 people with no right to be in the UK being removed.Of the total returns since 5 July 2024, 4,436 were of FNOs. This is an increase of 14% compared to the 3,879 FNO returns in the same period 12 months prior (FNO returns include both enforced and voluntary returns).Work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.

Whether she has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on amending eligibility for education, health and care plans.

Ministers and departmental officials engage with a wide range of experts on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The government has established and are working with an Inclusion Expert Advisory Group and a Neurodiversity Task and Finish Group, set up by Ministers to advise on steps needed to improve mainstream education outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND.In addition to regular engagement with parents across the country, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education met recently with members of the Disabled Children’s Partnership (a coalition representing more than 120 organisations who support families of children and young people with SEND) and the department continues to have ongoing conversations with parents and other key stakeholders.

How many and what proportion of people who arrived in the UK by small boat in the last 12 months have criminal records in their countries of origin.

Security and identity checks are carried out in respect of all small boat arrivals including criminality checks on UK databases for, amongst other things, convictions, pending prosecutions and wanted or missing reports. Further checks on criminality depend on the circumstances of each case.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle the use of (a) electric bikes and (b) e-scooters by youth gangs involved in (i) drug dealing, (ii) theft and (iii) anti-social behaviour.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.Our Crime and Policing Bill will give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour including street racing, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.On 28 May, the Government launched a 6-week consultation on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially from 14 days to 48 hours. Combined, these proposals will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and illegally by sending a clear message to would be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we are targeting exploitative drug dealing gangs and breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade. This includes funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response.

What steps her Department is taking to support young people into work.

DWP provides 16-24-year-olds with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. As part of the plan to Get Britain Working we will launch a Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. Eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers to test and learn before further roll out of the Youth Guarantee have launched in April.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 46919 on Environment Agency: Lobbying and with reference to the guidance entitled May 2025 Elections: guidance on conduct for civil servants, published on 20 March 2025, which section of that document provides guidance on holding meetings with hon. Members during a pre-election period.

Section 29 of the guidance entitled “May 2025 Elections: guidance on conduct for civil servants” outlines that it is for individual public bodies to apply the guidance within their own organisations. Environment Agency staff follow all relevant sections of the guidance to ensure that their activities do not call into question their political impartiality.

What steps she is taking to help ensure increased prosecution rates for retail crime.

This Government’s Safer Streets Mission will drive forward the change we need to crack down on shoplifting – a crime that is blighting our communities.As Solicitor General, I superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which prosecutes shoplifting and attempted shoplifting in England and Wales.The CPS increased prosecutions for shoplifting and attempted shoplifting in 2024. In 2024, the CPS prosecuted 113,624 cases of shoplifting, up from 56,986 in 2022. In 2024, the CPS prosecuted 2,025 cases of attempted shoplifting, up from 1,074 in 2022.However, more needs to be done.Under the previous government, shoplifting hit a record high, with more and more offenders using appalling violence and abuse against shopworkers.This Government will not stand for that level of lawlessness and criminality. New money will be invested in prevention, training the police and retailers on specific retail crime tactics to stop crime before it happens.We’re also putting a stop to the effective immunity for shoplifting of goods below £200 and bringing in a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect those who face unacceptable abuse in their roles serving the public.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2025 to Question 44030 on Prisoners: Repatriation, whether (a) her Department and (b) HM Prisons and Probation Service have targets for the efficiency of the Early Removal Scheme process.

Between 5 July 2024 and 22 March 2025, there were 1,848 Early Removal Scheme (ERS) returns, which is a 15% increase compared to 1,610 in the same period 12 months prior. As part of the government’s Plan for Change and mission to create safer streets, we are building on the existing co-operation between the Home Office and HMPPS (HM Prisons and Probation Service) with a £5 million government investment in prisons across England and Wales which will assist in speeding up returns under the ERS. This money will fund the deployment of specialist frontline staff to 80 jails to speed up the removal of prisoners who have no right to be in this country.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that residential freeholders are notified of future liability for charges during the conveyancing process.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (“the 2024 Act”) contains measures to improve the home buying and selling process for homeowners to ensure perspective homeowners receive relevant and timely information at a reasonable cost.We will be consulting on the secondary legislation that is required to switch on these measures in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department issues guidance to the Environment Agency on holding meetings with hon. Members during a pre-election period.

The Cabinet Office publishes guidance to civil servants in UK Government departments and staff and members of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and other arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) on their role and conduct during pre-election periods. The most recent guidance was updated on 20 March 2025 ahead of the May 2025 local elections. Environment Agency (EA) staff follow this guidance to ensure that their activities do not call into question their political impartiality.

If she will bring forward legislative proposals to require LINK to amend its assessment criteria for establishing new banking hubs.

While the Government has no current plans to amend legislation, we continue to work closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far, and over 140 are already open. Any decisions on changes to LINK’s independent assessment criteria are a matter for LINK, the financial services sector, and for the Financial Conduct Authority, which oversees the access to cash regime.