Written questions by Barker.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to question 63076 on Deportation: Mental Health, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of not recording (a) the number of failed asylum seekers with mental health issues and (b) the reporting rate to her Department of failed asylum seekers on national security.

Section 95 support is provided to failed asylum seekers who have dependants under the age of 18 in their household at the time their asylum claim and any appeal is finally rejected (for as long as the youngest child remains under 18).Other failed asylum seekers are supported under section 4(2) of the 1999 Act if they would otherwise be destitute and meet conditions set out in the Immigration and Asylum (Provision of Accommodation to Failed Asylum-Seekers) Regulations 2005.

What recent estimate her Department has made of the cost of policing the supply of cannabis.

The Dame Carol Black Independent Review of Drugs (2020) is the most recent estimate of the total cost of drug-related enforcement costs.

How many failed asylum seekers still in the UK hold criminal records.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 19 June to Question 58400.

What proportion of failed asylum seekers scheduled for deportation are known to have mental health issues.

There is no specific figure available of the type described in these questions.

What the reporting rate is of failed asylum seekers to her Department.

There is no specific figure available of the type described in these questions.

How many deportations have taken place to Somalia since 8 July 2024.

Statistics on returns from the UK by nationality and destination are published on a quarterly basis. These returns are published in the Returns Detailed Datasets, and are currently available to the end of March 2025, available at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of facial recognition misidentifications on the public.

The Home Office is not responsible for facial recognition systems procured and operated by independent retailers.In terms of police use of facial recognition systems, the Home Office supports forces in developing systems, guidance and training to minimise the possibility of misidentification and the consequences of it. Additionally, there are measures in place to mitigate against facial recognition misidentifications by the police. Facial recognition algorithms provided by or procured with Home Office funding for police use are required to be independently tested for equitability frt-equitability-study_mar2023.pdf.The government is taking the time to make sure that police use of facial recognition operates on a firm footing, including keeping the legal framework under review. To that end, I am listening carefully to stakeholders and partners and have been holding a series of roundtables with policing, civil society groups, regulators and others.It is important to note that any matches made through facial recognition technologies will always be assessed by a police officer and investigated before an arrest is made; no arrest would ever be made based solely on a facial match made by a computer.

What safeguards her Department has put in place to help protect people misidentified by facial recognition technology in shops.

The Home Office is not responsible for facial recognition systems procured and operated by independent retailers.In terms of police use of facial recognition systems, the Home Office supports forces in developing systems, guidance and training to minimise the possibility of misidentification and the consequences of it. Additionally, there are measures in place to mitigate against facial recognition misidentifications by the police. Facial recognition algorithms provided by or procured with Home Office funding for police use are required to be independently tested for equitability frt-equitability-study_mar2023.pdf.The government is taking the time to make sure that police use of facial recognition operates on a firm footing, including keeping the legal framework under review. To that end, I am listening carefully to stakeholders and partners and have been holding a series of roundtables with policing, civil society groups, regulators and others.It is important to note that any matches made through facial recognition technologies will always be assessed by a police officer and investigated before an arrest is made; no arrest would ever be made based solely on a facial match made by a computer.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legal safeguards for people wrongly flagged as criminals by private facial recognition systems.

The Home Office is not responsible for facial recognition systems procured and operated by independent retailers.In terms of police use of facial recognition systems, the Home Office supports forces in developing systems, guidance and training to minimise the possibility of misidentification and the consequences of it. Additionally, there are measures in place to mitigate against facial recognition misidentifications by the police. Facial recognition algorithms provided by or procured with Home Office funding for police use are required to be independently tested for equitability frt-equitability-study_mar2023.pdf.The government is taking the time to make sure that police use of facial recognition operates on a firm footing, including keeping the legal framework under review. To that end, I am listening carefully to stakeholders and partners and have been holding a series of roundtables with policing, civil society groups, regulators and others.It is important to note that any matches made through facial recognition technologies will always be assessed by a police officer and investigated before an arrest is made; no arrest would ever be made based solely on a facial match made by a computer.

Whether she has had recent discussions with (a) retailers and (b) trade unions on the risk of misidentifications by private facial recognition systems.

The Home Office is not responsible for facial recognition systems procured and operated by independent retailers.In terms of police use of facial recognition systems, the Home Office supports forces in developing systems, guidance and training to minimise the possibility of misidentification and the consequences of it. Additionally, there are measures in place to mitigate against facial recognition misidentifications by the police. Facial recognition algorithms provided by or procured with Home Office funding for police use are required to be independently tested for equitability frt-equitability-study_mar2023.pdf.The government is taking the time to make sure that police use of facial recognition operates on a firm footing, including keeping the legal framework under review. To that end, I am listening carefully to stakeholders and partners and have been holding a series of roundtables with policing, civil society groups, regulators and others.It is important to note that any matches made through facial recognition technologies will always be assessed by a police officer and investigated before an arrest is made; no arrest would ever be made based solely on a facial match made by a computer.

What assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) arrests and (b) cost of enforcement of the Public Order Act 2023 since its implementation.

The Home Office does not hold the requested data, but the department has published statistics on arrests for public order offences in the year ending March 2024, the first statistical series since the Public Order Act 2023 was implemented:Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions, March 2024 - GOV.UKWe have committed to holding expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023, beginning in May 2025. This process will include an assessment of how the Act has worked in practice since it came into force, which will include the number of arrests made and the enforcement of the Act.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of deaths by suicide as a result of (a) domestic violence and (b) emotional abuse.

The Home Office is working to develop the evidence base on suicides that follow domestic abuse through funding research into the Domestic Homicide Project, which captures information on suicides with a known history of domestic abuse from all 43 police forces in England and Wales.In the latest published data capturing deaths from April 2022 to March 2023, 242 deaths were counted, with 93 deaths (38%) classified as suspected suicides following domestic abuse. The full report can be found at the following link: https://www.vkpp.org.uk/vkpp-work/domestic-homicide-project/However, we recognise that the number identified in the report does not represent all suicides linked to domestic abuse and that more needs to be done to identify these tragic deaths. The scale of violence against women and girls is intolerable and this Government will treat it as the national emergency that it is. The Government is committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade, and preventing domestic abuse related deaths is a key part of that mission

What estimate her Department has made of the number of women murdered by domestic abusers in (a) England and Wales and (b) Merseyside in each of the last five years.

The latest published data on the number domestic homicides between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in (a) England and Wales and (b) Merseyside can be found in the table below.Table: Number of domestic homicides of women aged 16 and over, Merseyside and England and Wales, 2018/19 to 2022/23 2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Merseyside33324England and Wales11088788370The scale of violence against women and girls is intolerable and this Government will treat it as the national emergency that it is. The Government has made it our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and tackling domestic homicide is a key part of that mission.Domestic homicide is a horrific crime that disproportionately impacts women. Every death linked to domestic abuse should be considered for a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) to ensure that national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole continues to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths and treats every death as preventable.

If she will make a comparative assessment of the processing times for (a) parent, (b) spousal and (c) work visas.

Applications for parental, spouse and work visas are assessed against different immigration rules and as such, processing times are subject to the complexities of the individual routes.The Home Office keeps visa processing times constantly under review and steps have been taken to reduce these across all visa routes where possible.Information on visa processing times for applications made outside of the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Information on visa processing times for applications made from within the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

If she will take steps to reduce the time taken to process visas for the parents of people living in the UK.

The Home Office keeps visa processing times under review, including on the routes available to parents. Different routes, and individual circumstances, involve varying levels of complexity but the Home Office is committed to improving process efficiency wherever possible.Information on visa processing times for applications made outside of the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Information on visa processing times for applications made from within the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

What discussions she has had with police forces on how to effectively enforce the law in respect to buffer zones around abortion clinics.

The Crown Prosecution Service published guidance on 31 October 2024, alongside further information from the College of Policing, setting out how the police and prosecutors should approach enforcing the new offence.

What steps her Department is taking to address the intelligence failings outlined in the regulation 28 prevention of future deaths report issued on 20 May 2024 in the case of deaths in the Forbury Gardens terror attack of 20 June 2020.

The deaths of James Furlong, Joseph Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails in the Forbury Gardens terror attack of 20 June 2020 were a tragedy. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of James, Joseph and David, and with all of those individuals impacted by this incident.The Home Office response to the Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths was submitted to the Judge Coroner on 9 September 2024 and can now be viewed on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-0276-Response-from-the-Home-Office.pdf. The Home Office and other interested persons received an extension from the original deadline of 15 July 2024 due to the timing of the General Election.In this response, the Home Secretary fully supported the Judge Coroner’s conclusion that the Home Office has made improvements since this tragic incident and that effective monitoring of these improvements is required. The Home Secretary will be overseeing the rigorous and robust implementation of recommendations and new commitments made.

Whether she has responded to the regulation 28 prevention of future deaths report issued on 20 May 2024 in the case of deaths in the Forbury Gardens terror attack of 20 June 2020, to which a response was due under statute by 15 July 2024.

The deaths of James Furlong, Joseph Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails in the Forbury Gardens terror attack of 20 June 2020 were a tragedy. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of James, Joseph and David, and with all of those individuals impacted by this incident.The Home Office response to the Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths was submitted to the Judge Coroner on 9 September 2024 and can now be viewed on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-0276-Response-from-the-Home-Office.pdf. The Home Office and other interested persons received an extension from the original deadline of 15 July 2024 due to the timing of the General Election.In this response, the Home Secretary fully supported the Judge Coroner’s conclusion that the Home Office has made improvements since this tragic incident and that effective monitoring of these improvements is required. The Home Secretary will be overseeing the rigorous and robust implementation of recommendations and new commitments made.

What steps her Department is taking to help support Merseyside Police to tackle organised crime gangs.

The impact of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) is felt on our streets and in our communities. The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the police have the capabilities they need to tackle this significant threat.Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) continue to diversify their tactics and activity, supported by a rise in the use of technology and online platforms. Home Office funding to the NCA has enabled capacity building to tackle the threat from SOC including the supply of illicit drugs. This includes the Merseyside Organised Crime Partnership - a joint NCA and policing unit to tackle the highest harm OCGs involved in drugs and firearms trafficking in the region.This collaboration has significantly impacted the threat in Merseyside with a notable reduction in firearms discharges, and community safety perceptions have significantly improved, particularly in wake of the tragic gang related murder of 9-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.Since 2022, Merseyside Police have also been delivering Clear, Hold, Build (CHB) a dedicated programme designed to tackle SOC treats and harms, which is now operating across three sites in the force area, receiving additional Home Office funding following the murder of Olivia and several other innocent members of the community by OCGs. CHB aims to reduce the SOC threat and crime levels in high-harm local areas and build sustained community resilience which prevents this harm returning.

What discussions she has had with Merseyside Police on tackling (a) violent and (b) knife-related crime.

Tackling knife crime and violence is a top priority for the Government.We are already taking action to get dangerous weapons off the street. We have banned Zombie style knives and zombie style machetes, and the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes became illegal on 24 September 2024. We will also be taking action to ban ninja swords in line with our manifesto commitment and a review of online sales of knives is currently being conducted by the national police lead, Commander Clayman, at the request of the Home Secretary.We will also create a new Young Futures programme - intervening earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most and we will be introducing Prevention Partnerships and Young Futures Hubs to help deliver this.In addition, we are working closely with policing partners, including Merseyside Police, and we will be looking to initiatives such as the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership that works with a range of local agencies to deliver preventative interventions.