Written questions by Moore.

If she will issue guidance to firearms licensing departments on mandating training for firearms being used for deer management at either grant or renewal.

Chief Constables have operational responsibility for firearms licensing. However, as set out in the Deer Impacts Policy Statement published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) on 2 March.The Home Office will work with the National Police Chief’s Council and Defra to explore whether the existing Guide on Firearms Licensing Law might be amended to encourage police forces to consider requiring those who use their firearms to shoot deer lawfully to first be able to demonstrate a minimum level of competence in doing so.Any proposed changes to the Guide will be subject to discussions with stakeholders.

Whether, as part of Recommendation 2 of the Casey Audit, the Cabinet Office has yet issued a formal instruction or preservation notice requiring the retention of records relevant to child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs.

In her Audit, Baroness Casey made clear that local authorities, police forces and other relevant agencies should be required not to destroy any relevant records, and we expect this to be the case. The Home Office has made the requirement clear to departments across government with responsibility for relevant agencies. The Terms of Reference for the inquiry, once established and agreed with the Chair, will set the scope of the inquiry in more detail, at which point a more detailed request for the retention of records can be made.

With reference to the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June 2025, what progress her Department has made on implementing recommendation seven.

The Home Office has been working closely with the Department for Education to understand how the proposed Unique Identifier will operate in order to plan for upgrades to police IT systems.In June we conducted a Preliminary Market Engagement to understand how the market could support the need to better integrate data across policing. We are currently evaluating those responses against the existing policing landscape to determine the best way forwards.We also awarded a contract to deliver a Police Technology Strategy and Roadmap.

With reference to the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June 2025, what progress she has made on implementing recommendation 4.

The government has committed to make it a requirement for the police to collect ethnicity and nationality data of perpetrators of group-based child sexual exploitation. This data is vital in enabling us to develop the most accurate and robust picture of the nature of this offending.In July this year, the former Home Secretary wrote to all Chief Constables to set out the clear expectation that ethnicity data on grooming gang suspects should be collected in every case, and to urge them to make sure they are fulfilling their obligation to collect suspect ethnicity data as part of the government's commitment to transparency and accountability. The Home Office is closely monitoring data collection and provision from forces, and continues to engage with individual forces on where improvements are required.If we do not see improvements, we will not hesitate to put this requirement into legislation.

Whether her Department plans to increase capacity for housing asylum seekers within the Bradford Council district.

When this Government came to office, we inherited a system where hotels had become one of the primary means of providing asylum accommodation – with more than 400 in use in Autumn 2023 at a cost of almost £9 million per day – and where a 70 per cent collapse in asylum decision-making in the last months of the previous administration had driven that pressure up further.We have taken rapid action to address that chaos, in particular by speeding up the volume of asylum decision-making so that fewer people are stuck in limbo, dependent on support from the state, and so that more failed asylum-seekers can be removed from the UK, along with foreign national offenders and others with no right to be in our country.The number of hotels in use is now around half the peak reached under the previous Government, and we will take further action over the rest of this Parliament to end the use of asylum hotels entirely.We are continuing to work with a range of stakeholders to pursue that goal, while fulfilling our statutory obligations in the interim. Where the Home Office needs to use dispersed accommodation, it does so in accordance with the principle of Full Dispersal, announced by the previous government in 2022 to ensure that asylum seekers were more fairly distributed across the UK.We also continue to consult with local authorities, the police, and other interested parties to ensure that – wherever there are concerns over the impact of particular asylum accommodation sites on the local community, public safety and public amenities – all necessary actions are taken to address those concerns, and protect the security of each local area.

What capacity her Department has to house asylum seekers within the Bradford Council district.

When this Government came to office, we inherited a system where hotels had become one of the primary means of providing asylum accommodation – with more than 400 in use in Autumn 2023 at a cost of almost £9 million per day – and where a 70 per cent collapse in asylum decision-making in the last months of the previous administration had driven that pressure up further.We have taken rapid action to address that chaos, in particular by speeding up the volume of asylum decision-making so that fewer people are stuck in limbo, dependent on support from the state, and so that more failed asylum-seekers can be removed from the UK, along with foreign national offenders and others with no right to be in our country.The number of hotels in use is now around half the peak reached under the previous Government, and we will take further action over the rest of this Parliament to end the use of asylum hotels entirely.We are continuing to work with a range of stakeholders to pursue that goal, while fulfilling our statutory obligations in the interim. Where the Home Office needs to use dispersed accommodation, it does so in accordance with the principle of Full Dispersal, announced by the previous government in 2022 to ensure that asylum seekers were more fairly distributed across the UK.We also continue to consult with local authorities, the police, and other interested parties to ensure that – wherever there are concerns over the impact of particular asylum accommodation sites on the local community, public safety and public amenities – all necessary actions are taken to address those concerns, and protect the security of each local area.

What information her Department holds on when the Child Protection Authority will begin its work.

In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

What recent progress her Department has made on implementing the recommendations in the report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in February 2022.

In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

With reference to recommendation 3 of The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in October 2022, what recent discussions she has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the potential merits of creating a new Cabinet Minister for Children.

In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

If she will steps to ensure that bodies working with young people are required to verify an individual’s DBS certificate directly with the Disclosure and Barring Service.

The safety and security of young people is top priority for this Government and DBS checks are one way we can help to protect them.The DBS is moving to a model where ‘online results’ will be the default way in which employers engage with DBS products. This approach will help to improve employers’ confidence in any online result that they view, as it will be viewed via secure Government web services.The Crime and Policing Bill will further strengthen the Disclosure and Barring regime by removing the exemption which currently prevents those working closely with children but under supervision from undergoing the highest level of DBS checks (enhanced with a check of the children’s barred list).There are already a number of security features relating to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates to assist organisations with verifying their authenticity. These include the certificate being produced on a uniquely sized paper stock, the presence of a crown seal watermark, and a complex design using specific inks. Nevertheless, if an organisation is unsure of a DBS certificate’s authenticity, then they can contact the DBS to explore their concerns.Additionally, the DBS run an ‘Update Service’ which can confirm whether a DBS check is up to date and contains the most recent relevant information. This annual subscription service allows employers to do an online check which confirms whether the certificate that has been presented to them remains valid, or whether they should apply for a new DBS check to be presented with any updated criminality information.

What criteria she used to identify the five local areas to hold local inquiries into child sexual exploitation, announced on 16 January 2025.

On 16 January 2025, the Home Secretary announced a funding package to deliver stronger national support for locally-led work on tackling group-based child sexual exploitation. This includes supporting Oldham Council who have confirmed that work to undertake a local inquiry has already begun. We are in the process of consulting with local authorities and relevant stakeholders on the design and delivery of this package and will update the House in due course.

When she expects the publication of the reports into the five local inquiries into child sexual exploitation, announced on 16 January 2025.

On 16 January 2025, the Home Secretary announced a funding package to deliver stronger national support for locally-led work on tackling group-based child sexual exploitation. This includes supporting Oldham Council who have confirmed that work to undertake a local inquiry has already begun. We are in the process of consulting with local authorities and relevant stakeholders on the design and delivery of this package and will update the House in due course.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) victims and (b) perpetrators of live cases of gang-based child sexual exploitation.

The Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce has brought together the best police data that is currently available on group-based offending. This was published in November 2024: https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/publications/hydrant-publications#LatestNews).The taskforce reports that 127 major police investigations across 29 police forces are currently under way into child sexual exploitation and gang grooming. However, as the Home Secretary set out in her statement on 16 January, the Home Office will overhaul the data that we expect local areas to collect on child sexual exploitation and abuse as part of a new performance framework for policing, and we have already asked the Taskforce to immediately expand the data it collects and publishes, including on ethnicity.To go further, the Home Secretary has asked Baroness Louise Casey to oversee a rapid audit of the current scale and nature of gang-based child sexual exploitation across the country. That work is currently underway.