Written questions by Davies.

Whether she has made an assessment of the merits of providing local councils with the power to close premises where serious and organised crime has been detected by (a) landlords and (b) those renting the property.

Local authorities may already use the closure power under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, to close premises quickly 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 existing power is designed specifically to protect victims and communities by enabling swift action where premises are creating harm.Alongside these powers, the Government is introducing a new criminal offence of ‘cuckooing’, being brought forward in the Crime and Policing Bill. This offence will criminalise the control over another person’s home for criminal purposes, particularly where vulnerable individuals are targeted and exploited. It will enable stronger action against criminals who prey on others in this way and help ensure victims are protected from this crime. The Government will publish guidance to support implementation of the new offence, including on how law enforcement partners can work with local authorities as part of a multi-agency response to tackle cuckooing.These tools and legislative measures demonstrate the Government’s commitment to empowering local authorities and law enforcement agencies to take robust action against serious and organised criminal activity.

How many warranted police officers are in West Mercia Police for each year that data is available.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.The latest information at the link above covers the situation as at 30 September 2024. Information on the number of police officers, broken down by police force area, at the end of each financial year (31 March) from 2007 to 2024 can be found in the ‘Police Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/678faaf93087686d77328ade/open-data-table-police-workforce-220125.odsData on the police workforce as at 31 March 2025 is due to be published in Summer 2025.

Who the longest serving police community support officer is in each police force; and what steps her Department is taking to recognise long service of police community support officers.

The Home Office does not publish information on the length of service of PCSOs.The Home Office will consider any proposal for national long service recognition for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).It is only right that we recognise the commitment shown by PCSOs across the country and whose roles are undeniably at the sharp end of policing, diffusing community tensions and providing visible policing presence in our communities.

What steps she is taking to help (a) identify and (b) promote new ways for (i) bars and (ii)venues to prevent spiking.

Spiking is an appalling crime that undermines the people's right to feel safe when they are simply enjoying a night out.The Government is currently delivering a range of measures to tackle this vile practice, specifically targeted at raising awareness, identifying perpetrators, and gathering evidence. They include:Introducing a new criminal offence for spiking to help police better respond to this crime. This is being delivered through the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently at Committee Stage in the House of Commons.Funding the development and delivery of increased training on spiking to staff in the Night Time Economy at no cost to venues.Working with the regulator of the UK private security industry, the Security Industry Authority to deliver mandatory spiking training for their 352,000+ door supervisor licence holders by April 2028. This has already been delivered to more than 135,000 new licence applicants since Spring 2024.The funding of police spiking "intensification weeks" which have seen an enhanced focus on spiking and led to increased arrests, detections, and prevention activity taking place.Investing in research into the accuracy and efficacy of commercially available spiking testing kits, to help the police detect if someone has been spiked in real-time.The Home Office works closely with the hospitality and third sectors, as well as law enforcement to ensure that we are delivering measures on spiking which make it more difficult to carry out in the first place, that venues and the emergency services are proving the best possible response, and that victims are listened to and feel supported.A wide range of spiking training, resources, support and advice options are available across a number of organisations, many of whom are referenced on the Government's spiking web pages or within our training package.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle spiking.

Spiking is an appalling crime that undermines the people's right to feel safe when they are simply enjoying a night out.The Government is currently delivering a range of measures to tackle this vile practice, specifically targeted at raising awareness, identifying perpetrators, and gathering evidence. They include:Introducing a new criminal offence for spiking to help police better respond to this crime. This is being delivered through the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently at Committee Stage in the House of Commons.Funding the development and delivery of increased training on spiking to staff in the Night Time Economy at no cost to venues.Working with the regulator of the UK private security industry, the Security Industry Authority to deliver mandatory spiking training for their 352,000+ door supervisor licence holders by April 2028. This has already been delivered to more than 135,000 new licence applicants since Spring 2024.The funding of police spiking "intensification weeks" which have seen an enhanced focus on spiking and led to increased arrests, detections, and prevention activity taking place.Investing in research into the accuracy and efficacy of commercially available spiking testing kits, to help the police detect if someone has been spiked in real-time.The Home Office works closely with the hospitality and third sectors, as well as law enforcement to ensure that we are delivering measures on spiking which make it more difficult to carry out in the first place, that venues and the emergency services are proving the best possible response, and that victims are listened to and feel supported.A wide range of spiking training, resources, support and advice options are available across a number of organisations, many of whom are referenced on the Government's spiking web pages or within our training package.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the tools available to (a) bars and (b) venues to (i) help prevent and (ii) spiking incidents.

Spiking is an appalling crime that undermines the people's right to feel safe when they are simply enjoying a night out.The Government is currently delivering a range of measures to tackle this vile practice, specifically targeted at raising awareness, identifying perpetrators, and gathering evidence. They include:Introducing a new criminal offence for spiking to help police better respond to this crime. This is being delivered through the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently at Committee Stage in the House of Commons.Funding the development and delivery of increased training on spiking to staff in the Night Time Economy at no cost to venues.Working with the regulator of the UK private security industry, the Security Industry Authority to deliver mandatory spiking training for their 352,000+ door supervisor licence holders by April 2028. This has already been delivered to more than 135,000 new licence applicants since Spring 2024.The funding of police spiking "intensification weeks" which have seen an enhanced focus on spiking and led to increased arrests, detections, and prevention activity taking place.Investing in research into the accuracy and efficacy of commercially available spiking testing kits, to help the police detect if someone has been spiked in real-time.The Home Office works closely with the hospitality and third sectors, as well as law enforcement to ensure that we are delivering measures on spiking which make it more difficult to carry out in the first place, that venues and the emergency services are proving the best possible response, and that victims are listened to and feel supported.A wide range of spiking training, resources, support and advice options are available across a number of organisations, many of whom are referenced on the Government's spiking web pages or within our training package.

What funding was requested by West Mercia Police for the special grant for financial year 2025-26; and how much of the special grant was allocated to West Mercia Police for the same financial year.

The Home Office agreed to provide West Mercia Police with Special Grant funding of up to £1.8m in 2024-25, for Operation Lincoln. The final amount provided will not be known until after the end of the financial year.The Home Office has not yet received a formal application from West Mercia Police for funding in financial year 2025-26. Special Grant funding is reviewed annually and the Department will consider a request when received.

How many and what proportion of people waiting for their asylum application to be processed are living in hotels in (a) England and (b) Telford constituency for each year that data is available.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum seekers on support by local authority, including accommodation in hotels, is published in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. This data is not broken down by constituency.Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.

How much money has been allocated to West Mercia Police in special grant funding for financial year 2024-25.

The Home Office agreed to provide West Mercia Police with Special Grant funding of up to £1.8m in 2024-25, for Operation Lincoln. The final amount provided will not be known until after the end of the financial year.The Home Office has not yet received a formal application from West Mercia Police for funding in financial year 2025-26. Special Grant funding is reviewed annually and the Department will consider a request when received.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of exemption to the rules preventing anyone previously sentenced to more than 12 months in custody from obtaining visas for performing artists who have had clean records for the past 10 years.

The Immigration Rules in this area are aligned with the long-standing automatic deportation threshold for individuals who have received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, as set out in the UK Borders Act 2007. In exceptional circumstances, a visa may be granted, but that has not been a common practice since the passage of the 2007 Act.

What her planned timetable is for the introduction of Respect Orders.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.This is why we are introducing Respect Orders – tough behavioural orders, issued by the civil courts – to tackle the most persistent adult ASB offenders and ensure that our communities are free from harm.The Respect Order will be introduced in the first session Crime and Policing Bill.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty on fire and rescue services in England to respond to major flooding events.

Defra is the Lead Government Department for Flooding and are responsible for response and prevention of flooding.Fire & Rescue Services, with continued support from the Home Office, remain ready to respond to flooding. The Home Office supports FRAs in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capability comprising 45 HVPs. These are available to be used by Fire & Rescue Services across the country during major flood incidents.Fire and Rescue Authorities have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. Fire Rescue Authorities also have discretionary powers to respond to incidents under their general powers in the Fire and Rescue Services Act (2004) and in response to the risks set out in their Community Risk Management Plans prepared under the National Framework.The Home Office is undertaking further work alongside Defra, National Fire Chiefs Council and other relevant stakeholders to understand in more detail if there are gaps in the Fire and Rescue Services flooding response and resilience system.

What assessment she has made of the capacity of fire and rescue services in England to respond to flooding.

Defra is the Lead Government Department for Flooding and are responsible for response and prevention of flooding.Fire & Rescue Services, with continued support from the Home Office, remain ready to respond to flooding. The Home Office supports FRAs in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capability comprising 45 HVPs. These are available to be used by Fire & Rescue Services across the country during major flood incidents.Fire and Rescue Authorities have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. Fire Rescue Authorities also have discretionary powers to respond to incidents under their general powers in the Fire and Rescue Services Act (2004) and in response to the risks set out in their Community Risk Management Plans prepared under the National Framework.The Home Office is undertaking further work alongside Defra, National Fire Chiefs Council and other relevant stakeholders to understand in more detail if there are gaps in the Fire and Rescue Services flooding response and resilience system.

How many foreign nationals have been issued with deportation orders but not deported.

The information requested is not available from published statistics.The Home Office publishes a quarterly paper on statistics on foreign national offenders (FNOs) subject to deportation action, living in the community. These are published in the Immigration Enforcement Data, Year Ending June 2024, which are available at: Immigration Enforcement data: Q2 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Any FNO convicted of a crime who receives a custodial sentence in the UK is referred to the Home Office for deportation consideration following sentencing. We are focusing resources on those cases currently serving custodial sentences and maximising removals directly from prison.We will pursue deportation action against individuals living in the community rigorously, actively monitoring and managing cases through the legal process and negotiating barriers to removal.

How many offenders were (a) ordered to be deported at the end of their prison sentence and (b) deported at the end of that sentence in each of the last six years.

We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation, and they will be swiftly removed from the country.The Home Office publishes the quarterly statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) by nationality and year. These returns are published in the Returns Detailed Datasets, Year Ending June 2024, which are available at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)The published statistics refer to enforced returns which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily.Figures on deportations, which are a subset of enforced returns, are not separately available.

How many offenders who have been ordered to be deported following their prison sentence remain in the country by (a) offence and (b) country of birth.

We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Any foreign national offender (FNO) convicted of a crime who receives a custodial sentence in the UK is referred to the Home Office for deportation consideration following sentencing. We are focusing resources on those cases currently serving custodial sentences directly from prison. The latest statistics on FNO removals and on FNOs subject to deportation action are available here: Immigration Enforcement data: Q2 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). We will pursue deportation action against individuals living in the community rigorously, actively monitoring and managing cases through the legal process and negotiating barriers to removal.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of individual appeals to (a) introducing and (b) executing deportation orders on people convicted of criminal offences.

In most deportation cases, there is no right of appeal unless the person concerned makes a human rights or protection claim, in which case there is a right of appeal against a decision to refuse the claim.Where a person who has permission to stay in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme is threatened with deportation, there is a right of appeal against the decision to make a deportation order against them, in compliance with the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

If she will publish a breakdown of criminal offenders who were ordered to be deported at the end of their prison sentence by (a) shortest prison sentence imposed, (b) average prison sentence imposed, (c) longest prison sentence imposed and (d) criminal offence convicted in each of the last six years.

The Home Office publishes data on returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on quarterly numbers of returns of FNOs are published in table Ret_02a of the ‘returns summary tables’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data reports up to the year ending June 2024.Deportations are a specific subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked.Information about sentence length and offence type are not currently included in our published statistics and could only be obtained for the purposes of this question at a disproportionate cost. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure the financial sustainability of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4 million in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6% in cash terms compared to 2023/24.In 2024/25 Shropshire FRA has a core spending power of £28.8m, an increase of £1.6m (6.0%) compared to 2023/24.As at 31 March 2023 Shropshire FRA held £6.0m in resource reserves. This is equivalent to 22.1% of their 2023/24 core spending power and an increase of £1.1m (22.4%) compared to the previous year.In addition to the funding received through the Local Government Finance Settlement, fire and rescue authorities including Shropshire FRA will receive a share of grants provided by the Home Office, including Pensions and Protection grants.The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to keep the public safe.

What the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years; and whether she holds similar data for police forces in England and Wales.

The Home Office policy is named 'maternity and adoption support leave' in recognition of the fact that the secondary parent or, in the case of adoption, the secondary adopter, is not necessarily a man. The average length of maternity and adoption support for last three financial years is outlined below.YearAverage length of Maternity and Adoption support (Calendar days)2021-22142022-23142023-2414The Home Office does not collect centrally information on the average length of paternity leave taken by those working within the police service.