Written questions by Raja.

Whether she has considered expanding the definition of assault of a retail worker to include retail home delivery drivers.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work.Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores, sending a strong message to offenders and would-be offenders that violence against retail workers will not be tolerated. The Bill is making its way through Parliament and had its Second Reading on 10 March.As introduced, the definition of a ‘retail worker’ does not include delivery drivers. Keeping a tight definition provides legal clarity and ensures there is less ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job. Workers whose roles are not included are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH).That said, the whole purpose of the parliamentary process is to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and we will, of course, consider carefully any amendments and supporting evidence.

How many hotel rooms her Department has currently contracted for the purpose of accommodating asylum seekers.

I refer the Honourable Member to the Answer she received on the 3 March 2025 to UIN 32327.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 32327 on Asylum: Accommodation, if she will publish (a) the total capacity of (i) rooms and (ii) bed spaces used in each hotel to accommodate asylum seekers on 1 July 2024 and (b) the total capacity of each hotel currently in use for that purpose.

I refer the Honourable Member to the Answer she received on the 3 March 2025 to UIN 32327.

How many hotel rooms were used for asylum accommodation on (a) 1 July 2024 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many hotels were used for these purposes on each of those dates.

As part of our effort to cut the overall costs of the asylum system, the Government is committed to end the use of asylum hotels over time, following the peak reached under the previous government when more than 400 hotels were in use, and almost £9 million per day was being spent.In July 2024 there were 213 hotels used to accommodate asylum seekers. Currently 216 hotels are in use, with 7 due to close by the end of April 2025. Data on rooms is not available.

Whether she has had recent discussions with Police and Crime Commissioners in (a) Leicestershire and (b) England on the potential impact of changes to the cost of firearms licenses on the police.

On 15 January 2025, the Government laid a statutory instrument before Parliament that will increase fees charged by police forces to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications, in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment on firearms fees. The fees were last increased in 2015 and they are now considerably below the cost of the service provided. The new fees came into effect on 5 February.The new fees are based on data produced by a review of firearms licensing costs in 31 police forces in January 2023. This data has since been updated to reflect increases in costs since then. The review was discussed by the Firearms Fees Working Group, chaired by the Home Office, and which included representation from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that full cost recovery fees are introduced so that service improvements can be made. I have therefore written to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to make clear that the income from increased fees must be used to ensure their firearms licensing teams are properly resourced and trained for this purpose.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of announcing a national inquiry into grooming gangs; and what steps she is taking to (a) support investigations into alleged crimes and (b) help prevent similar crimes in the future.

This Government is prioritising work to ensure victims and survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse are protected and supported, while pursuing offenders and bringing them to justice. We are continuing to work across government and with policing and law enforcement partners to strengthen the prevention of and response to these despicable crimes.I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Home Secretary’ statement made on 16 January, which sets out some of the actions the Government is taking forward to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse, including on grooming gangs offending. This includes making grooming an aggravated factor in sentencing, and new help to assist victims in getting prosecutions underway by expanding the remit of the Independent Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel.The Home Secretary has also written to the National Police Chiefs’ Council to ask all chief constables to look again at historical gang exploitation cases where No Further Action was taken, and to work with the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to pursue new lines of inquiry and to reopen investigations where appropriate. These measures are being backed with £2 million of additional funding.The Home Secretary is also appointing Baroness Louise Casey to lead an audit to improve our understanding of the scale, nature and drivers of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse at a national and local level, and to make recommendations on what additional action is needed to improve our response.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that those who exploit immigration marriage fraud to gain entry to the UK are (a) identified and (b) removed from the country.

The Government takes abuse of the spouse and partner immigration routes very seriously and is clear that family migration must be based on a genuine and subsisting marriage or relationship.The marriage referral and investigation scheme, introduced across ...

Whether she has had recent discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) Police and Crime Commissioners on updating the funding formula for police forces.

The Government continues to have ongoing discussions representatives from the policing sector, including Police and Crime Commissioners on a range of topics.This engagement will continue through the current and future Spending Review processes, including ...