Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve night time safety in bars and clubs.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government works closely with local authorities and industry to ensure venues licensed to sell alcohol, such as bars and clubs, operate safely. Under the Licensing Act 2003, which applies to England and Wales, premises must promote the four statutory licensing objectives - public safety, the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.
If a matter arises at a premises that undermines any of these objectives, the relevant licensing authority may review the licence and take appropriate action up to and including suspending or revoking the licence.
We also encourage licence holders to adopt recognised safeguarding initiatives which provide support for individuals who feel unsafe in the night-time economy.
Furthermore, from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2026, we are running a Winter of Action to target night-time economy offences, retail crime and anti-social behaviour across England and Wales. Led by Police and Crime Commissioners and Deputy Mayors, local plans will be delivered in partnership with police forces and community safety organisations to address the issues that matter most in town centres.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to help reduce violations of the Firearms Act 1968.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s priority is public safety, and we look to ensure our controls on firearms are as strong as possible and keep the legislation under active consideration. It is imperative that we do everything we can to stop firearms getting into hands of criminals and those who would misuse them with devastating consequences.
The Firearms Act 1968 provides the framework for action to be taken by police forces, and we have seen the number of firearms offences fall to 5,053 from 5,991 over the past 12 months - for the year ending June 2025. We work in partnership with the National Police Chiefs Council, police forces and the National Crime Agency to respond to emerging firearms risks, and for example, we have recently taken action against some types of blank firing firearms which have found to be readily convertible into lethal weapons so they can be removed from circulation.
We are also ensuring licensing of firearms, as set out in the Firearms Act 1968, is as effective and robust as possible. Recent measures to support this include the revised Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers issued in August this year, the rollout of new national training to firearms licensing police personnel, and the increase in licensing fees to support full cost recovery.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to exemptions to the proposed ban on ransomware payments for operators of critical national infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Protecting the UK from cyber threats is a top priority for this Government. Ransomware measures are being considered as part of a wider all-of-Government approach to reduce cyber threats, alongside the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill by DSIT.
It is long-standing Government advice, and that of the National Cyber Security Centre, to not pay ransoms as there is no guarantee of a return to business-as-usual provision. .
We have consulted on this, and as published in the Government response to ransomware legislative proposals: reducing payments to cyber criminals and increasing incident reporting (accessible) - GOV.UK, there was split feedback regarding whether a targeted ban should have an exceptions(/exemptions) process. 43% of respondents agreed, 40% disagreed, 17% didn’t know. Qualitative responses cited national security and public safety as reasons for the need.
As with all feedback provided in the consultation response, the Government is considering the most appropriate and proportionate course of action and developing the policy in collaboration with industry and the relevant Government departments. No final decision has yet been made, and the Government is looking very carefully at all options.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria are applied to determine how many diplomatic visas are issued to countries with embassies in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
His Majesty's Government does not set criteria for limiting the number of diplomatic staff accredited to the UK. However, as set out in the 1985 Government Report on the Review of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, His Majesty's Government may limit the size of a mission in cases where there are issues relating to the nature of a mission's activities, or to take account of the size of the UK mission in the country concerned. Such considerations are made on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the number of serving police officers taking their own lives is recorded.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently collect information centrally on the number of police officer suicides. The Office for National Statistics publishes data on the number of suicides registered in England and Wales by occupation. The latest available data can be found here: Suicide by occupation in England and Wales: 2023 and 2024, provisional - Office for National Statistics
This Government has been clear that the health and wellbeing of our police workforce is a priority, and we are committed to making improvements in wellbeing support for officers and staff. This includes exploring options to improve the current monitoring and data recording processes for police officer suicides.
The National Police Wellbeing Service has created a national suicide action plan which aims to educate and support the workforce, reduce stress and improve data recording. In addition, the Service has put in place a 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Support Line to provide urgent support for our police when they need it the most.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there are any plans to ensure that future funding formulas for the police take account of (a) seasonality and (b) rurality.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to ensuring that policing has the resources it needs and the allocation of funding to police forces remains an important consideration.
The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years. As with previous years, decisions on police force funding allocations for 2026-27, including the police main grant, will be set out at the forthcoming police funding settlement.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Metropolitan Police on its decision to retract approval for farmers to bring their tractors to London for a protest.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy and will not be curtailed by this government. However, these rights are not absolute and must be balanced with the rights and freedoms of others.
Section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 allows the police to impose conditions on public processions protest as appears necessary to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community. Any conditions that are considered necessary by a senior police officer can be placed on the protest including the location, route and date of the protest or prohibiting individuals entering any public place specified.
The management of demonstrations is an operational matter for the police and Ministers are not involved in such decisions. Police forces work with organisers to plan protests and assess risks and manage safety.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she had with the Metropolitan Police prior to their decision to retract approval for farmers to bring their tractors to London for a protest.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy and will not be curtailed by this government. However, these rights are not absolute and must be balanced with the rights and freedoms of others.
Section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 allows the police to impose conditions on public processions protest as appears necessary to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community. Any conditions that are considered necessary by a senior police officer can be placed on the protest including the location, route and date of the protest or prohibiting individuals entering any public place specified.
The management of demonstrations is an operational matter for the police and Ministers are not involved in such decisions. Police forces work with organisers to plan protests and assess risks and manage safety.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of the potential implications for her policies of the availability of crossbows through online purchases.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is actively considering the introduction of further controls around crossbows. This follows a call for evidence on strengthening controls on crossbows on public safety grounds, which ran from 14 February to 9 April 2024, and tested ideas for whether there should be some form of licensing regime that would provide further controls on the use, ownership and supply of crossbows including whether sellers should be licensed in some way. We will publish the Government’s response to the call for evidence shortly, which will include what action we intend to take.
Crossbows are age restricted items and it is an offence, under the Crossbows Act 1987, for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase a crossbow or parts of a crossbow. The Government is taking action to strengthen the law on age verification for the online sale and delivery of crossbows through measures currently in the Crime and Policing Bill.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement entitled Consultation on a new legal framework for law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies, published on 4 December 2025, HCWS1129, what assessment her Department has made of current police practice regarding the deployment of facial recognition and related technologies; how operational consistency across police forces will be ensured under the proposed new framework; and what plans she has to strengthen oversight mechanisms, including independent scrutiny, to guarantee that law enforcement agencies use these technologies only within clearly defined legal parameters and with transparent accountability.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring the use of facial recognition and similar biometric technologies by law enforcement remains proportionate to the seriousness of the harm being addressed. The consultation launched on 4 December seeks views on whether seriousness of harm should be a factor to decide how and when law enforcement organisations can acquire, retain, and use biometrics, facial recognition, and similar technology. The consultation also asks for views on what factors are relevant to consider when assessing ‘seriousness’ of harm and for which purposes should law enforcement organisations be allowed to use these technologies.
We do not intend to publish an impact assessment specifically on the potential implications for civil liberties as part of the consultation process. However, alongside the consultation we have published an equalities impact assessment which makes clear the Government’s commitment to building public trust by highlighting the specific legal frameworks that will be put in place and the statutory bodies for oversight, which will apply to everyone in England and Wales.
We recognise that to maintain public confidence we must ensure individual rights, privacy and data security are protected. We believe that the use of biometric and inferential technology should always be demonstrably ‘necessary’ and ‘proportionate’ to the objective being sought. Furthermore, a clear and consistent justification for interference with people’s rights is required. Threshold setting and decision making needs to be attributed to, and shared appropriately between, Parliament, Ministers, independent oversight bodies, and law enforcement organisations. The consultation seeks views on what factors are relevant to consider when assessing interference with privacy so as to ensure the legal framework reflects the views of the public.
When using facial recognition technology, police forces must comply with existing legislation including the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, Data Protection Act 2018, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as well as their own published policies. For live facial recognition, police forces must also follow the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Live Facial Recognition.
Oversight of police practice regarding deployment of facial recognition and related technologies is currently provided by regulators and public bodies, including the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner, the Information Commissioner, HMICFRS, Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The courts system also plays a vital role in ensuring the law is upheld.
The Government recognises the importance of independent scrutiny to ensure operational consistency across forces under new framework. That is why the consultation explained the government’s proposal to create a single regulatory and oversight body to oversee law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies.
The Government envisage giving this body the necessary powers to provide assurance that law enforcement use of biometric technologies is legal, responsible, and necessary. These powers could include setting standards to assure scientific validity, issuing codes of practice and investigating instances where a technology has been misused, hacked or accessed without authorisation.