Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Final Police Funding Settlement (England and Wales) 2026-27, how much funding her Department has specifically provided for violence reduction units in the 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violence prevention is crucial to achieving our ambition of halving knife crime and making our streets safer.
The 2026/27 Police Funding Settlement included an allocation of £66.6m for Serious Violence Reduction Programmes.
This funding will be used to maintain our network of 20 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in the areas of England and Wales which are experiencing over 80% of knife crime; support public sector bodies to fulfil their statutory requirements under the Serious Violence Duty and continue the promising work of the Young Futures Panel pilots, which are identifying young people at risk of being drawn into crime and intervening earlier with positive, diversionary support.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the report by Birthmark of Africa, The Windrush Justice Inquiry Report, Towards Justice: Truth, Accountability, and Repair, published in June 2025, which found that the current readdress scheme fails to meet international standards of justice and restitution, what assessment have they made of launching a public inquiry into the Windrush scandal.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to righting the wrongs of the Home Office Windrush Scandal. Our focus is very much on delivering real change for those impacted by Windrush. We have delivered on our manifesto commitment by appointing Rev Clive Foster as the independent Windrush Commissioner, who has undertaken significant engagement with the Windrush generation and key stakeholders, and is acting as a trusted voice for the Windrush community.
The Windrush Unit has been reestablished and is in the final stages of reviewing all 30 recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review. We have also worked with the Windrush Commissioner to make improvements to the Compensation Scheme.
The causes of the Home Office Windrush Scandal and the Home Office’s response thereafter have been the subject to several investigations and inquiries by a range of public bodies including extensive parliamentary scrutiny.
Alongside the independent Windrush Lessons Learned Review and the Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal research report, both commissioned by the Home Office and published, parliamentary committees including the Home Affairs Select Committee and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights have conducted their own investigations. Further public bodies such as the National Audit Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have published their findings and recommendations into the scandal. These reports have approached the issues from different perspectives, reflecting the specialisms of the different bodies.
Given that there have been numerous reviews we do not believe a public inquiry would add to the scrutiny and understanding of the Home Office Windrush Scandal, rather it would divert critical resources away from ensuring meaningful change is achieved.
We will continue to work to rebuild trust with the Windrush generation, and ensure that justice is delivered.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government to what extent they have implemented the recommendations made by the independent review by Wendy Williams, Windrush Lessons Learned Review, published in March 2020; and whether they plan to provide an update on implementation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to righting the wrongs of the Home Office Windrush Scandal. Our focus is very much on delivering real change for those impacted by Windrush. We have delivered on our manifesto commitment by appointing Rev Clive Foster as the independent Windrush Commissioner, who has undertaken significant engagement with the Windrush generation and key stakeholders, and is acting as a trusted voice for the Windrush community.
The Windrush Unit has been reestablished and is in the final stages of reviewing all 30 recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review. We have also worked with the Windrush Commissioner to make improvements to the Compensation Scheme.
The causes of the Home Office Windrush Scandal and the Home Office’s response thereafter have been the subject to several investigations and inquiries by a range of public bodies including extensive parliamentary scrutiny.
Alongside the independent Windrush Lessons Learned Review and the Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal research report, both commissioned by the Home Office and published, parliamentary committees including the Home Affairs Select Committee and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights have conducted their own investigations. Further public bodies such as the National Audit Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have published their findings and recommendations into the scandal. These reports have approached the issues from different perspectives, reflecting the specialisms of the different bodies.
Given that there have been numerous reviews we do not believe a public inquiry would add to the scrutiny and understanding of the Home Office Windrush Scandal, rather it would divert critical resources away from ensuring meaningful change is achieved.
We will continue to work to rebuild trust with the Windrush generation, and ensure that justice is delivered.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to implement the recommendations made by the independent review by Wendy Williams, Windrush Lessons Learned Review, in full.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to righting the wrongs of the Home Office Windrush Scandal. Our focus is very much on delivering real change for those impacted by Windrush. We have delivered on our manifesto commitment by appointing Rev Clive Foster as the independent Windrush Commissioner, who has undertaken significant engagement with the Windrush generation and key stakeholders, and is acting as a trusted voice for the Windrush community.
The Windrush Unit has been reestablished and is in the final stages of reviewing all 30 recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review. We have also worked with the Windrush Commissioner to make improvements to the Compensation Scheme.
The causes of the Home Office Windrush Scandal and the Home Office’s response thereafter have been the subject to several investigations and inquiries by a range of public bodies including extensive parliamentary scrutiny.
Alongside the independent Windrush Lessons Learned Review and the Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal research report, both commissioned by the Home Office and published, parliamentary committees including the Home Affairs Select Committee and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights have conducted their own investigations. Further public bodies such as the National Audit Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have published their findings and recommendations into the scandal. These reports have approached the issues from different perspectives, reflecting the specialisms of the different bodies.
Given that there have been numerous reviews we do not believe a public inquiry would add to the scrutiny and understanding of the Home Office Windrush Scandal, rather it would divert critical resources away from ensuring meaningful change is achieved.
We will continue to work to rebuild trust with the Windrush generation, and ensure that justice is delivered.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police and fire call handlers are required to have working knowledge of (a) What Three Words and (b) the NATO phonetic alphabet.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police Call Handlers are not required to have working knowledge of What Three Words and the Nato Phonetic Alphabet. This is an operational matter for Chief Constables.
For matters regarding the Fire Service, I would direct my Rt Hon friend to the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government, which is responsible for fire policy.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of bans on e-scooters and e-bikes riding in pedestrian areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police have a suite of powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Police Reform Act 2002 to seize e-scooters and e‑bikes being used illegally or antisocially, including ‑for offences such as riding on the pavement and in pedestrian areas.
We are strengthening enforcement through the Crime and Policing Bill, by removing the requirement for police to issue a warning before seizing vehicles used antisocially. We have also consulted on measures to allow police to dispose of seized vehicles, including e-scooters and e-bikes, more quickly, helping to tackle dangerous and anti-social behaviour impacting communities.
Enforcement of road traffic law is an operational matter for Chief Officers, who decide how to deploy resources in line with local policing priorities.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Department intends to review transparency requirements for nationally operating police-associated units funded by private industry bodies.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy. The Government does not fund NaVCIS. Instead NaVCIS is funded by the industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers.
NaVCIS is a national policing unit that provides dedicated specialist intelligence, and it engages with a range of partners to tackle organised vehicle crime.The Governance arrangements for NaVCIS are a matter for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by when will his department answer question 110947, published on 2 February 2026.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The answer for UIN 110947 was given on 19th March 2026.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Muslim organisations have applied for funding through the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme in every year since it was established; and of these, how many have been successful in obtaining funding.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme is open to places of worship from all faith communities, except for Muslim and Jewish sites, which are supported through separate schemes. Muslim organisations are therefore not eligible for the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme. Instead, mosques and their associated faith community centres can access protective security measures through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.
However, between 2016 and the launch of the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme in 2023, Muslim communities were eligible to apply to the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme.
To protect the integrity of the scheme and ensure the continued safety of vulnerable sites, the Home Office does not publish data on processing of applications or the specific offers made to individual sites. Releasing this information could inadvertently disclose sensitive details about faith communities and their security arrangements.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of levels of public resource available where constabularies act upon intelligence or referrals generated by industry-funded vehicle crime units.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy. The Government does not fund NaVCIS. Instead NaVCIS is funded by the industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers.
NaVCIS is a national policing unit that provides dedicated specialist intelligence, and it engages with a range of partners to tackle organised vehicle crime.The Governance arrangements for NaVCIS are a matter for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).