Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the 2024–25 Health and Care Worker visa changes on access to domiciliary and residential care services; how many social care providers have had their sponsorship licences (a) suspended and (b) revoked in the past 24 months; and what proportion of those workers were left without a viable route to remain in social care employment.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government published the immigration white paper ‘Restoring control over the immigration system' last year which set out how we will move the UK away from a dependence on international care workers and end overseas recruitment for social care visas. The new immigration rules which prohibit overseas recruitment took effect in July 2025, however transitional arrangements exist for individuals already in the UK to switch into the route. The transitional arrangements are due to expire in 2028 but will be subject to regular review.
The Home Office continues to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)-funded Regional Partnerships to support care workers, who have been impacted by exploitative employers. DHSC are funding 15 regional hubs in England, made up of Local Authorities and Directors of Adult Social Services, working together to support displaced workers into new roles within the care sector. These regional hubs have received £12.5 million this financial year to support them to prevent and respond to unethical practices in the sector.
The Government remains committed to supporting Health & Care visa holders who wish to pursue a career in the adult social care sector.
The impact assessment for the changes made in 2024 and 2025 can be found at the following links:
The Home Office does not publish revocation data broken down by business type. As a result, the specific information requested is not available within existing published statistics. Collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of this request would incur disproportionate cost.
However, the Home Office does publish general information on visa sponsors who are subject to suspension or revocation in available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/migration-transparency-data
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: 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: 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: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguards are in place to ensure that outcome-linked funding arrangements do not give rise to perceived conflicts of interest in operational decision-making.
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: 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: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment the Department has made of the effectiveness of A&E navigator programmes in reducing a) youth violence and b) exploitation of young people.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
According to the Youth Endowment Fund toolkit, the available studies suggest that A&E navigator programmes could have a high impact on preventing further involvement in violence.
The majority of Violence Reduction Units in England and Wales deliver A&E navigator programmes. We will continue to learn from the ongoing delivery of A&E navigators to ensure victims of violence and exploitation are effectively supported.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department is taking to tackle covert filming in public spaces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Everyone deserves to feel safe both in public and online. In addition to existing offences for the sharing of intimate images, we have introduced offences to the Crime and Policing Bill of taking an intimate image and installing equipment with the intent to take intimate images, without consent or reasonable belief of consent. These offences cover images which show the victim in an intimate state, and would capture some content on a public street, such as photographs taken up clothing that show underwear or nudity.
We have also provided funding to intensify Project Vigilant across police forces to keep women safe in public spaces. Project Vigilant involves specially trained plain clothed officers observing individuals in public, mostly in the night-time economy, to identify those exhibiting predatory behaviours. Uniformed officers are then called in to disrupt their behaviour, which could include filming women without their consent.
From 1 April, measures under the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 will come into force. Depending on the facts of the case, this could include where the intent of covert filming is to cause harassment, alarm or distress because of the victim’s sex.
To go further, in Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls we committed to launching a call for evidence on online misogynistic image-based abuse, and the extent to which there are new behaviours which may not be captured by existing criminal offences. This will allow us to consider whether any further change is needed to future proof the law.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current processes for handling incidents involving harassment, alarm or distress motivated by homophobia where relevant evidence cannot be admitted or relied upon in court; and what steps she is taking to ensure that such cases are still appropriately investigated and that victims receive adequate protection and support.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On the 14th February, the government tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to extend existing aggravated offences under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to ensure equal protection across the protected characteristics of race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, transgender identity and sex.
The police are operationally independent and responsible for investigating alleged offences, working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to build cases that meet the evidential and public interest tests. A range of offences may apply depending on the circumstances, including under the Public Order Act 1986 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and where hostility based on sexual orientation is proven, courts may apply statutory sentencing uplifts.
Where particular evidence cannot be admitted or relied upon in court, the police are expected to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry using admissible material, and to seek early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service where appropriate. Where the evidential threshold for a charge is not met, the police can still take steps to protect victims, including the use of bail conditions and other protective measures where the relevant legal tests are satisfied.
Victims of hate crime are entitled to support under the Victims’ Code, including being kept informed of progress and signposted to appropriate services. The Government continues to fund local and national victim support services and works closely with policing partners, the Crown Prosecution Service and the College of Policing to promote consistent, evidence-led responses to hate-motivated incidents so that victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice wherever possible.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help prevent bicycle theft in Twickenham constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities from local forces so they can focus on tackling issues of key concern to communities, such as dealing with bike theft. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses.
In addition, we are also providing the police with new powers to support their response. The Crime and Policing Bill, now at Committee Stage in the House of Lords, will ensure that Officers can enter and search premises where stolen items – such as GPS-tracked bicycles – are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.