Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff, broken down by grade, are in the Home Office adjudication team which considers matters relating to asylum accommodation and representations from local authorities.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a dedicated function responsible for assessing matters relating to asylum accommodation and for considering representations made by local authorities.
Staff involved in this activity work across a range of grades and responsibilities, and their work forms part of wider operational roles rather than a separately recorded staffing group. As such, the Home Office does not hold a discrete breakdown of staff numbers by grade for this specific function.
The Department keeps staffing levels under regular review to ensure it can respond effectively and proportionately to operational demand, including the handling of local authority representations.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety of Myanmar nationals deported back to their country; and whether it is their current policy to do so.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government keeps the situation in Myanmar under close review. The UK does not remove individuals where there is a real risk of persecution or serious harm, and all cases are considered on their individual merits.
We only seek to return those whose asylum claims have been unsuccessful, or who otherwise have no lawful right to remain in the UK. By definition, they do not need protection and are not at risk on return. Furthermore, we only seek to return those who have no lawful right to remain in the UK.
Returns are only conducted when it is safe and practical to do so.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is in place to help (1) victims of technology-facilitated abuse, and (2) the police, to secure evidence of victims' past reporting of such abuse from the relevant technology companies.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is investing £550 million over the next three years for victim and witness support services.
The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local support services for victims of all crimes, including victims of technology-facilitated abuse. PCCs allocate funding for victim services at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice provides Victim Support with grant funding to deliver a 24/7 Live Chat and My Support Space service, providing free online support to victims across England and Wales.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of police vehicles are currently equipped with defibrillators.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many emergency police vehicles are not currently fitted with a defibrillator.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many antisemitic hate crimes involving arson have been recorded in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the year ending March 2025, the police forces in England and Wales recorded four arson offences that were identified as being religious hate crimes targeted at Jewish people.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent registered sex offenders from changing their names by deed poll.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The system for managing sex offenders and those that pose a risk of sexual harm is a crucial part of preventing sexual violence and delivering our mission to halve violence against women and girls.
The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a range of legislative changes which will strengthen the management of registered sex offenders. Where the police consider it necessary to protect the public or children or vulnerable adults from sexual harm, it will enable them to serve a notice on offenders requiring them to seek the police’s authorisation before applying to change their name on a specified identity document (namely, a UK passport, driving licence or immigration document). The legislative changes will also require RSOs to notify the police of an intended change of name at least seven days in advance of using it, or if that is not reasonably practicable, as far in advance of their using it as it reasonably practicable.
Our name change restriction focuses on ID documents, which are required for work, overseas travel, and accessing services, because that is where name changes can be monitored and a restriction robustly enforced.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 59 of her Department's document entitled Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls, Volume 1: Strategy, published on 18 December 2025, whether her discussions with stakeholders on the misuse of joint financial products will include domestic abuse service providers.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, HM Treasury undertook work with key stakeholders to explore how joint mortgages are used as a tool of abuse and how victims and survivors can be better supported.
The Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy considers economic abuse as a key theme in recognition of the particular challenges victim-survivors’ can face in accessing financial products and services. This includes exploring how joint mortgages are used as a tool of abuse and how victims and survivors can be better supported. As part of this, HM Treasury are working closely with charity Surviving Economic Abuse who have been appointed a member of the Financial Inclusion Committee going forward to help inform the delivery of key interventions.
In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also held lived experience sessions with victim-survivors of economic abuse as part of their Mortgages Rule Review which HM Treasury also engaged in.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure full compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, in respect of the conditions in which living animals used for scientific purposes before and during these procedures are kept.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is enforced by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) in the Home Office which operates a robust regulatory framework to ensure that animals used for scientific purposes are kept in appropriate conditions both before procedures take place and throughout the conduct of those procedures.
ASPA requires a three-tier system of licensing covering establishments, projects, and individuals. All licensed establishments must comply with standards for animal protections set out in ASPA and in the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes which governs the accommodation, care, monitoring and veterinary oversight of the animals.
Licensed establishments are also required to have key named individuals in place, including veterinary surgeons and animal welfare officers, who are responsible for the health, care and welfare of animals and for advising on their use before and during regulated procedures. Establishments must operate local ethical review processes to provide ongoing oversight of animal welfare, review care and housing arrangements, and ensure that licence conditions are met.
ASRU assures compliance with these requirements through a programme of announced and unannounced audits. Any instances of non-compliance are taken seriously and addressed in accordance with ASRU’s published compliance policy, which provides for a range of regulatory responses, including enforcement action where necessary.
In 2025, ASRU implemented organisational reforms to strengthen delivery of its regulatory functions including increasing the size of its inspectorate, further enhancing oversight of animal protections across licensed establishments.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what date the role of the police commissioners in Wales will cease; whether the responsibility of the work of those commissioners will be transferred to the Senedd; if so, on what date; and if not, what plans they have for a replacement system, and when they will make a final decision on this matter.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government announced on 13 November 2025 that it plans to abolish the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) model across England and Wales at the end of their current term of office in May 2028.
Policing is a reserved matter. We are working closely with the Welsh Government, as well as other Welsh Stakeholders including Welsh local government, police forces and other partners, to ensure new governance arrangements provide strong and effective police governance in Wales. We will bring forward legislation to set out the new policing governance system for England and Wales when Parliamentary time allows.
We will continue to engage with Welsh Government and other Welsh stakeholders on matters relating to policing to ensure that Welsh priorities are fully considered within the existing devolution settlement.