Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the powers of law enforcement agencies to identify and investigate criminal activity conducted using VoIP services.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, law enforcement agencies can apply for targeted interception warrants, equipment interference warrants, and communications data acquisition authorisations, all of which can enable access to data associated with VoIP services.
These powers can enable authorities to identify users, access metadata, and, where authorised, obtain content when necessary and proportionate and subject to satisfying the stringent safeguards within the legislation.
This means that law enforcement have a range of powers to identify and investigate criminal activity conducted using VoIP services. The Home Office keeps the effectiveness of these powers under review.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many recorded offences involving the use of VoIP services there have been in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales which have been identified as having an online element. Offences involving the use of VoIP services are included but are not separately identifiable in the data held centrally.
This data can be found in table C5 of the Crime in England and Wales: Appendix tables here: Crime in England and Wales: Appendix tables - Office for National Statistics.
The definition of online crime within this data collection was revised in April 2024 to state that offences involving the use of VoIP services should be flagged to improve clarity and consistency in recording.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the UK–France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, published on 5 August 2025, what support is available to individuals to ensure that they can provide biometrics for their application to come to the UK through that agreement.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, eligible individuals seeking to come to the UK must provide their biometrics at the visa application centre in Paris, France, in order to proceed. Applicants are provided sufficient notice to attend and supported in accordance with standard biometric processes.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the UK–France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, published on 5 August 2025, in which locations in France the UK is able to obtain biometrics from individuals.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, eligible individuals seeking to come to the UK must provide their biometrics at the visa application centre in Paris, France, in order to proceed. Applicants are provided sufficient notice to attend and supported in accordance with standard biometric processes.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what compensation is available to people whose property is damaged as a result of policing operations at neighbouring properties; or properties where suspects are not the legal owners.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Where police have caused damage to property, for example by forcing entry, individuals may be able to claim compensation by raising a complaint or claim with the police force concerned, who will assess the claim in accordance with force policy.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made for breaches of immigration bail conditions in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the specific information requested on arrests for breaches of immigration bail conditions.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on arrests for notifiable offences (including Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions) and bail statistics (including Police custody and pre-charge bail) on an annual basis. The most recent statistics for each are:
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to require the (a) resignation, (b) retirement and (b) suspension of Chief Constables on performance grounds.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
As the Home Secretary said to the House on 14 January, when a Chief Constable is responsible for a damaging failure of leadership, the public rightly expect the Home Secretary to act.
This Government intends to restore their ability to do so and will soon reintroduce the Home Secretary’s power to dismiss Chief Constables.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the group Bash Back have been convicted of a crime relating to that group.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to peacefully express their views, but they must do so within the bounds of the law.
Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the powers they need to respond.
It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.
There are a number of ongoing police investigations and court proceedings relating to potential criminal behaviour of individuals associated with the protest group, Bash Back. However, this process is independent of government and the Home Office does not hold complete data for arrests, charges, convictions or criminal justice outcomes.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's news story entitled Illegal working raids reach highest level in UK history, published on 13 January 2026, how much of the £5 million additional funding for Immigration Enforcement has been allocated to operations in the North West.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The £5 million additional funding for Immigration Enforcement was provided to increase Illegal Working activity nationally and was not allocated regionally.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure standardised training for police in reviewing Operation Snap submissions involving horses; and what assessment she has made of the consistency with which police forces handle video evidence of dangerous passes involving horses.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes road safety extremely seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.
Police enforcements of motoring offences are operational matters for Chief Officers, who decide how to deploy available resources to deal with all the issues for which the force is responsible, taking into account specific local problems and demands.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) released national guidance on the minimum standards for police handling of dashcam footage submitted by members of the public in June 2021.
The guidance makes clear that trained police staff should assess camera footage submitted under Operation Snap and if the footage demonstrates an offence is committed, the local force determine the appropriate action to take.