Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2026 to Question 110416 on Government Departments: Publicity, whether she plans to remove the HM reference in the public branding of (a) HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services and (b) HM Passport Office.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 54(1) of the Police Act 1996 sets out that Inspectors are known as HM Inspectors of Constabulary and there are no plans to change this.
There are no plans for HM Passport Office to remove the “HM” reference from its public branding.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) Police Scotland and (b) relevant Scottish trading standards bodies on compliance and enforcement activity relating to the sale of realistic imitation firearms and imitation firearms.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
There has been action taken by the National Crime Agency and police forces in England and Wales against certain types of imitation firearms that have been found to be readily convertible into lethal firing firearms. Such imitation firearms, depending on their features, are subject to firearms legislation and are illegal. An amnesty was held in February this year to allow owners of the certain types of imitation firearms of concern to hand them into police stations so they can be disposed of safely.
Discussions were held with the authorities in Scotland about the imitation firearms of concern, including Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), and the Scottish Government, and I also wrote to the Lord Advocate about whether a similar scheme could be introduced in Scotland. We were advised that the operational and legal context in Scotland were different, and a public awareness campaign would be considered to support public safety in respect of these imitation firearms.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department was invited by the Office for National Statistics to provide evidence or input into its review of the ethnicity harmonised standard; and what evidence it submitted, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office was invited by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to input to the consultation on the ethnicity harmonised standard. Any changes recommended to the ethnicity harmonisations standard will be applied to our departmental statistics, where applicable, in due course.
It was an open consultation, so anyone could provide a response on an individual basis. The Home Office gathered views from across the department and provided an organisational response.
ONS committed to publish all responses to the consultation, with the names of organisations to be included alongside their response. In line with government consultation principles, a response should be published within 12 weeks of the consultation.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the timeliness of police forensic collision investigation reports following serious road traffic collisions; and what steps she is taking with police forces in England to reduce delays in the completion and release of forensic collision investigation reports.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police are responsible for collision investigations and for establishing the circumstances that have led to deaths and life changing injuries on our roads.
The police investigation and release of forensic collision investigation reports, along with decisions on how available resources in completing and releasing forensic collision investigation reports, along with decisions are the deployment of available resources, are the responsibility of Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners who take into account specific local problems and demands when making those decisions.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has evaluated the cost to local police constabulary of changes to licensing requirements around shotgun ownership.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is intending to consult on strengthening shotgun controls in due course. The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published in February 2025, included a commitment to having a consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns, in the interests of public safety.
We will also provide an impact assessment in relation to any changes that we bring forward after the consultation, including in relation to the police, in the normal way.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many charges there have been for offences relating to the termination of pregnancy through the the pills-by-post scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does collect and publish official statistics on the number of charges for the offences of ‘Procuring illegal abortion’ offences and ‘intentional destruction of a viable unborn child’ recorded by the police in England and Wales.
However, it is not possible to separately identify investigations relating to the termination of pregnancy through the pills-by-post scheme in data that is held centrally.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had any meetings with BASC, has any future meetings with BASC and any other organisations planned, on the issue of combining section 1 and 2 licenses for shotguns.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office Ministers and officials meet with a range of stakeholders with an interest in firearms related issues, including the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), from time to time and will continue to do so.
I had a meeting with BASC on 12 November 2025 to discuss firearms issues.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
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 performance of Thames Valley Police in responding to information requests from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; and what steps she is taking to ensure that police forces provide timely responses.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government expects all police forces to respond swiftly to requests for information from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
No assessment has been made of the performance of Thames Valley police in this regard.
Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she can list the (a) Ministerial responsibilities and (b) the responsibilities and reporting arrangements of any relevant cross-departmental units in relation to drugs policy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Joint Combating Drugs Unit (JCDU) is responsible for driving and co-ordinating efforts across Government to tackle drugs, working in close partnership with six departments – the Home Office, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Education. JCDU comprises full-time civil servants who are seconded from key government departments.
Each department is responsible for delivery of their programmes and projects. Progress is overseen by the lead departmental ministers but also reported to me as the lead drugs Minister, while a lead Permanent Secretary fulfils the role of senior responsible owner at official level.
Illicit drug use affects the whole of society, and this Government is taking a collective response to deliver safer streets, improve health outcomes and contribute to opportunities and growth through reducing crime and saving lives.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will publish operational guidance for the recently amended Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
In February the Government made the Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2026 to amend the definition of key national infrastructure in the Public Order Act 2023, to include life sciences infrastructure. This extended the offence of deliberate or reckless disruption or interference with the use or operation of key national infrastructure in England and Wales to the life sciences sector. The regulations came into force on 12 February 2026.
The College of Policing, in collaboration with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, will shortly be issuing operational guidance to police force command teams on this legislative change.