Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government following the publication of the report of the Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender, published on 19 March, what progress they have made on the Review’s recommendation that they should issue a mandatory Annual Data Requirement (ADR) requiring territorial police forces in England and Wales and the British Transport Police to record data on sex in relevant administrative systems.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since the publication of the publication of the Independent Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender there has also been a Supreme Court judgement on the definition of sex within the Equality Act. We recognise the importance of accurate and consistent recording of data on sex and gender and are considering the implications for administrative data systems in policing as part of the 2026/27 Annual Data Requirement which is currently in development.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support police officers guarding the Israeli Embassy in London with their (1) working conditions, and (2) safety.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the protective security of diplomatic missions extremely seriously. The UK Government's protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our longstanding policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals' and sites' security.
More broadly in terms of the support available to police officers, through the Police Covenant the Home Office are supporting the police workforce with their physical and mental health.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 Violence Reduction Units in reducing youth violence.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Crime prevention is key to the government’s Safer Streets mission and ambition to halve knife crime. Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) play an important role by uniting local partners to collectively identify and address the underlying drivers of serious violence within their communities.
This financial year (2025/26), we have allocated £47m to a network of 20 VRUs, in the areas experiencing the most severe challenges, to support their valuable work. In addition, we have provided further funding to enable the roll out of Young Futures Panels in the first year of their establishment.
The most recently published independent evaluation demonstrates that VRUs, in combination with additional hotspot police patrols, are reducing hospital admissions, with a clear impact on their target cohort of young people under 25. There were statistically significant reductions in hospital admissions for violence amongst this age group. In addition, VRUs continue to demonstrate progress and show signs of maturing and becoming embedded in local responses to prevent violence.
Allocations decisions on Violence Reduction Units and the wider policing system will be finalised early this year.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the draft Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025 covers online activity.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On Thursday 27 November 2025, the Home Office laid an affirmative Statutory Instrument in Parliament to amend Section 7 and Section 8 of the Public Order Act 2023 (“POA”). This will amend the list of key national infrastructure within Section 7 of the POA, to add the life sciences sector and define the life sciences sector in Section 8 of the POA.
Under Section 7 POA, a person commits an offence if:
Whether an activity, online or otherwise, meets the criminal threshold within section 7 POA will be fact specific and is an operational matter for the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts, who are all operationally independent from the government.
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, what assessment she has made of the difference in police response times to time-sensitive incidents such as (a) vehicle theft and (b) robberies of retail premises in (i) rural areas and (ii) urban areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.
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, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delayed police response times on (a) crime reporting and (b) public confidence in rural communities.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.
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, what assessment she has made of whether slow police response times to rural crime contribute to repeat offending.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.
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, whether police forces are required to publish response time data broken down by rural and urban classification.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution of the Minister for Policing and Crime during the Third Delegated Legislation Committee on 17 December 2025, when she plans to send a command paper to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the use of public order legislation.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government has committed to undertake post legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023. This process began in May.
When complete, we will send the command paper to the Home Affairs Select Committee as is routine and in line with the guidance on completing post legislative scrutiny.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of providing longer term funding for violence reduction units, beyond the current one year settlement.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Crime prevention is key to the government’s Safer Streets mission and ambition to halve knife crime. Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) play an important role by uniting local partners to collectively identify and address the underlying drivers of serious violence within their communities.
This financial year (2025/26), we have allocated £47m to a network of 20 VRUs, in the areas experiencing the most severe challenges, to support their valuable work. In addition, we have provided further funding to enable the roll out of Young Futures Panels in the first year of their establishment.
The most recently published independent evaluation demonstrates that VRUs, in combination with additional hotspot police patrols, are reducing hospital admissions, with a clear impact on their target cohort of young people under 25. There were statistically significant reductions in hospital admissions for violence amongst this age group. In addition, VRUs continue to demonstrate progress and show signs of maturing and becoming embedded in local responses to prevent violence.
Allocations decisions on Violence Reduction Units and the wider policing system will be finalised early this year.