Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many watercrafts linked to people smugglers have been seized by officials in each year since 2023.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Border Security Command (BSC) works with partners across Government and further afield to disrupt the smuggling gang networks who facilitate small boat crossings, and to help bring those responsible to justice.
Since 2023, the BSC and National Crime Agency (NCA) have contributed to the seizure of over 950 small boats and engines related to Channel crossings.
The BSC and NCA work with a range of international partners to seize equipment, including Europol, Bulgaria, Belgium, France, and Germany. We do not routinely confirm the location of seizures publicly.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish full details of their engagement with the Highland Council regarding the proposed use of Cameron Barracks as asylum accommodation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has engaged with Highland Council, as well as other local stakeholders including the Police, NHS, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and others since plans were announced in October 2025.
The department will continue to engage regularly with all statutory partners as plans are progressed. Key information about the plans discussed with local partners can be found on the factsheet Cameron Barracks, Inverness: factsheet - GOV.UK, which will be updated as further information becomes available.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) residential property, and (2) business property, immigration raids they have conducted in each year since 2023.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on immigration enforcement visits broken down by residential and commercial properties.
Although operational systems include an indicator of the type of address visited this level of detail is not currently included in our published statistics.
Information on enforcement visits and illegal working enforcement visits can be found at Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025 - GOV.UK, giving the total number of number of enforcement visits.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their weapon surrender bins on reducing violent crime.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government did not fund and provide surrender bins prior to 2025, when the Government funded 37 surrender bins, with 33 bins located in London, 1 in Greater Manchester and 3 in the West Midlands to support the extended knife surrender scheme held in July last year.
A total of 2,787 knives and weapons were deposited in the surrender bins.
Since the installation, one bin in London has been vandalised by graffiti.
The maintenance costs in 2025/26 for the surrender bins is £32,500 which includes the collection and disposal of surrendered weapons.
In relation to the impact of the surrender bins, the data the Government published demonstrates that they are being well used. The Government promoted the use of the surrender bins during the extended surrender arrangements and is continuing to encourage their use through engagement with the relevant local authorities and community safety leads.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to publicise the locations of their weapon surrender bins.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government did not fund and provide surrender bins prior to 2025, when the Government funded 37 surrender bins, with 33 bins located in London, 1 in Greater Manchester and 3 in the West Midlands to support the extended knife surrender scheme held in July last year.
A total of 2,787 knives and weapons were deposited in the surrender bins.
Since the installation, one bin in London has been vandalised by graffiti.
The maintenance costs in 2025/26 for the surrender bins is £32,500 which includes the collection and disposal of surrendered weapons.
In relation to the impact of the surrender bins, the data the Government published demonstrates that they are being well used. The Government promoted the use of the surrender bins during the extended surrender arrangements and is continuing to encourage their use through engagement with the relevant local authorities and community safety leads.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many weapons were placed in their surrender bins in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025, broken down by (a) category of weapons, and (b) region.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government did not fund and provide surrender bins prior to 2025, when the Government funded 37 surrender bins, with 33 bins located in London, 1 in Greater Manchester and 3 in the West Midlands to support the extended knife surrender scheme held in July last year.
A total of 2,787 knives and weapons were deposited in the surrender bins.
Since the installation, one bin in London has been vandalised by graffiti.
The maintenance costs in 2025/26 for the surrender bins is £32,500 which includes the collection and disposal of surrendered weapons.
In relation to the impact of the surrender bins, the data the Government published demonstrates that they are being well used. The Government promoted the use of the surrender bins during the extended surrender arrangements and is continuing to encourage their use through engagement with the relevant local authorities and community safety leads.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of their weapon surrender bins were vandalised in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025, broken down by region.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government did not fund and provide surrender bins prior to 2025, when the Government funded 37 surrender bins, with 33 bins located in London, 1 in Greater Manchester and 3 in the West Midlands to support the extended knife surrender scheme held in July last year.
A total of 2,787 knives and weapons were deposited in the surrender bins.
Since the installation, one bin in London has been vandalised by graffiti.
The maintenance costs in 2025/26 for the surrender bins is £32,500 which includes the collection and disposal of surrendered weapons.
In relation to the impact of the surrender bins, the data the Government published demonstrates that they are being well used. The Government promoted the use of the surrender bins during the extended surrender arrangements and is continuing to encourage their use through engagement with the relevant local authorities and community safety leads.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they spent on maintaining weapon surrender bins in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government did not fund and provide surrender bins prior to 2025, when the Government funded 37 surrender bins, with 33 bins located in London, 1 in Greater Manchester and 3 in the West Midlands to support the extended knife surrender scheme held in July last year.
A total of 2,787 knives and weapons were deposited in the surrender bins.
Since the installation, one bin in London has been vandalised by graffiti.
The maintenance costs in 2025/26 for the surrender bins is £32,500 which includes the collection and disposal of surrendered weapons.
In relation to the impact of the surrender bins, the data the Government published demonstrates that they are being well used. The Government promoted the use of the surrender bins during the extended surrender arrangements and is continuing to encourage their use through engagement with the relevant local authorities and community safety leads.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many weapon surrender bins they had in operation in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025, broken down by region.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government did not fund and provide surrender bins prior to 2025, when the Government funded 37 surrender bins, with 33 bins located in London, 1 in Greater Manchester and 3 in the West Midlands to support the extended knife surrender scheme held in July last year.
A total of 2,787 knives and weapons were deposited in the surrender bins.
Since the installation, one bin in London has been vandalised by graffiti.
The maintenance costs in 2025/26 for the surrender bins is £32,500 which includes the collection and disposal of surrendered weapons.
In relation to the impact of the surrender bins, the data the Government published demonstrates that they are being well used. The Government promoted the use of the surrender bins during the extended surrender arrangements and is continuing to encourage their use through engagement with the relevant local authorities and community safety leads.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 13,000 additional (1) neighbourhood police officers, (2) PCSOs, and (3) special constables, they plan to deliver as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will be (a) newly recruited, and (b) recruited internally from other parts of the police force.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our approach to delivery in 2025-26 has been designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix is a local decision.
The Government has committed to publishing neighbourhood policing numbers every six months, to align with the official police workforce statistics. The next update is due at the end of January 2026, which will set out the numbers in neighbourhood policing roles as at the end of September 2025.
We will set out more information on the approach to future delivery in due course.