Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to help reduce the number of shoplifting offences in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are providing £5 million over the next three years to continue funding a specialist analysis team within Opal, the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime, to crack down on the organised gangs targeting retailers.
We are also investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.
Via the Crime and Policing Bill we will end the effective immunity for shop theft of and below £200 sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously. Also included in the Bill is a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
I chair regular meetings of the Retail Crime Forum, which brings together the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement agencies to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers promote collaboration, share best practice, and work collectively to tackle the serious issue of retail crime. This includes the development of a new strategy to tackle shop theft published by policing, retail sector representatives and industry as part of collective efforts to combat shop theft – Tackling Retail Crime Together.
The strategy builds on previous progress made by police and retailers but provides a more comprehensive and intelligence-led approach to tackle all perpetrators of shop theft – not just organised criminal gangs.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme to discuss the potential merits of a police station providing a 24-hour public reception in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions about local resourcing and the police force estate, including police stations and their opening hours, are a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected, independent Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents). They are best placed to make these decisions based on their knowledge of local need and experience.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on improving homeland security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Plan for Change emphasises that national security is the first duty of Government. The Secretary of State for the Home Department therefore engages in regular and ongoing discussions with Cabinet colleagues to ensure a coordinated and robust approach to improving homeland security. These discussions have been integral to shaping the UK's forthcoming National Security Strategy 2025 and the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) 2025.
The Home Secretary is also a member of the National Security Council, which regularly discusses homeland security and how we make the country safer, more secure and increasingly resilient against these interconnected threats.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where British passports are (a) printed and (b) produced.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Following a competitive tender process conducted under the previous government in 2017, the contract to manufacture passports was awarded to a company in mainland Europe, but the personalisation of those passports continues to be carried out within the UK to ensure that no personal data leaves the country.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the affordability of the cost of a British passport.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office laid an amendment to the Passport (Fees) Regulations 2022 on 19 March 2025 which increased fees payable for passport applications from 10 April 2025.
An Economic Impact Assessment and Equalities Impact Assessment have been published in relation to those passport fee increases and can be found via the following links: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2025/55/pdfs/ukia_20250055_en.pdf and https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/363/pdfs/uksiod_20250363_en_002.pdf.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle drug related crime in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
To deliver on our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the gangs that lure children and young people into crime and run county lines through violence and exploitation.
County Lines are the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we will continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade.
Since July 2024, policing activity delivered through the County Lines Programme has resulted in over 400 deal lines being closed, the arrest and charge of over 200 deal line holders, 500 arrests and 800 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people.
As part of the Programme, the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) regularly coordinates weeks of intensive action against county lines gangs, which all police forces take part in. The most recent of these took place 25 November to 1 December 2024 and resulted in 261 lines closed, as well as 1,660 arrests, 1,434 individuals safeguarded and 557 weapons seized.
As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we are also introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring children into violent crime. A new criminal offence is necessary to increase convictions against exploiters, deter gangs from enlisting children, and improve identification of victims. Alongside a new offence, we are creating a new regime for CCE prevention orders to prevent exploitative conduct committed by adults against children from occurring or re-occurring.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether new police recruits will be trained on the impact of (a) waste crime and (b) retail crime on victims in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, (ii) Staffordshire and (iii) England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to ensuring there are consistent, high standards for training in the police. This will help to maintain public confidence and ensure the workforce is equipped to respond to the crime challenges they face every day.
The College of Policing sets and maintains standards for training and professional development, including initial police education. This includes setting the national policing curriculum for initial training.
The Government has provided funding for the national rollout of the Neighbourhood Policing Pathway. This training will provide all neighbourhood officers and PCSOs with specialist training and will include modules on community engagement, problem-solving and tackling anti-social behaviour.
Under the previous government, shop theft soared to record highs and it continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers.
As set out in the Autumn Budget 2024, we will provide £100,000 of additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on retail crime prevention tactics. This will build on funding this financial year to the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, for development of training for both police and retailers to help combat retail crime and promote partnership working.
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, introduced on 25 February, this Government has brought forward a new offence of assaulting a retail worker, to protect hardworking and dedicated shop workers, including small and independent retailers. The offence carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and/or unlimited fine, as well as a presumption on the courts to impose a Criminal Behaviour Order. This will prohibit the offender from doing anything described in the order, which might include a condition preventing specific acts which cause harassment, alarm or distress, or preventing an offender from visiting specific premises.
Also included as part of the Bill is the removing of the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.
The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, which blights communities, damages the environment and undermines legitimate businesses. Waste crime and poor performing waste sites undermine legitimate businesses, deprive the public purse of tax income, harm the environment and communities and in the worst cases directly threaten our health.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's planned timetable is for implementing the recommendations of the Final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in October 2022.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 16 January the Home Secretary set out to Parliament the steps the Government is taking forward to tackle the terrible crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
This includes setting out a clear timetable, before Easter, for taking forward the 20 recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report and implementing all the remaining recommendations in IICSA’s separate standalone report on child sexual exploitation by organised networks from February 2022.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the total number of calls Staffordshire Police have received requesting help on domestic abuse incidents between 20 December 2024 and 2 January 2025.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold this data.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle criminal activity via county lines.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. To deliver our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the drug gangs that run county lines through violence and exploitation.
Since July 2024, policing activity delivered through the County Lines Programme has resulted in over 400 deal lines being closed, 500 arrests (including the arrest and charge of over 200 deal line holders) and 800 safeguarding referrals for children and vulnerable people. Over 220 children and young people have also received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service since July.
In addition, the Government’s Manifesto included an unambiguous commitment to “introduce a new offence of criminal exploitation of children, to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime”. A new criminal offence is necessary to increase convictions against exploiters, deter gangs from enlisting children, and improve identification of victims. This will be brought forward as part of the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill.