Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing a defined timeframe for GPs to complete the necessary licensing forms for shotguns.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Medical checks are an important part of the firearms licensing process to ensure that the police have all relevant medical information before them as part of their assessment of the suitability of an applicant for a firearm or shotgun certificate.
There is no defined timeframe for GPs to complete the medical proforma, which is a matter between the applicant and their GP.
Since the Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing was introduced on 1 November 2021 it has been a requirement that medical information be provided as part of all firearms licensing applications submitted to the police.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure adherence to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for the standards of (a) care and (b) accommodation for dogs; and how many times the Animals in Science Regulation Unit has found sites to not be complaint with those standards in the last 12 months.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Animals in Science Regulation Unit conduct audits to ensure establishments comply with the terms of their licences, the Code of Practice and with ASPA.
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides a robust and rigorous regulatory framework that protects animals used in science. All establishments licenced under ASPA are required to comply with the published Code of Practice, which sets out standards for appropriate care and accommodation of animals, including dogs.
All non-compliance cases are published in the Animals in Science Regulation Unit’s Annual Reports which are available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department (a) disposes of small boats used for illegal channel crossings and (b) ensures that those boats are not (i) retained by and (ii) returned to smuggling gangs.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Border Force do not return seized boats/dinghies/engines or lifejackets to France. All vessels that have been subject to seizure, are held by Border Force until the completion of criminal investigations and any resulting legal proceedings. The majority of boats/dinghies are not fit to ever go to sea again, as they arrive in very poor condition and may be damaged during the recovery process. The boats/dinghies/engines are disposed of by Border Force’s approved contractors and where appropriate, any suitable materials are recycled.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the enforcement of the prohibition on the sale and possession of nitrous oxide cylinders in Bromsgrove constituency; and whether her Department plans to take steps to increase enforcement actions for offences involving the recreational use of nitrous oxide.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Nitrous oxide is controlled under Class C of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. This makes it an offence to supply and possess it for ‘wrongful inhalation’, namely the inhalation of the gas for its psychoactive effect.
There is a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both for supply, and a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both for possession.
Legitimate uses of nitrous oxide, such as for baking and cooking, are not prohibited by the Act.
The police are operationally independent, but we expect them to tackle crime, including drug-related crime. There were 2,564 seizures of nitrous oxide by police and Border Force in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024. This is an increase of 237% upon the previous year’s figure (761). Police forces accounted for almost all nitrous oxide seizures (2,552). The quantity of nitrous oxide seized by police forces increased by 170% over the same period.
Nitrous oxide sold online is subject to the provisions of the Online Safety Act. This requires that all technology companies take robust action against illegal content, such as the sale of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of police decision-making in cases involving individuals with serious mental health conditions on the number of prosecutions for assaults against mental health nurses.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not made such an assessment. The police have a duty to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry, as set out in The Code of Practice to The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.
However, the police are operationally independent from Government and would be best placed to make decisions on the most appropriate course of action according to the specific circumstances of a case they are investigating.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to increase the use of stop and search to tackle knife crime in the West Midlands.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a central objective of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and we are taking decisive action to achieve it.
Stop and search is an important tool for tackling knife crime. Police officers have the power to stop and search individuals or vehicles for offensive weapons, provided they have reasonable grounds to suspect they will find the item.
In addition, where serious violence has occurred, or where intelligence suggests it may occur, a senior police officer may authorise police officers to stop and search any individual or vehicle for weapons, with or without reasonable suspicion. These authorisations are limited to a particular area for a specific period of time, usually no longer than 24 hours but may be extended to up to 48 hours in certain circumstances.
The operational use of stop and search is determined by individual police forces, based on local intelligence and priorities within local communities, and it must always be conducted fairly and appropriately.
Beyond the use of stop and search, the Government is taking decisive national action on knife crime. This includes banning zombie-style knives, introducing legislation to prohibit ninja swords, tackling knife-enabled robbery and establishing new Prevention Partnerships to support those who are most at risk and divert them away from knife crime.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many breathalyser tests were carried out across West Mercia in the last 12 months; how many tested positive; and how many resulted in a prosecution.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on roadside breath tests for alcohol as part of its annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Roads policing’ statistical release. The latest data is available here Police powers and procedures: Roads policing, to December 2023 - GOV.UK and covers the calendar year ending December 2023.
In 2023, West Mercia Police carried out 7,811 roadside breath tests for alcohol, of which 1,248 were positive or refused.
The Home Office does not hold information on how many of these resulted in a prosecution.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to tackle (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) shoplifting in Wythall.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
The Government’s Plan for Change details our commitment to reduce ASB, including delivery of a dedicated lead officer in every police force in England and Wales working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan. We are also delivering on our commitment to restore and strengthen neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers are out patrolling in our town centres and communities to make the streets safer.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to the police and other relevant agencies to tackle ASB, including introducing new Respect Orders to tackle persistent adult ASB offenders, and extending the maximum exclusion period for dispersal directions from 48 to 72 hours. Other measures in the Bill include enhancing the powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, and other vehicles which are being used in an anti-social manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender.
In the same bill, we are repealing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, which means it can only be tried in a magistrate’s court, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously. In addition, we have brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
The Home Office is also providing £66.3 million funding in 2025-26 to forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence, and anti-social behaviour. West Mercia police will receive £1,000,000 of this funding.
We will continue to crack down on the organised gangs targeting retailers. We will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund Opal, the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.
We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the police-led 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.
I am committed to chairing 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 and to promote collaboration, share best practice and to 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. 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: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle crime that occurs on the border of multiple police forces.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs to tackle crime effectively, including when crimes occur on the border of multiple police forces.
When it does, the National Crime Agency (NCA), which leads the UK's fight to cut serious and organised crime, and policing’s Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network have specialised intelligence and investigative teams that are deployed across the full range of threats to bring offenders to justice. This includes tackling ‘borderless’ serious crimes including fraud, cyber-enabled criminality, online child sexual exploitation and abuse and County Lines.
Both the NCA and ROCU network have been allocated significant resources to enhance their capacity and capability to continue tackling serious crime at both national and regional levels.
The Home Office is also funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response to County Lines. This is vital in strengthening the law enforcement response and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.