Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure proper support for venues transitioning to the requirements of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 during the implementation period.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, also known as Martyn’s Law, received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025.
An implementation period of at least 24 months is now underway, giving those responsible for premises and events sufficient time and support to meet their new obligations. It will also allow time for the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to establish its new regulatory function.
The Act is intended to improve protective security and organisational preparedness across the UK. It will require certain premises and events to ensure steps have been taken to prepare for potential terrorist attacks. Larger premises and events will be required to consider and, where appropriate, implement steps to reduce their vulnerability to acts of terrorism.
Statutory guidance will be published during the implementation period to help those responsible to understand the requirements set out in the legislation. The guidance is being designed to be easy to follow, requiring no specialist expertise or the use of third-party products or services.
The Home Office continues to engage with businesses and organisations, including through attendance at industry events and a nationwide webinar series to raise awareness and understanding for sectors in scope of the Act, and regularly issues communications and updates via ProtectUK, Gov.uk, SIA.gov.uk and the Home Office and SIA social media channels.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of responsibility on (a) banks and (b) receiving firms to (i) share information quickly and (ii) freeze funds in cases of fraud.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office continues to work with financial institutions, regulators, and law enforcement to ensure responsibilities for preventing and responding to fraud are clear and effective.
The Payment Services (Amendment) Regulations 2024, effective October 2024, granted banks powers to delay and investigate payments suspected of being fraudulent for up to 72 hours. The change is designed to protect consumers from scams and ensure funds can be frozen before they reach fraudsters.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) introduced new provisions, effective January 2024, that allow anti-money laundering (AML) regulated firms to share customer information, provided UK GDPR safeguards are met. These measures aim to create a networked approach to economic crime risk, enabling faster detection and disruption of fraud.
The Government is working to develop a strategy for cross-system data sharing that brings benefits for the public and private sector. The strategy will enhance the exploitation of the vast datasets held across ecosystem by using modern technology, bringing together organisations and capabilities to better prevent, detect, and pursue economic crime.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing increased reimbursement requirements for victims of fraud.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Tackling the threat of fraud and supporting victims is a top priority for this government.
Reimbursement to victims remains an important way of mitigating the impact of fraud and incentivising industry to tackle the threat. The government and relevant regulators are continuously monitoring and reviewing the reimbursement regime to ensure its efficacy. More broadly, whilst reimbursement falls to payment service providers, we have used voluntary measures to work faster with tech companies to make sure their resources are deployed where the biggest difference will be made to disrupt fraud. This is in addition to underpinning telecommunications and online regulation enforced by Ofcom.
The government also recognises that the impact of fraud goes beyond financial losses, as victims can suffer serious financial and emotional harm. That is why we have taken various steps to improve the victim support system. This includes rolling out the National Economic Crime Victim Care unit to all police forces in England and Wales and improving the service victims receive. A revised fraud strategy will be produced in early 2026.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support victims of fraud.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Tackling the threat of fraud and supporting victims is a top priority for this government.
Reimbursement to victims remains an important way of mitigating the impact of fraud and incentivising industry to tackle the threat. The government and relevant regulators are continuously monitoring and reviewing the reimbursement regime to ensure its efficacy. More broadly, whilst reimbursement falls to payment service providers, we have used voluntary measures to work faster with tech companies to make sure their resources are deployed where the biggest difference will be made to disrupt fraud. This is in addition to underpinning telecommunications and online regulation enforced by Ofcom.
The government also recognises that the impact of fraud goes beyond financial losses, as victims can suffer serious financial and emotional harm. That is why we have taken various steps to improve the victim support system. This includes rolling out the National Economic Crime Victim Care unit to all police forces in England and Wales and improving the service victims receive. A revised fraud strategy will be produced in early 2026.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help protect parliamentarians from espionage carried out by foreign intelligence services.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce works closely with Parliament and the Parliamentary Security Department (PSD), to raise awareness and strengthen the protection of our Parliamentarians and their teams against a range of threats including foreign interference and espionage.
As Chair of the DDTF, I wrote to all Members of Parliament in July to highlight the security offers available to them. On 13 October 2025, MI5’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) published guidance for Parliamentarians, other elected officials and their staff to ensure awareness of the steps they can take to better protect themselves and the institutions they work in from state threats.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle anti-social behaviour in large housing developments.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
We understand that ASB causes great harm and misery to our communities, and, if left unchecked, can lead to more serious offending.
When tenants commit anti-social behaviour (ASB) it can cause misery for housemates, neighbours, and the wider community. While we are clear that it’s better to resolve issues without eviction, regaining possession is sometimes necessary, and landlords should have the tools they need to keep people safe.
That is why the Renters’ Rights Bill will shorten the notice period for the existing mandatory eviction ground, with landlords being able to make a claim to the court immediately in all cases of anti-social behaviour.
The Bill also amends the matters that judges must consider when deciding whether to award possession under the discretionary ground. This will ensure judges give particular regard to whether tenants have engaged with efforts to resolve their behaviour and the impact on other tenants within HMOs.
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 gives social landlords, the police and local authorities have a range of powers and tools to tackle housing related ASB, including a Civil Injunction under Section 1 of that Act, and local agencies are expected to use those powers promptly and proportionately, putting the needs of victims at the heart of their response.
We will crack down on those making neighbourhoods feel unsafe and unwelcoming by introducing the new Respect Order, which local authorities will be able to apply for and which will carry tough sanctions and penalties for persistent adult offenders.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Gloucestershire Constabulary on anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission and through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to police and other relevant agencies under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to improve the tools agencies have at their disposal to tackle ASB.
As part of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative Gloucestershire Constabulary have been focusing on Anti-Social Behaviour, Retail Crime and Street Crime in six town centres.
The Safer Streets Summer Initiative launched on 30 June and ran until 30 September 2025, targeting over 600 town centres across England and Wales, through visible policing and swift, meaningful consequences.
On 10 April, the Prime Minister announced the details of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee which includes that every force area will have a dedicated lead officer for ASB. They will work with communities to develop an action plan to reduce and prevent ASB. Forces will be expected to publish their respective plan by April 2026.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the processing of SET DV applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this government and our mission is to halve levels of violence against women and girls within a decade.
Migrant victims of domestic abuse can apply via form SET(DV) for immediate settlement under the Immigration Rules (Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse (Appendix VDA)). Appendix VDA provides for victims of domestic abuse who have, or were last granted, permission to stay as a partner under the family Immigration Rules where the sponsor is a British citizen, settled, a member of HM Forces, is in the UK with limited stay as a refugee or with pre-settled status under the EUSS.
SET(DV) is a bespoke application form that captures all the information required to make a decision under Appendix VDA. These applications are assessed by a dedicated domestic abuse caseworking team within the Home Office. They consider all the information and evidence provided in the round and whether, on the balance of probabilities, the applicant can be granted settlement as a victim of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to enable citizenship applicants to track the progress of their applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Citizenship customers can submit their application for British citizenship online, however they are not currently able to track it’s progress.
The service standard for the processing of a straightforward application for British citizenship is six months.
The most recent migration transparency data confirms that 99.36% of straightforward applications for citizenship are processed within service standard. This can be found at the following link: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
The Home Office does contacts customers and provides them with an update, where an application cannot be processed within the published service standard.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the time it will take UK Visas and Immigration to process its backlog of citizenship applications for people with indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The service standard for the processing of a straightforward application for British citizenship is six months.
The most recent migration transparency data confirms that 99.36% of straightforward applications for citizenship are processed within published service standard.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/migration-transparency-data#passports-citizenship-and-civil-registration