Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested for protesting the proscription of Palestine Action.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.
To be clear, those who want to oppose the proscription of Palestine Action can do so freely and lawfully – that is not itself an offence. It is an offence when protest is focused on showing support for an organisation that has been proscribed.
The Home Office releases statistics which cover arrests for terrorist-related activity on a quarterly basis. The latest release for the quarter ending June 2025 can be found here:
.Operational decisions, including arrests, are a matter for the police, who are independent of Government.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to educate communities on the rise of far right extremism.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government takes extremism seriously and has been clear that we will tackle far right extremism head on. We make no apology for that. We are committed to ensuring we have the required tools and powers needed to address this issue. Efforts to counter extremism span a broad range of Government and law enforcement activity and we must persist in our efforts to challenge extremist narratives, disrupt the activity of radicalising groups, and directly tackle the causes of radicalisation.
We work closely with frontline partners to tackle harmful ideologies, providing guidance and training on the threat from all extremist ideologies and how to spot the signs of radicalisation.
Civil Society Organisations are vital partners in the delivery of targeted Prevent project work. They support local partners in building resilience to radicalisation and supporting early intervention within communities, including countering extreme right-wing narratives.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) race and (b) religious hate crimes took place in Blyth and Ashington constituency between September (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes official statistics on hate crimes at the Police Force Area level. The latest published information for the year ending March 2024, including for Northumbria Police, can be found here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK
Information on hate crimes recorded by the police in the year ending March 2025 is due to be published on the 9 October.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of prosecutions of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
In the year ending 30 June 2025, 83 persons were tried for terrorism-related offences, an increase of 5 compared with the year ending June 2024 and 16 more than the average over the last 10 years (67). 80 of those 83 (96%) persons tried were convicted. Conviction rates have remained consistently high in recent years, with the highest conviction rate on record in the year ending 31 December 2024 (98% - 84 out of 86 trials resulting in conviction). This is a testament to the sustained efforts of CT Policing and the Crown Prosecution Service in securing record convictions for terrorism-related offences.
These statistics are routinely published by the Home Office as part of its quarterly reporting on the ‘Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation’.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many registered sex offenders have no fixed accommodation.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Qualifying offenders (i.e., those convicted for an offence in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003) are required to notify personal details to the police. This system is often referred to as the ‘sex offenders’ register’ and requires offenders to provide specified details annually and whenever those details change. Registered sex offenders with no fixed abode are required to notify their details every seven days.
The information provided to the police, and other relevant information, is stored on the ViSOR database which allows for the recording and sharing of information relevant to an offender’s risk between the police and other relevant agencies. The Ministry of Justice publishes annual statistics about (the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA). The most recent statistics were published on 31 October and showed that on 31 March 2024, 70,052 sex offenders were managed under MAPPA. Those statistics relate to MAPPA as a system: the volumes of offenders managed at the three different risk levels, or the volumes of risk management tools (such as sexual harm prevention orders) made by a court in the reporting year. There are no plans to include information about offenders with no fixed abode in this publication.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many properties are being used to house asylum seekers in Wansbeck as of 19 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority, although not broken down into hotels or other accommodation can be found in the attached link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are housed in Wansbeck as of 19 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority, although not broken down into hotels or other accommodation can be found in the attached link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) prioritise applications for asylum and (b) reduce waiting times for those applications.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
To accelerate decision making we are streamlining and modernising the end-to-end process, with improved guidance, enhancing use of digital technology, and introducing more efficient ways to handling claims.
We have already doubled our decision makers over the last 2 years, and we are continuing to recruit more. This will take our expected number of decision makers to 1,800 by this summer and 2,500 by September 2023.
We are making good progress and, as of the end of May 2023 (based on provisional data), the legacy backlog has reduced by over 17,000 cases since the end of November 2022.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to improve public recognition of the sacrifice made by police officers killed in service.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It is important that we recognise the vital role the police play in society. This is never more true than when officers and staff make the ultimate sacrifice in order to help keep us safe. That is why the Government supported the creation of the National Police Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum and enshrined the Police Covenant in law.
All UK honours and medals are in the personal gift of HM The Queen under the Royal prerogative. The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medal (HD Committee) gives advice to The Queen on honours matters, including new forms of official national recognition.
The Honours and Appointments Secretariat in the Cabinet Office supports the Committee and will consider the options for recognition.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the introduction of a posthumous Elizabeth medal to recognise police officers who lose their lives on the front line of policing.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It is important that we recognise the vital role the police play in society. This is never more true than when officers and staff make the ultimate sacrifice in order to help keep us safe. That is why the Government supported the creation of the National Police Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum and enshrined the Police Covenant in law.
All UK honours and medals are in the personal gift of HM The Queen under the Royal prerogative. The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medal (HD Committee) gives advice to The Queen on honours matters, including new forms of official national recognition.
The Honours and Appointments Secretariat in the Cabinet Office supports the Committee and will consider the options for recognition.