Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of current powers available to police officers to address anti-social behaviour in North West Norfolk constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, including Norfolk Constabulary, with a range of tools and powers that they can use to respond to anti-social behaviour. These powers are kept under review to ensure they remain effective. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are making our streets and neighbourhoods safer by strengthening the powers available to the police and other agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour. This includes introducing new Respect Orders to give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most persistent adult anti-social behaviour offenders, and 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. |
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of police staffing levels in Norfolk.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. An effective, well-supported police service is central to achieving this.
All members of the police workforce play a vital role in delivering an effective police service to communities across England and Wales. As at 31 March 2025, Norfolk Constabulary had a total paid workforce of 3,193 full-time equivalent (FTE). This includes, a total of 1,911 (FTE) police officers, 1,281 (FTE) police staff and designated officers and 101 (FTE) special constables.
It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions, to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. This includes how best to allocate the resources at their disposal to provide an effective service to local communities.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61219 on Government Departments: Reviews, how many lines of activity in her Department were considered as part of the zero based review.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
At Spending Review 2025, the government conducted the first zero-based review (ZBR) of department budgets in 18 years, with every line of spending scrutinised to ensure value for money.
Through the zero-based review, the Home Office carried out a line by line review of its current budgets. The review involved differing levels of granularity depending on the type and size of expenditure under review.
To ensure consistency in approach, cross-government guidance set expectations for the level of granularity each review should consider, recommending that departments review all spending within individual programme expenditure – at a minimum reflecting any lines of spending in excess of £1m per annum.
Savings identified through this process will support delivery of the government's commitment for all departments to deliver at least 5% savings and efficiencies by 2028-29.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to house asylum seekers in North West Norfolk constituency.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The priority is to ensure that the procurement of secure, safe and sustainable dispersed accommodation is carried out in a fair and equitable manner so that the Home Office continues to meet its statutory obligations while also carefully considering the impact on local areas.
The Home Office operates a Full Dispersal model which works to ensure that asylum accommodation is equitably and fairly spread out across the country. Dispersed accommodation offers accommodation that delivers better value for money for the taxpayer and helps the Home Office work towards the fair and equitable spread of accommodation. The Home Office continues to work with local government to allocate asylum seekers based on a range of evidence, including the availability of housing, pressure on services and community cohesion.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle the theft of farm machinery in rural areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We will be implementing the Equipment Theft Act, which is aimed at preventing equipment being stolen, making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen vehicles and equipment and assisting the police with identifying the owner.
We published the Government Response to the Call for Evidence on 17 October which sets out the scope for the necessary secondary legislation to be introduced.
The Act’s secondary legislation will require forensic marking to be applied to new All-Terrain Vehicles and for the details to be registered on a property database, for forensic marking to be applied to all new GPS units for use in agricultural and commercial settings, and for the details to be registered on a property database
Additionally, the Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, which will help the police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.
This financial year we are providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit. This funding will enable the Unit to continue to increase collaboration across police forces, harnessing the latest technology and data to target the serious organised crime groups involved in crimes like equipment theft from farms.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders have (a) been deported more than once and (b) returned to the UK since being deported in each year since 2019.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on FNO returns in the quarterly Immigration System Statistics release. Quarterly data on enforced, voluntary and port FNO returns (of which ‘deportations’ are a legal subset) are published in table Ret_D03 of the Returns detailed datasets accompanying the release.
Information on FNOs who have been deported more than once, or who have returned to the UK after deportation, is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
A deportation order requires a person to leave the UK and prohibits them from lawfully entering the UK while it remains in force. Entering in breach of a deportation order is a criminal offence under section 24(1)(a) of the 1971 Act, with a maximum sentence of five years under section 40 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59412 on Government Departments: Reviews, if her Department will publish the line by line review of its spending conducted for the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was given on 17 June to Question 59412.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officers from Norfolk Constabulary have provided mutual aid to the Metropolitan Police for policing protests since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office does not record this information. However, we know that mutual aid has been provided to the Metropolitan Police from all other forces to support the policing efforts linked to wider protest activity since October 2023.
Mutual aid is a daily occurrence across UK policing and operates at regional and national level.