Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle motorcycle theft in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) nationwide.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our policing reform programme, we are introducing the most significant changes to policing in nearly 200 years. A central aim of this agenda is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing, including by lifting national responsibilities from local forces so they can focus on tackling the crimes that matter most locally, such as motorcycle and other vehicle theft.
We are also strengthening the powers available to the police. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are equipping officers with enhanced powers, including the ability to enter and search premises where stolen items that have been GPS tracked are reasonably believed to be located and where it is not practicable to obtain a warrant. This will enable the police to act more swiftly and effectively to recover stolen vehicles, including motorcycles.
We recognise the role of organised criminality in driving vehicle theft. Since 2024, the Home Office has committed almost £1 million (£970,000) in targeted funding through the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership to strengthen the law enforcement response to organised vehicle theft. This has supported enforcement activity inland and at ports to disrupt stolen vehicles and parts being exported, including through additional staff, police training and specialist equipment. A further £300,000 will be invested this year to build on this progress.
In the year to December 2025, the police in England and Wales recorded 115, 431 incidents of theft of a motor vehicle, including motorcycles. This is a decrease of 8% across compared with the previous year.
Police recorded crime data is not available at the level of parliamentary constituency, however the Home Office collects data at a Community Safety Partnership level.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her department uses when selecting locations for asylum accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office and its accommodation providers continually assess a range of potential accommodation options across the UK to meet statutory duties. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites will be made on a site-by-site basis and community cohesion is fully considered in site selection. We will ensure that any development is safe, appropriate and compliant with planning regulations.
Our accommodation providers ensure that consultation with local authorities is carried out in accordance with the requirements and standards set out in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts.
The Full Dispersal model works to ensure that asylum accommodation is equitably and fairly spread out across the country, meaning that a small number of local authorities are not unduly burdened. 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.
Whatever decisions are made regarding specific locations, we are clear that the impact on communities must be minimised. The safety and security of people living and working in the surrounding areas is paramount.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce benefits fraud.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has strong controls in place to tackle fraud and deliver savings. Since the Autumn Budget 2024 we have committed to delivering gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030 – 31 from fraud, error and debt activity.
Our activities include investments to deploy up to 3,000 additional staff within counter fraud teams, the continuation of Targeted Case Reviews (TCR) in Universal Credit to check claims at risk of being incorrect, the implementation of Pension Credit Claim Reviews (PCCR) and the introduction of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 (PAFER) which introduces new powers to better identify, prevent and deter fraud and error as well as continuing to prosecute those who commit benefit fraud.
Overall, levels of benefit fraud are the lowest since the pandemic and currently stand at 2.2%, compared to a peak of 3.0% in FYE 2022. This evidences the Department has strong controls in place to tackle fraud and deliver savings.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of people found guilty of benefits fraud in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has prosecuted cases of benefit fraud since 2012. DWP will refer cases where there is evidence that a claimant has deliberately claimed benefits they are not entitled to or provided false information. The decision to prosecute is decided by the CPS.
The DWP publishes yearly reports which includes data on the outcomes from our Counter Fraud teams, these can be found at: DWP annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve accessibility on trains.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that disabled passengers can travel by rail with confidence and independence. All rail vehicles in passenger service comply with the applicable accessibility requirements for disabled passengers. Through our Accessible Railways Roadmap, we are promoting more inclusive rolling stock design, improving the reliability of accessibility features and supporting the development of level boarding solutions.
We are also ensuring that accessibility is embedded in our forthcoming Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Strategy, while the creation of Great British Railways provides an opportunity to ensure future rolling stock is designed more consistently around the needs of passengers, including those with additional accessibility requirements.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to introduce step free access at Kirkby-in-Ashfield railway station.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The previous Government chose not to shortlist Kirkby-in-Ashfield station for accessibility upgrades in 2024. As such, there are currently no plans to upgrade Kirkby-in-Ashfield station, and funding for the current round of funding under the Access for All programme has been fully allocated
Future funding will be considered as part of the next Spending Review, which may provide an opportunity for stations such as Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
The process and timings for future rounds have not yet been decided, though the programme will be reformed as part of the transition to Great British Railways.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her department is taking to improve (a) ease of travel and (b) safety for visually impaired people on public transport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is committed to improving public transport services, so they are more inclusive and enable visually impaired people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all.
Our Bus Services Act 2025 includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local transport. Through the Act, we are helping authorities to provide safer and more accessible bus stations and stops and mandating more streamlined disability training for bus drivers and frontline staff. We are also requiring local authorities to regularly review the accessibility of their bus networks through the development and publishing of a Bus Network Accessibility Plan.
The government recognises the concerns which have been raised about floating bus stops in particular. Statutory guidance on the provision and design of floating bus stops was published on 26 January 2026 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/floating-bus-stops-provision-and-design/floating-bus-stops-provision-and-design. All traffic authorities in England, including in London, must have regard to this guidance.
We are also continuing the implementation of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations (AIR), which will require audible and visible destination and next stop information on board most local bus services by October 2026.
Ensuring the rail network is also accessible is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach to improving rail services. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and that is why we have published a roadmap to an accessible railway. It sets out what we are doing now to improve the day-to-day travelling experience for disabled passengers in the lead up to Great British Railways being established. We have completed a programme to install platform edge tactile paving at every station in Great Britain.
We are also committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The Charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers.