Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to update guidance for police forces on the investigation of (a) false and (b) malicious allegations as potential criminal offences.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 5 of the Criminal Law Act 1967 sets out that wasting police time is a criminal offence, which includes by knowingly making a false report.
Furthermore, the Common Law offence of perverting the course of justice could also be considered by police and the Crown Prosecution Service when investigating and making a decision on whether an offence has been committed.
The Home Office has no plans to amend or update any existing guidance in use by police in relation to these matters.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 gender bias in policing responses to allegations of domestic abuse or related offences; and what steps she is taking to ensure parity of treatment for all parties under investigation.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The government recognises the devastating impact that domestic abuse can have for all victims, of any gender.
Domestic abuse is serious, and we expect police to take all allegations seriously from the point of disclosure. Every victim should be treated with dignity and every investigation and prosecution should be conducted thoroughly and professionally.
We are investing £13.1 million in a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection, which will transform the way police respond to domestic abuse through strengthened training, support to forces and evidence-based practice.
We are committed to ensuring policing have the right skills and training to respond appropriately to all victims of domestic abuse, and we are working closely with the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection to deliver this.
The government is absolutely committed to tackling domestic abuse in all its forms and achieving the best possible outcome for all victims.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Graduate visas made from within the UK used (a) the standard service, (b) the priority service, and (c) the super-priority service in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Published data on Graduate visa applications can be found here, Visa, status and immigration data: April to June 2025 including data on standard, priority and super-priority applications.
Filter 'Graduate' on the 'VSI_01a" tab
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the amount of time taken by police forces to complete digital advice examinations; and what steps her Department is taking to help reduce those times.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are aware that the amount of time taken by forces to examine digital devices varies considerably, but that urgent requests are always prioritised.
Chief Constables, and ultimately Police and Crime Commissioners, are currently responsible for forensics procurement and delivery, with some regional coordination. We are exploring the creation of a specialist national capability for police forensics, within the proposed National Centre for Policing, and have recruited a Director of Forensic Services to stabilise and reform forensics in the meantime.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent applications being delayed due to administrative errors by HM Passport Office.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
His Majesty’s Passport Office is exceeding its performance indicator of 98.5% of standard UK passport applications where no further information is required being processed within three weeks. Performance data can be found in the most recent Transparency Data release at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Alongside its delivery of these high standards of performance, HM Passport Office will always endeavour to resolve an error as quickly as possible, and continues to work to identify improvements that will help to meet the needs of its customers.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the resources available to (a) Greater Manchester Police and (b) other police forces to seize illegal off-road bikes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. That is why the Government is investing in restoring communities and providing the police with the resources they need.
The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement. Greater Manchester will receive up to £871.2 million in 2025/26, an increase of up to £55.6 million when compared to 2024/25.
The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles of all types, including off-road bikes, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles. And the Government recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to more quickly dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially. The consultation closed on 8 July and the Government response will be published in due course.
These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and will send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of (a) 30 April 2025 to Question 46025 and (b) 24 April 2025 to Question 38415, whether her Department has considered aligning the data collection processes of police forces in relation to (i) contacts with individuals experiencing suicidal ideation and (ii) incidents where a suicide is in progress with the equivalent data collection processes used by UK Fire and Rescue Services in order to ensure consistent recording of such incidents across frontline.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data from police on calls about suicidal ideation or where an apparent suicide is in progress and has no current plans to do so.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of illegally modified e-bikes confiscated from minors were initially bought by adults.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally hold data on the number of illegally modified e-bikes that have been confiscated by police in England and Wales.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on (a) salaries and (b) other related costs for (i) offices and (ii) staff for Police and Crime Commissioners in each of the last five years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Home Office does not provide specific funding for the offices of Police and Crime Commissioners. Core funding for policing is determined annually through the Police Funding Settlement. Total direct funding in 2025-26 is up to £17.6 billion.
It is for PCCs to determine the level of support they need to exercise their statutory functions and deliver their objectives. The size and composition of the Office of the PCC and decisions as to salaries are also a matter for PCCs.
PCCs are under a duty to publish certain information to ensure transparency in their decision-making and enable the public to hold them to account. This includes information relating to budgets and the composition of their office.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 caused by the use of e-scooters in (a) town centres and (b) neighbourhoods.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Home Office does not centrally hold data on the number of illegally modified or off-road bikes that have been seized by police in England and Wales, and could only collate that information for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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. As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, £200 million has been allocated to forces for 2025/26 to support the Government’s commitment to deliver additional personnel into neighbourhood policing. This includes ensuring that every force area will have a dedicated lead officer for anti-social behaviour who will work with communities to develop an action plan to reduce and prevent ASB.
The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles of all types, including e-scooters and off-road and illegally modified bikes, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles. The Government also recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to more quickly dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially.