Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of recorded violent crimes resulted in a (a) charge and (b) summons in the last 12 months.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of violence against the person offences, and their investigative outcomes, including those assigned a charge/summons outcome, recorded by the police in England and Wales, on a quarterly basis. The latest information, to the year ending March 2025, has been published on 24th July, and can be accessed here:
It is not possible to separately identify charges and summonses.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of violent crime that is linked to gang activity.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and Home Office police recorded crime data contains information on violent crime and is published by the ONS (Crime in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics and the nature of violent crime: appendix tables - Office for National Statistics).
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officers in frontline roles are assigned to violent crime prevention units.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the primary function of police officers, as at 31 March each year, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Information is collected on the primary function of each officer, however, the specific team an officer is assigned to, such as “violent crime prevention unit”, is not collected. Information on the primary function of police officers is available in Table F1 of the data tables accompanying the ‘Police Workforce England and Wales’ publication here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f89ac37c38e28f3846871/police-workforce-mar25-tables-230725.ods.
Frontline policing is comprised of visible operational frontline roles and non-visible frontline roles, each of which contains specific functions. Further information on the functions included under visible operational frontline and non-visible frontline, including the definitions of each category can be found in Table F4 of the data tables accompanying the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ publication here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f89ac37c38e28f3846871/police-workforce-mar25-tables-230725.ods
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Pre-charge bail and released under investigation: Striking a balance, published on 8 December 2020, what recent discussions she has had with police forces on the (a) timeliness of (i) regular case reviews and (ii) updates to people released under investigation and (b) the steps those police forces are taking to (A) ensure the rights of those subject to investigation are respected and (B) maintain public confidence in relation to how suspects are dealt with after they are released from custody.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services regularly inspects police forces on their use of tools such as pre-charge bail and released under investigation (RUI) to manage offenders and protect victims and the wider public from harm. The College of Policing publishes and maintains the statutory guidance on the use of pre-charge bail, including guidance on RUI.
Recent police data suggests that the proportion of suspects on RUI is reducing, with a corresponding increase in the proportion of suspects on pre-charge bail. The Home Office continues to monitor the use of these powers. The latest data, covering the year to March 2024, was published on 27 February 2025 Police custody and pre-charge bail, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the causes of recent trends in serious violent crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Office for National Statistics publishes information on crime, including serious violent crime, on a quarterly basis. The latest information, for the year ending March 2025, shows that serious violence has fallen, including the first fall in knife crime for four years.
Homicide has also fallen, to 535 offences, down from 567 the previous year and there has been a 21% decline in offences involving firearms, to 5,103 offences.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) supermarkets and (b) food producers to mitigate the risk of shortages in key food staples.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise and carries out extensive, regular and ongoing engagement with supermarkets and producers in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many businesses have ceased trading since 4 July 2024; and what proportion of these closures were in the (a) hospitality, (b) retail and (c) construction sectors.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd July is attached.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the long-term resilience of food supply chains.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Defra and the Food Standards Agency have joint responsibility for food as a Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sector. Defra assesses the potential risks to the food supply chain, as outlined in the National Risk Register (NRR). Defra works with Cabinet Office, as leads for the NRR, and the wider resilience and CNI community across Government to ensure impacts to food supply are considered in risk assessments and contingency planning.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Single Justice Procedure notices are (a) served effectively and (b) received by the intended recipient.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Prosecutors using the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) are responsible for the service of SJP notices and these are presently served by first class post or by email. The Ministry of Justice does not have supervisory functions over SJP prosecutors, and it is the responsibility of the courts and the independent judiciary, to satisfy themselves that SJP notices have been served in accordance with the rules.
If a defendant is not aware of the proceedings they can make a statutory declaration which revokes the conviction, and they will then be required to submit a formal written response to the original SJP notice so that the process begins again.
The Government acknowledges the criticisms and shortcomings in the operation of the SJP and recognises the importance of ensuring that the SJP is accessible and fair to all defendants. That is why we launched a consultation on the oversight and regulation of private prosecutors which included a chapter on the SJP. The consultation closed on 8 May and work is ongoing to analyse the responses received and look at ways to reform the SJP which improves safeguards and efficiency in the process.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the proportion of Single Justice Procedure cases where the defendant did not respond to the notice and was convicted in absence.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of defendants who failed to respond to a Single Justice Procedure (SJP) notice and were therefore convicted in absence. Information and statistics on plea response for SJP cases is published here: Statistics in development – Single Justice Procedures – GOV.UK.
Defendant engagement is a key part of delivering fair justice. The Ministry of Justice continues to consider ways to support and encourage participation in the SJP process which is why we recently consulted on how the process can be improved. We will set out our plans shortly.