Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2026 to Question 99931, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of illegal number plates on national security, serious organised crime, terrorism and the effectiveness of ANPR systems.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Vehicle registration marks are essential for identifying vehicles involved in crime. Individuals engaged in serious and organised crime, terrorism and other high‑harm offending often rely on the UK’s road network to facilitate their criminal activities.
We work closely with policing partners, the DVLA and other agencies to understand and mitigate risks posed by illegal or obscured number plates. The Home Office supports efforts to prevent their use and to strengthen ANPR effectiveness through investment and enforcement activity. ANPR remains a valuable tool to help the police tackle crime and keep the road safe. We keep the effectiveness of ANPR use under regular review, to ensure it remains a robust tool for identifying vehicles of interest and those engaged in criminal activities.
Comprehensive advice and guidance is available via the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO), which includes signposting to a suite of Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) products and counter-measures. The specialist advice regarding HVM includes up-to-date technical resources and best practice advice regarding their deployment, and is available from these organisations.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent police officers were recorded for Essex Police in each of the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024; and what comparative data the Government holds on changes in officer numbers for Essex Police since 2019.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales, on a bi-annual basis, as at 31 March and 30 September each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Data for this release are collected at Police Force Area (PFA) level as a snapshot at 31 March and 30 September only. As such, data for Essex Police as at 1 July 2024 is not available.
The latest information covers the situation as at 31 March 2025. Information on the number of police officers (on both a full-time equivalent and headcount basis), broken down by PFA, at the end of each financial year (31 March) from 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Police Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f314d8adf4250705c96fa/open-data-table-police-workforce-230725.ods.
Data on the police workforce as at 30 September 2025 is due to be published on 28 January 2026.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) headcount and (b) full time equivalent police officer workforce was on (a) 1 July 2024 and (b) the most recent date for which data is available in Essex Police; and what the net change was over that period.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales, on a bi-annual basis, as at 31 March and 30 September each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Data for this release are collected at Police Force Area (PFA) level as a snapshot at 31 March and 30 September only. As such, data for Essex Police as at 1 July 2024 is not available.
The latest information covers the situation as at 31 March 2025. Information on the number of police officers (on both a full-time equivalent and headcount basis), broken down by PFA, at the end of each financial year (31 March) from 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Police Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f314d8adf4250705c96fa/open-data-table-police-workforce-230725.ods.
Data on the police workforce as at 30 September 2025 is due to be published on 28 January 2026.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the full enforcement of Electronic Travel Authorisation checks on travel disruption for British dual nationals; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure airlines, travel agents and affected British citizens are informed of the requirement to travel with a valid British (a) passport and (b) certificate of entitlement.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UK nationals are not eligible for an ETA. Under UK immigration legislation, the requirement to obtain an ETA cannot be applied to British citizens (including those with dual nationality). A dual British citizen may only evidence their right of abode in the UK, at the UK border, with a valid British passport or other passport endorsed with a certificate of entitlement (CoE) to the right of abode. The Government has worked extensively with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that this is communicated effectively to carriers, the wider travel sector, and British citizens in ETA-eligible countries. We recognise that this is a significant change for millions of travellers, and that is why we have allowed ample time between ETAs first being introduced in 2023 and the move to enforcement.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment (a) her Department and (b) the National Crime Agency have made of the potential impact of extended family networks on facilitating the use of informal value transfer systems, including hawala, for the purposes of money laundering, terrorist financing and people trafficking.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The latest version of the Government’s National Risk Assessment (NRA) of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing was published in July 2025, and reflects expert contributions from government, law enforcement and the private sector. The NRA 2025 specifically covers the risks from Informal Value Transfer Systems (IVTS), including Hawala networks. The NRA notes that IVTS can be exploited by criminals and terrorist actors. Furthermore, where IVTS are identified in UK money laundering investigations, they are principally linked to international laundering networks given their access to stores of value in locations which are useful to criminals.
In addition, the NCA published a National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime in 2025 (the NSA). The NSA identifies that IVTS are a widely used method of transferring money and are legal in the UK as long as the operator adheres to the Money Laundering Regulations and registers with HMRC for supervision. However, it is also known that serious and organised criminals use IVTS as a parallel banking facility due to the perception of lower chances of detection.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer to Question 97331 on Airports: Immigration Controls, for what reason Border Force set queue time service standards at passport control.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The service standards for wait times at passport control, which Border Force publish against, stem from a Ministerial decision to monitor performance more accurately at the border.
A huge amount of work is involved to keep passenger wait times to a minimum, whilst maintaining border security, and we remain fully committed to working with our partners to minimise delays. Monitoring wait times, amongst other internal performance indicators, allows us to do just that.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) full time equivalent police officers and (b) headcount police officers there were in Essex Police as at 31 March in each financial year since 2019-20; and how many police officers (i) joined and (ii) left Essex Police in each of those years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of police officers in post, and police officers joining and leaving the police service, on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis, 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 on the number of police officers in post in Essex Police as at 31 March 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f314d8adf4250705c96fa/open-data-table-police-workforce-230725.ods.
Information on the number of police officers joining Essex Police between the years ending 31 March 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Joiners Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687a363b312ee8a5f0806b7b/open-data-table-police-workforce-joiners-230725.ods.
Information on the number of police officers leaving Essex Police between the years ending 31 March 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687a364d312ee8a5f0806b7c/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-230725.ods.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ghost plates pose on (a) national security and (b) the ability of hostile or organised criminal actors to evade detection by ANPR technology; and whether she has commissioned a cross-government review on the potential impact of the use of illegal plates on investigative leads, including those related to violent crime, terrorism, and serious organised criminal activity.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Under the new Road Safety Strategy, published on 7 January by the Department for Transport, the Government has announced firm action to tackle illegal or ‘ghost’ numberplates. This includes consulting on tougher penalties, including penalty points and vehicle seizure, more robust checks on number plate suppliers, and higher industry standards for numberplates. We also intend to commission targeted research to explore the potential use of artificial intelligence to identify illegal plates.
In addition, the Government has pledged £2.7m for each of the next three years to support a roads policing innovation programme. As part of this innovation programme, the Department for Transport and Home Office are working in collaboration with National Police Chiefs' Council and others to consider new approaches to tackling the issue of illegal plate usage.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Department has made of whether funding arrangements for NaVCIS are adequate to meet levels of operational demand across the freight and logistics sector.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy.
The Government does not fund NaVCIS. Instead NaVCIS is funded by industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers.
NaVCIS is a national policing unit that provides dedicated specialist intelligence, and it engages with a range of partners to tackle organised vehicle crime.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the net zero targets for the Home Office and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Net Zero target and timelines for the Home Office and its arm’s Length bodies, are those which are set out in the Climate Change Act 2008 as a target for the UK.
These targets form part of the Greening Government Commitments (GGC), which is the central framework for UK Government Departments and their agencies to reduce their impacts on the environment, including targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.
The Greening Government Commitments are currently under review by DEFRA, to ensure that they remain aligned with government priorities.