Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help protect (a) police officers, (b) immigration officers and (c) other public sector workers from online harassment by people who film and publish deliberately confrontational encounters with them on social media platforms.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Nobody should face harassment in person, on social media or anywhere online.
The Online Safety Act (OSA) introduced a number of communication offences, including the false communications offence and which could include videos uploaded online. This offence captures communications where the individual knows the information to be false but sends it intending to cause harm, or intending for it to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience.
The Act requires services, including social media platforms, to implement robust measures to reduce the risks that users post illegal content, and to reduce the risk of users coming across this content. Moreover, platforms should also have their own terms, community guidelines or options for people to submit complaints to them and potentially have content removed, even if it may not be in breach of the Online Safety Act.
Anybody who believes online material may be in breach of the Online Safety Act or falls short of the social media provider’s policies should report it to the relevant company. We expect companies to take their legal obligations seriously.
It is a criminal offence to engage in behaviour that intentionally causes another person harassment, alarm, or distress, or for a person to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment. In some circumstances, the repeated filming of an individual could be captured under these offences. It is for the police to decide whether a particular offence applies in any given circumstance.
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 officers are currently assigned to the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service; what that Service’s annual budget is for the 2025-26 financial year; and what discussions she has had with that Service on the adequacy of its capacity to tackle organised HGV and freight thefts.
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. This Government is determined to crack down on it.
The Government does not fund the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS). NaVCIS is funded by industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers, to provide dedicated specialist intelligence and enforcement.
My officials have regular discussions with key partners, including Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, and NaVCIS about tackling organised freight 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 steps the Government is taking to ensure that defibrillators are routinely procured and installed in (a) police cars and (b) other frontline public service vehicles.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Provision of defibrillators in police and fire vehicles is an operational matter for either the individual police force or fire and rescue service to determine at local level.
The Home Office has been working to provide more defibrillators to all 43 forces across the country and recently purchased over 500 defibrillators to distribute to police forces free of charge, for them to deploy according to their local knowledge. We continue to work to explore what more could be done to increase availability of defibrillators more generally where this is within the remit of the Home Office, including through our ongoing engagement with the OurJay Foundation.
The Department for Health and Social Care has confirmed that all ambulances carry defibrillators.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 26 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what her planned timetable is for the publication of the Anti-Corruption Strategy.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Anit-Corruption Strategy will be published later this year, and will be set out to Parliament in the normal way.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authorities’ (a) powers and (b) resources to enforce Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) requiring dogs to be kept on leads in public parks; and what steps her Department is taking to support councils in (i) extending PSPO coverage where necessary and (ii) improving public (A) awareness and (B) enforcement to reduce dog-related incidents in shared green spaces.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police and local authorities with a range of flexible tools and powers, including Public Spaces Protection Orders, that they can use to tackle dog-related incidents in public spaces.
Appropriate use of the powers is a local decision for local authorities, police and other agencies. The Home Office regularly engages with police and local authority partners to discuss the effectiveness of the legislation.
We are making changes to some of the powers in the 2014 Act via the Crime and Policing Bill to ensure the powers – based on engagement with police and local authorities – are as effective as possible. These changes include increasing the upper limit for a fixed penalty notice for breach of a Public Spaces Protection Order from £100 to £500 to act as a stronger deterrent to anti-social behaviour, including dog-related incidents in public spaces.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging police forces to establish ringfenced neighbourhood policing units with a dedicated remit to tackle (a) illegal e-scooter use, (b) public disorder, (c) low-level crime and (d) other antisocial behaviour.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Restoring neighbourhood policing is at the heart of the Government’s Plan for Change and on 10 April the Prime Minister and Home Secretary outlined further details about our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Through the Guarantee, by July, every community will have named, and contactable officers dedicated to addressing local issues. These officers will play a vital role in preventing and responding to crime at all levels by building trust, gathering intelligence, and maintaining a visible presence in communities.
The Guarantee will also ensure that neighbourhood policing teams hold regular local beat meetings that residents and businesses can use to raise concerns and help shape local policing priorities.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to police and other relevant agencies under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to improve the tools agencies have at their disposal to tackle ASB. This includes introducing new Respect Orders to tackle the most persistent adult ASB offenders, extending the maximum exclusion period for dispersal directions from 48 to 72 hours, and increasing the upper limit for a fixed penalty notice for breaches of a Public Spaces Protection Orders or a Community Protection Notice from £100 to £500.
The Bill will also enhance the 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.
To reinforce neighbourhood policing teams, we have made £200 million available in FY 25/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel across England and Wales, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by 31 March 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 recent assessment she has made of the (a) legal and (b) operational feasibility of local councils (i) establishing or (ii) co-funding neighbourhood policing constabularies under the Police Act 1996 in partnership with Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government remains firmly committed to ensuring strong neighbourhood policing across England and Wales. The 43 territorial police forces across England and Wales are responsible for neighbourhoods policing in their areas.
To reinforce neighbourhood policing teams, we are providing £200 million to police forces in the 2025/26 financial year to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales. Essex Police has been allocated £4,495,599 from the £200 million fund for 2025/26. Based on their funding allocation, the projected growth for neighbourhood officers in Essex Police over 2025/26 will be 74 (FTE) police officers.
The Government has also announced that by July, every community will have named, contactable officers dedicated to addressing local issues as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken with his German counterparts to facilitate more bi-lateral school visits since July 4 2024.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
During the Prime Minister's successful visit to Berlin on 28 August 2024, Chancellor Scholz and he agreed to work on a once-in-a-generation bilateral treaty between our countries, rooted in our shared values and common goals. Within the context of wider and strengthened migration cooperation, we agreed to develop arrangements with Germany similar to those we already have with France on school group travel. Significant progress has been made at working level on both the wider agreement and school group arrangements. The Government will provide updates on the rules regarding school groups travel in advance of any change.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds data on the number of instances where police have been unable to disclose (a) cautions and (b) convictions for child sexual offences to voluntary youth organisations due to legal restrictions.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme was introduced in 2011 and allows members of the public to make an application to police for information about a person who has contact with a child. The police guidance for the Scheme was updated in April 2023, which both modernised the Scheme and also formalised the process by which the police can make proactive disclosures when they are in receipt of information about a risk to a child or children without the need for an application by a member of the public.
The police have the common law power to disclose information about an individual where it is necessary to do so to protect another individual from harm. The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, including its proactive disclosure route, does not replace statutory safeguarding processes in place – such as the Disclosure and Barring Service, Subject Access requests, or Freedom of Information requests – and relevant referrals will still need to be made as required.
That being said, through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are working to place the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme on a statutory footing. This will ensure that police officers follow published guidance as they consider the disclosure of information when they suspect someone might pose a risk of sexual harm.
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 threshold is for police to make a proactive disclosure under the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme in the absence of a named child at immediate risk; and if she will review that threshold in the context of voluntary youth organisations.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme was introduced in 2011 and allows members of the public to make an application to police for information about a person who has contact with a child. The police guidance for the Scheme was updated in April 2023, which both modernised the Scheme and also formalised the process by which the police can make proactive disclosures when they are in receipt of information about a risk to a child or children without the need for an application by a member of the public.
The police have the common law power to disclose information about an individual where it is necessary to do so to protect another individual from harm. The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, including its proactive disclosure route, does not replace statutory safeguarding processes in place – such as the Disclosure and Barring Service, Subject Access requests, or Freedom of Information requests – and relevant referrals will still need to be made as required.
That being said, through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are working to place the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme on a statutory footing. This will ensure that police officers follow published guidance as they consider the disclosure of information when they suspect someone might pose a risk of sexual harm.