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 impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] on legal professional privilege, in the context of Information Commissioner powers to review documents covered by legal professional privilege.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
An assessment of the impact of all of the measures contained in the Bill, including legal professional privilege, was published [on the 24th October] Parliament website at: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/56548/documents/5221 [prior to Second Reading in the Lords].
The Government has no plans to carry out any further assessments of the impact of LPP, (on the Information Commissioner or any other body).
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse to be published.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Baroness Louise Casey is currently completing her audit into the nature, scale and characteristics of grooming gangs offending.
I updated the House on 2 June that Baroness Casey has requested a short extension to her work from the Home Secretary to allow her to speak directly to victims, fully access the scale of the issue, and submit meaningful evidence-based recommendations to further tackle this abhorrent criminality.
We expect to receive the report very shortly. We will then set out a comprehensive response, as well as next steps on the action we have already announced.
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 her Department has made of the potential impact of the continued operation of UK-registered charities with links to hostile foreign regimes on national security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government's first duty is to protect our national security and keep our country safe. In concert with partners, we will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and its people, from state threats. We do not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats.
The Charity Commission for England and Wales has a statutory function to identify and investigate misconduct and mismanagement in charities. We are confident that it has the expertise to do so effectively.
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 impact of (a) section 21 and (b) other provisions within the Renters' Rights Bill on fixed-term asylum accommodation procured by her Department.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.
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 has provided guidance to the police on pro-Palestinian encampments at universities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The College of Policing is responsible for providing guidance to police.
The College’s Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice covers a wide range of events and operations, including protests and disorder.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) rules and (b) processes for the extradition of dual nationals differ to UK nationals.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The rules and processes under UK Extradition law and practice apply equally irrespective of the nationality of the Requested Person.
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 unregulated online pornography on violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government published the final report of the Independent Pornography Review on 27 February 2025 and issued an initial statement in response addressing the important issues it raised. . The findings of the Review continue to be assessed by the Government, including as part of our work to halve Violence Against Women and Girls in a decade, and a further update will be provided in due course.
Already, from 17 March 2025 services in scope of the Online Safety Act must take action to tackle illegal pornographic content. By July 2025, all services that allow pornography will also need to have highly effective age-checks in place to protect children from accessing it.
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 the letter from Lord Sharpe to the Chair of the Animals in Science Committee, published on 1 March 2024, whether the Home Office will issue a policy advice note to (a) discourage and (b) prohibit the use of the Forced Swim Test.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The letter from Lord Sharpe was issued under the previous Government. I can however, issue an update. The Home Office Regulator has reviewed all licences authorising the use of the Forced Swim Test (FST) under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Regulator has subsequently liaised with licence holders where necessary to implement the recommendations of the Animals in Science Committee.
The number of project licences that authorises the FST in Great Britain has decreased from nine on the 1 March 2024, to a current total of only four licences. All of these licences are due to expire by 2028.
The Home Office Regulator will, through audit and regulatory processes, assure that relevant establishments apply robust scientific justification, ethical oversight and the 3Rs fully and consistently across all applicable licences.
This Government has set a manifesto commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing” and will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to animal testing later this year. This strategy supports the current scientific direction on reducing use of the FST (www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230021001434).
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 18 March 2025 to Question 37318 on Animal Experiments: Animal Welfare, how many animals were bred for use in procedures licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 but deemed surplus and disposed of without being used for scientific purposes in the last full calendar year for which data is available.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The most recent statistics in this category were published in 2017, when 1.81 million non-genetically altered (non-GA) animals were bred for scientific procedures but were killed or died without being used in regulated procedures. These statistics can be found here:
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the National Security Technology and Innovation Exchange has been closed.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The functions of National Security Technology and Innovation Exchange will be taken forward within other national security teams, building on the capabilities, practices and networks successfully established since it was formed in 2021.