Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2023 to Question 136690 on Dinitrophenol, what information her Department holds on any previous legal uses of 2,4-dinitrophenol, including when they ceased.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
No specific research has been commissioned by the Home Office to investigate ways in which 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP) has been used legitimately in Great Britain in the past.
From discussions with stakeholders and from open-source research on DNP, the Home Office is aware that DNP had historically been legally used as a treatment for weight-loss before being declared unfit for human consumption in 19381. Information available online also suggests that DNP has had industrial uses as a fertiliser before the Agriculture (Poisonous Substances) Act 1952 was introduced to regulate its use2. Media reporting on DNP has also listed previous industrial uses in pesticides and industrial dyes, though the Home Office has no further information on the use of DNP for these purposes.
In 2022, responses to the public consultation on amendments to the Poisons Act did not indicate that any members of the public who responded to the consultation used DNP for any legitimate purposes.
1Public Health England, 2013 - PHE supports FSA warnings over deadly weight loss supplement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
2Agriculture (Poisonous Substances) Act 2952 - Agriculture (Poisonous Substances) Act 1952 (legislation.gov.uk)
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any legitimate uses of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) were identified during her Department's consultation on adding DNP to the poisons list.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Between December 2021 – March 2022, the Home Office ran a public consultation on potential amendments to the Poisons Act 1972. The consultation proposed a number of measures, including a proposal to add 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) and its derivatives including sodium dinitrophenolate as a regulated poison under the Act. Responses were submitted through an online survey on gov.uk, by email and by post.
In total 128 responses were collected in the consultation. Of these responses, zero responses were received indicating the use of 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP) or derivatives including sodium dinitrophenolate. As no responses were received indicating members of the public were using DNP for legitimate purposes, it was considered proportionate to proceed with regulating DNP as a poison under the Poisons Act.
The Government response to the public consultation can be found at Annex A of the Impact Assessment for the Control of Explosives Precursors and Poisons Regulations 2023, available online here: The Control of Explosives Precursors and Poisons Regulations 2023 (legislation.gov.uk).
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were refused entry to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not hold data on those refused entry to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant. Border Force officers have the power to detain an individual subject to an EAW, pending the arrival of the police. Statistics are not kept on EAW arrests made at the border.
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on (a) the level of reported property crime including burglaries for each of the last five years in Worcester and (b) the proportion of such crimes that have been solved.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
Data supplied by police forces and held by the Home Office relate to the number of property crimes recorded by (rather than reported to) the police. Figures for each of the last 5 years for South Worcestershire Community Safety
Partnership (CSP) are given in the table. The whole of the Worcester constituency is contained within this CSP.
The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the outcomes of crimes at CSP level. This information is only held at police force area level.