Oral Answers to Questions

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

We have committed to introducing consultation, which we will do. Most deaths from legal guns are from shotguns, so we are always in the market to consider what more we can do. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have had lots of conversations and lots of debate about the value that gun use can bring to our sporting industry, our farmers and others, so we will get the balance right.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

The police funding formula disadvantages towns such as Dudley. We know that visible policing in town centres is essential when rebuilding public trust. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the formula needs updating to deliver fairer funding to Dudley, and that residents in St James’s should vote on 29 October for our Labour candidate Caroline Reid, who champions safer streets?

[Sarah Jones]

I agree with my hon. Friend; those residents should, of course, vote for Caroline Reid. We are putting more police into our neighbourhoods, and my hon. Friend’s area has received increased funding for the police. We understand the priorities of the British people, which include tackling the epidemic of everyday crime in our communities.

Asylum Accommodation

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

I am grateful for that question, and I am very aware of the Scottish Government’s New Scots programme. It is the clear position of the Scottish Government that they want to see people from outside Scotland coming to live there and being part of Scotland’s economic future. I am committed to working with Scottish counterparts to make that a reality. There is a challenge, because that sounds good in a global sense, but down at an individual level, it may sometimes seem less attractive. There are challenges in Scotland, particularly the fact that 60% of asylum seekers in Scotland are housed in Glasgow—that is an equity point in Scotland that I think could change. However, I absolutely will work with my Scottish counterparts. I have met them and will continue to do so.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Government’s closure of the asylum seeker hotel in Dudley. It was a Conservative party policy that was a complete waste of taxpayers’ money. What steps is the Minister taking to reduce the asylum backlog and the dangerous, illegal boat crossings?

[Alex Norris]

This is about quicker decision making, the commitment we have made to appeals reform and better collaboration with our European neighbours. Those elements are adding up to significant progress, which is why we have seen numbers fall. This is the next step to get us on the final leg of that journey.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

We are making some progress in this space. It may seem small, but there was a 1% fall in shop theft offences last year, and a 30% increase in the last year of the hon. Gentleman’s Government, so we are making progress. In particular, we are working hard on how we target prolific offenders more. We are using new technology and of course working with the private sector. Our Crime and Policing Act 2026 introduced new powers, so we are going to tackle shop theft in a way that the previous Government did not. We are also launching the centre for AI soon, which will give us new technology that we can use. We are bearing down on shop theft.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

Sadly, last week Dudley town centre fell victim to vandalism again. The new central seating area was damaged, impacting local businesses and footfall. I welcome the Government’s efforts to restore neighbourhood policing and our new police station, but what further steps will the Minister take to tackle antisocial behaviour and to take criminals off our streets and allow businesses to operate safely?

[Sarah Jones]

We are working hard to introduce respect orders, which will be really important in this space. I am happy to visit my hon. Friend to see exactly what the problems are and what we can do, but we are introducing whatever powers we can to tackle “low-level” antisocial behaviour—that is what the previous Government called it—which actually blights our communities.

Murder of Henry Nowak

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

The hon. Lady makes a really important point. She will know that we have legislated through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which became law just a few short weeks ago. The measures within the Act will be implemented at pace by this Government; they relate to the possession of weapons and the buying of weapons—whether online or elsewhere—and there are new duties on sellers of knives to report larger sales or bulk sales. The Government have introduced a broad range of measures to deal with the scourge of knife crime, and those measures have just become law. We will ensure that the law is implemented as quickly as possible, so that we can get on top of this issue.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

The death of Henry Nowak is a horrifying tragedy, and my thoughts are with his family, friends and community. We must honour the words of his father by not using this tragedy to create further hatred, division or tension, and the House should not go against those wishes. Henry’s family want action so that no other family goes through what they are going through right now. Will my right hon. Friend guarantee that she will go further and faster to tackle knife crime, so that no one fears walking the streets of the UK?

[Shabana Mahmood]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. Yes, I will.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

Let me condemn in the strongest possible terms all the antisemitic incidents that the hon. Gentleman has highlighted in his question. This Government will not stand for any antisemitism in our country, and we will take every step we can across Government to wipe out this evil from our society. He will know that I am reviewing police protest powers, and I have already made some announcements on changes that we will make. Lord Ken Macdonald is conducting a review, and I will not hesitate to take further legal steps in order to protect our Jewish community.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

What action is my right hon. Friend taking to disrupt the finances of the organised crime groups facilitating illegal migration to the United Kingdom, and what steps is her Department taking with international partners to prosecute those who are funding those operations, both domestically and internationally?

[Alex Norris]

I can report to the House that we have made 4,000 such disruptions of organised immigration crime. We are working with partners on all flows of illicit trafficking of peoples across the world, at every stage. We are of course working closely with our French neighbours, as well as all the way round the world, to disrupt those flows, and to send a clear signal to those who traffic in persons that their time is up.

Violence against Women and Girls Strategy

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

I absolutely agree. Schools need to play a vital part, as do the tech companies that have been identified, but absolutely there is a need for parents, who are often pulling their hair out trying to know the right thing to do. Parents who become abuse victims by children with some of those attitudes is a long under-served group within violence against women and girls. If we look at the femicide data, the number of matricides speaks to a broader problem. Ensuring that parents are part of the solution will be part of the strategy.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

Tackling violence against women and girls demands that victims be at the heart of decisions, and robust action. I look forward to the publication of the strategy. Does the Minister agree that locally commissioned domestic abuse services should have statutory representation and multi-agency risk assessment conference boards, backed by dedicated funding to strengthen support, improve safeguarding and deliver better criminal justice outcomes?

[Jess Phillips]

As somebody who has sat on a number of multi-agency risk assessment conferences over the years, what I will not do is just do what lots of people have done before. It is very easy to stand up and say, “a multi-agency response is the response to that”, but it just becomes words. It actually has to mean something. The strategy is not just something for one partner to do; it is for all of them.

Asylum Policy

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I endorse every word that he said.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

What measures is the Home Secretary taking to dismantle the criminal gangs that are exploiting both legitimate and illegitimate businesses to facilitate illegal channel crossings? Can she give us details of the regulatory action that is being taken to prevent the use of assets such as shops on our high streets, and to prevent the supply of life jackets, boats and other components needed for dangerous crossings by illegal immigrants and criminal gangs?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I can assure my hon. Friend that we are engaging in intense law enforcement work through the National Crime Agency, and we are working collaboratively with our partners in Europe, especially in France. There have already been 350 disruptions of organised immigration crime activity. We have confiscated numerous small boats ourselves, and we are also working with our European partners to do that. The sum total of all those efforts has been to prevent 20,000 illegal crossings across the channel already, and we will grow this work, because we know that it is an important part of how we deal with the problem of small boats.

Police Reform

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I am very sorry to hear about the incidents of crime that the hon. Lady mentioned, and I am very happy to talk more to her about that. Rural crime is incredibly important, and we are working hard on the rural crime strategy. I join her in praising Clare Moody for the work she has done, and I am grateful to the hon. Lady for recognising that the work of our police and crime commissioners has in many ways been excellent.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Labour Government’s progress on policing, including Dudley town centre’s new police station, which will open this year, and the new police officers being redeployed to Dudley borough in April. Given the urgent need for police reform, will the Minister go one step further and commit to reviewing the west midlands’ outdated funding formula, which does not align with local crime and deprivation levels?

[Sarah Jones]

My hon. Friend is right to raise the funding formula. As I said, the allocations will be set in the usual way this year. The White Paper on police reform will introduce some significant changes to how we do policing, making it much more efficient, productive and targeted at the crimes we want our police to be focused on. We will have more on that in due course.

Borders and Asylum

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

At the start of the summer, I welcomed the Government’s decisive action in sanctioning Chinese companies involved in manufacturing and supplying boats used by criminal gangs to facilitate dangerous channel crossings. Disrupting those supply chains is a vital part of smashing the gangs. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on what discussions she has had with international counterparts to co-ordinate efforts to target those companies and ensure that the sanctions are enforced globally?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is right to welcome the Foreign Secretary’s introduction of sanctions for criminal smuggler gangs, and this is the first time that has been done. We also have extensive co-operation through the National Crime Agency. For example, we have massively strengthened the co-operation with Iraq, because we know that Iraqi Kurdish gangs are operating in northern France. We have recently signed a new agreement with Iraq, as well as with Turkey, Bulgaria, Belgium, France and, crucially, with Germany, which is going to change its law to help us go after the criminal gangs and their supply chains. The work that is being done to disrupt supply chains is having an impact. It is significant, too, that we are seeing not only disruptions and arrests internationally as well as in the UK; we are also seeing fewer boats physically crossing, although the criminal gangs are resorting to overcrowding those boats instead.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

By speeding up the asylum process, so that people are not trapped in asylum hotels by huge backlogs, and by increasing decision making by 116%, following the 70% fall that we saw in the three months before the last election, we will get the system moving again.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

Over the past 14 years, police forces have faced significant cuts to personnel and resources. While many areas are returning to 2010 staffing levels, the west midlands still has 540 fewer officers. I support the efforts of the police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster. How can we address the funding gap caused by an outdated national formula that has disadvantaged my Dudley constituents?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is a passionate advocate for policing in her constituency. I hope she will welcome the increase for the west midlands of over 300 neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs. It comes at a time when we are putting 3,000 more neighbourhood police on the beat. We are also bringing in: new laws on off-road bikes and town centre crime; a ban on machetes, zombie knives and ninja swords; domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms; and new protections against terrorism for venues. That is action across the board to keep our communities safe.