Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions (a) ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisors had with chief constables on the deployment of armed officers at Christmas markets in England and Wales in 2024.

Whilst the Home Office works closely with policing to consider security and to share information where appropriate, the operational deployment of police officers (including armed officers), and security considerations for individual sites, are decisions for operationally independent Chief Constables.