Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they, and the Metropolitan and other police forces, have on the identities of members of the group Bash Back.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to peacefully express their views, but they must do so within the bounds of the law.
Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the powers they need to respond.
It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.
There are a number of ongoing police investigations and court proceedings relating to potential criminal behaviour of individuals associated with the protest group, Bash Back. However, this process is independent of government and the Home Office does not hold complete data for arrests, charges, convictions or criminal justice outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the group Bash Back have been convicted of a crime relating to that group.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to peacefully express their views, but they must do so within the bounds of the law.
Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the powers they need to respond.
It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.
There are a number of ongoing police investigations and court proceedings relating to potential criminal behaviour of individuals associated with the protest group, Bash Back. However, this process is independent of government and the Home Office does not hold complete data for arrests, charges, convictions or criminal justice outcomes.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, further to the Ofcom "Call for input: Review of postal regulation – pricing and affordability", of 4 November 2025, whether stamp prices for ordinary customers will have to cross-subsided the proposed reduction in stamp prices for those on the social tariffs.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As the independent regulator for postal services, Ofcom is responsible for decisions on price controls. The government does not have a role in Ofcom’s regulatory decisions.
Affordability is at the heart of Ofcom's regulatory framework. Ofcom will consult on any proposals, ahead of the expiry of the current control on Second Class letter prices in early 2027.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's news story entitled Illegal working raids reach highest level in UK history, published on 13 January 2026, how much of the £5 million additional funding for Immigration Enforcement has been allocated to operations in the North West.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The £5 million additional funding for Immigration Enforcement was provided to increase Illegal Working activity nationally and was not allocated regionally.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not hold this information centrally. The information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many incidents relating to the group Bash Back have been recorded by (1) the Metropolitan Police, and (2) other police forces, in each year from 2023 to 2026.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to peacefully express their views, but they must do so within the bounds of the law.
Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the powers they need to respond.
It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.
There are a number of ongoing police investigations and court proceedings relating to potential criminal behaviour of individuals associated with the protest group, Bash Back. However, this process is independent of government and the Home Office does not hold complete data for arrests, charges, convictions or criminal justice outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the activities of the group Bash Back, and what steps they are taking to prevent theft and destruction of property by that group.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to peacefully express their views, but they must do so within the bounds of the law.
Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the powers they need to respond.
It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.
There are a number of ongoing police investigations and court proceedings relating to potential criminal behaviour of individuals associated with the protest group, Bash Back. However, this process is independent of government and the Home Office does not hold complete data for arrests, charges, convictions or criminal justice outcomes.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal working enforcement raids were carried out in Lancashire between July 2024 and December 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.
Our published data on enforcement visits is available at: Immigration system statistics, year ending September 2025 - GOV.UK
Information about enforcement visits in Lancashire is not currently available in our published data.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the UK–France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, published on 5 August 2025, what support is available to individuals to ensure that they can provide biometrics for their application to come to the UK through that agreement.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, eligible individuals seeking to come to the UK must provide their biometrics at the visa application centre in Paris, France, in order to proceed. Applicants are provided sufficient notice to attend and supported in accordance with standard biometric processes.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that individuals who applied to purchase voluntary National Insurance contributions through the International Pensions Centre before the April 2025 deadline and experienced delays in their processing are not disadvantaged.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Telephony demand from individuals seeking to pay Voluntary National Insurance Contributions (VNICs) ahead of the 6th April 2025 deadline was significant. In response, DWP provided routes for individuals to register their interest in paying VNICs. DWP introduced an online call-back form, a route for citizens to register their interest over the telephone and where possible, individuals were sent confirmation text messages.
Where individuals registered an interest to pay VNICs on or before the April 2025 deadline, the Department is honouring pre-deadline rates for all, even if the payment of VNICs is made after the deadline. Customers who are over State Pension age and who paid VNICs, will receive an increase to their State Pension.
For individuals living overseas (who are already over State Pension age), all DWP call-back requests were completed before the end of December 2025.
Customers who are over State Pension age and who paid VNICs based on pre-deadline rates, will receive an increase to their State Pension. The pre-deadline contribution rates required to purchase the relevant qualifying years will be honoured.