Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of providing longer term funding for violence reduction units, beyond the current one year settlement.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Crime prevention is key to the government’s Safer Streets mission and ambition to halve knife crime. Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) play an important role by uniting local partners to collectively identify and address the underlying drivers of serious violence within their communities.
This financial year (2025/26), we have allocated £47m to a network of 20 VRUs, in the areas experiencing the most severe challenges, to support their valuable work. In addition, we have provided further funding to enable the roll out of Young Futures Panels in the first year of their establishment.
The most recently published independent evaluation demonstrates that VRUs, in combination with additional hotspot police patrols, are reducing hospital admissions, with a clear impact on their target cohort of young people under 25. There were statistically significant reductions in hospital admissions for violence amongst this age group. In addition, VRUs continue to demonstrate progress and show signs of maturing and becoming embedded in local responses to prevent violence.
Allocations decisions on Violence Reduction Units and the wider policing system will be finalised early this year.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will announce funding arrangements for Violence Reduction Units for future financial years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Crime prevention is key to the government’s Safer Streets mission and ambition to halve knife crime. Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) play an important role by uniting local partners to collectively identify and address the underlying drivers of serious violence within their communities.
This financial year (2025/26), we have allocated £47m to a network of 20 VRUs, in the areas experiencing the most severe challenges, to support their valuable work. In addition, we have provided further funding to enable the roll out of Young Futures Panels in the first year of their establishment.
The most recently published independent evaluation demonstrates that VRUs, in combination with additional hotspot police patrols, are reducing hospital admissions, with a clear impact on their target cohort of young people under 25. There were statistically significant reductions in hospital admissions for violence amongst this age group. In addition, VRUs continue to demonstrate progress and show signs of maturing and becoming embedded in local responses to prevent violence.
Allocations decisions on Violence Reduction Units and the wider policing system will be finalised early this year.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 proposed shotgun licensing reforms on rural employment.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. We intend to publish this consultation shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward during the consultation once it is completed, including from those who live and work in rural communities, before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. We will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we bring forward after the consultation, including to the business community in rural areas.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral answer of 26 November 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 1331, on West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans, if she will place all (a) correspondence, (b) minutes and (c) documents held by her Department on policing matches involving teams from Israel from 7 November 2024 in the Library.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
To ensure independent and transparent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events.
HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the intelligence relied upon by West Midlands Police when assessing risk for the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December. The Home Office has provided all requested material to HMICFRS and will continue to cooperate fully.
The Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments underpinning the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. The Policing Minister and a senior Home Office official gave evidence to the Committee, as did the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands. Correspondence and evidence submitted to the Committee are routinely published on its official website, ensuring full transparency.
The Home Office did not hold any discussions with West Midlands Police regarding potential counter-terror threats towards or from Maccabi Tel Aviv players or supporters prior to 6 November 2025.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral answer of 26 November 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 1331, on West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans, if she will publish West Midlands Police’s (a) intelligence materials and (b) its analysis that led to the decision to ban the Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
To ensure independent and transparent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events.
HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the intelligence relied upon by West Midlands Police when assessing risk for the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December. The Home Office has provided all requested material to HMICFRS and will continue to cooperate fully.
The Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments underpinning the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. The Policing Minister and a senior Home Office official gave evidence to the Committee, as did the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands. Correspondence and evidence submitted to the Committee are routinely published on its official website, ensuring full transparency.
The Home Office did not hold any discussions with West Midlands Police regarding potential counter-terror threats towards or from Maccabi Tel Aviv players or supporters prior to 6 November 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation were (a) not pursued or (b) discontinued by (i) police or (ii) prosecutors over the last ten years.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government does not currently hold information on the number of allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation that were not pursued or were discontinued by police or prosecutors in the last decade.
We are taking action to review relevant closed cases under the oversight of the new National Police Operation, Operation Beaconport. For the first time, it brings together police forces, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Child Sexual Exploitation Policing Taskforce, the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme and the National Crime Agency to ensure more perpetrators face justice.
Operation Beaconport has already identified over 1,200 cases from police forces across England and Wales that were closed with ‘No Further Action’, and of these, over 200 cases have been prioritised for initial review due to allegations of rape. This was the result of a first tranche of data collected following the Home Secretary’s ask in January. The Operation’s second tranche data request, which is much wider in scope to identify all relevant closed cases, is progressing.
On 10 December, the Home Office-funded Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce published data on cases of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse cases that are recorded by the police: Group-Based-Child-Sexual-Abuse-and-Exploitation-Data-12-months-of-data-from-January-December-2024-December-2025.pdf
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the difference in police response times to time-sensitive incidents such as (a) vehicle theft and (b) robberies of retail premises in (i) rural areas and (ii) urban areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 delayed police response times on (a) crime reporting and (b) public confidence in rural communities.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether slow police response times to rural crime contribute to repeat offending.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police forces are required to publish response time data broken down by rural and urban classification.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.
The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.
The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.