Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Police Forces in England are meeting service levels on processing times for DBS checks, and which are not.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
For certain ‘Enhanced’ level applications (‘Basic’ and ‘Standard’ level checks are not sent to local police forces), the DBS will check with local police forces whether they hold any information that is considered relevant to the individual’s application.
There is a 60-day Service Level Agreement (SLA) in place between the DBS and police forces to complete this work. Out of the 52 independent Police Disclosure Units carrying out these checks (across local police forces and other law enforcement agencies) 8 are currently unable to meet the 60-day SLA: Hampshire & Isle of Wight, Sussex, Thames Valley, Dyfed Powys, Durham, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by Kalaayan’s entitled 12 Years of Modern Slavery, published on 14 June 2024.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all policies and immigration routes under review. Ministers regularly meet with internal and external stakeholders, including Kalaayan, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The Overseas Domestic Worker visa only grants permission for up to six months and cannot be extended. The Home Office publishes statistics relating to individuals who extend their stay here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. The number of people extending their stay on the Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa is available from Table Exe_D01 of the Extension data tables (listed as “Overseas Domestic Worker”).
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on trends in the number of offences for driving under the influence of (a) alcohol and (b) drugs.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects information on the number of notifiable offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, including the number of ‘Causing death by careless driving under influence of drink or drugs’ offences. These are published on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/police-recorded-crime-and-outcomes-open-data-tables
It is not possible to separately identify which of these offences relate to alcohol and which relate to drugs.
There are a number of summary only offences relating to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which do not result in death, but these are not collected by the Home Office, as they are not notifiable offences.
The Home Office also collects and publishes data on the number of roadside alcohol screening breath tests carried out by police in England and Wales, on an annual basis, as part of the ‘Police powers and procedures: Roads policing’ statistical bulletin. The most recent data, up to 2023, can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-roads-policing-to-december-2023
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how funding for undercover online policing units will be distributed; and what outcomes each unit is expected to deliver.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Undercover Online Police Officers (UCOLs) deploy online to identify and pursue offenders seeking to sexually exploit children. Using unique capabilities and covert tactics to target dangerous offenders, UCOLs focus on a range of offences including grooming, peer-to-peer offending, live streaming, contact offences and historic or current familial offending.
The UCOL Network has achieved continued success, surpassing its targeted annual outcomes for operational activity and responding to emerging threats, including the proliferation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Given the UCOLs’ continued success in disrupting online child sexual abuse, the Home Office has invested £11.7m in this capability this past FY 2025/26. The government has also committed to expand the use of the Home Office’s network of Undercover Online Operatives to address Violence Against Women and Girls in its’ “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of joining an European Union-wide repository of incidents of violence against police officers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Assaults on police officers and staff are unacceptable. We are working with policing partners to ensure victims receive the right support, both physical and psychological, and that data on assaults is captured consistently to inform prevention and care. This forms part of the wider Police Covenant commitment to protect and support those who protect us.
Data on the number of police recorded crimes for assaults on officers is published by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Crime in England and Wales series.
We are not aware that a European Union-wide repository of incidents of violence against police officers currently exists. The UK and EU Member States share a wide range of information on law enforcement and criminal justice matters under the arrangements set out in Part 3 of the UK- EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will make an assessment of trends in levels of fuel theft, such as drive-offs or biking, from petrol stations and the measures that can be taken to tackle the crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We would encourage retailers to report any instances of fuel theft to the police.
We are also making it easier for retailers to recover the costs when fuel is taken without payment.
Improvements have recently been made to the service provided by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) allowing fuel retailers and their agents to request information to allow recovery of costs when motorists drive away from fuel stations without paying for the fuel taken.
This provides a quicker and more efficient approach compared with the existing manual service.
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 effectiveness of current enforcement measures against the illegal use of e-scooters.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
The police have a suite of powers available to them to tackle the illegal use of e-scooters, including in residential areas, and we expect police to deploy them appropriately.
The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles including e-scooters, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before they are able to seize a vehicle. This will allow police to put an immediate stop to offending.
The Government also recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles more quickly, including e-bikes and privately owned e-scooters, which have been used anti-socially or illegally.
These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of e-bikes and e-scooters ridden anti-socially or illegally and will send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
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 steps she is taking to support police forces to tackle the illegal use of e-scooters in residential areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
The police have a suite of powers available to them to tackle the illegal use of e-scooters, including in residential areas, and we expect police to deploy them appropriately.
The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles including e-scooters, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before they are able to seize a vehicle. This will allow police to put an immediate stop to offending.
The Government also recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles more quickly, including e-bikes and privately owned e-scooters, which have been used anti-socially or illegally.
These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of e-bikes and e-scooters ridden anti-socially or illegally and will send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to introduce a national regulatory framework governing when police forces may require escorts for abnormal load movements.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police are best placed to determine police escort requirements for abnormal loads, based on a thorough assessment of local risk, which can include consideration of the risks to road users and the potential for congestion. A decision should take account of the force’s local geography, traffic conditions and events taking place. Forces should take account of the National Police Chiefs’ Council guidance to ensure decisions are safe, practical and effective.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council Guidance on the management of abnormal loads was last updated in May 2025. It sets out consistent principles to guide force’s decision based on local circumstances.
There are no plans to introduce a national regulatory framework governing the movement of abnormal loads. The government is satisfied that decisions are best handled by individual police forces to ensure decisions reflect local conditions.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2026 to Question 100020, Serious Violence Reduction Orders, how many weapons were found as a result of the stops during the pilot.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) were piloted for two years throughout Merseyside, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands police force areas. The pilot took place between 19 April 2023 and 18 April 2025.
The pilot has been independently evaluated and looks at the effectiveness of SVROs, including the use of the SVRO stop and search power and the effectiveness of SVROs in reducing reoffending and knife carrying.
The evaluation and its findings are currently being considered.