Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they define (1) a ‘neighbourhood’, and (2) a 'visible patrol', in relation to their Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) commitments, which were met in July 2025, were delivered in line with police forces’ existing neighbourhood structures based on local needs shaped by a range of factors, including geography, crime types, urban or rural context, and population size and density. The NPG confirms by the end of this Parliament, we will work with forces and local councils to define neighbourhood areas to be locally recognisable and practical for policing.
Neighbourhood policing teams are spending the majority of their time within their communities, undertaking patrols and actively engaging with residents and businesses to tackle issues that matter to their communities, such as anti-social behaviour. Police forces are increasing town centre patrols based on local demand and intelligence.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the police reform white paper.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
A Police Reform White Paper is being developed in partnership with policing. This is a comprehensive package of reform to policing in England and Wales that will strip out duplication and waste and ensure policing can keep up with the fast-changing nature of crime.
This is a once-in-a-generation moment for policing, and it is important that the reforms reflect the Home Secretary’s ambition. We will publish the White Paper in early 2026.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) police officers (b) PCSOs and (c) support staff remaining on restrictive duties pending an investigation for misconduct in England.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold information on the number of police officers and staff currently on restricted duties pending an investigation for misconduct.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent antisemitic hate speech at rallies and to prosecute those engaged in such speech.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Antisemitism has no place in our society, including at rallies, and the Government is committed to tackling it in all its forms.
The police have a range of powers under public order legislation to deal with threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour intended to stir up hatred on the grounds of race or religion and decisions on prosecutions are for the independent Crown Prosecution Service.
The government is committed to ensuring there are consistent, high standards in police training and leadership to help maintain public trust and confidence. That is why the Home Office continues to fund the College of Policing to deliver support to forces and improvements to leadership and training standards through the National Police Leadership Centre.
The College of Policing sets national guidance and standards for policing in England and Wales, including publishing Authorised Professional Practice on hate crime. This Authorised Professional Practice provides guidance on how police should respond to hate crimes and promotes a proportionate and consistent approach that upholds the rights of victims and protects free speech. While the College sets the overall framework, individual police forces are responsible for determining their own local delivery of training.
Police forces are operationally independent, but we expect them to use these standards, tools and guidance, and to work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure robust charging decisions and prosecutions in cases of antisemitic hate crime.
The Home Secretary launched an independent review of public order and hate crime legislation on 5 October. The Review is being led by Lord Ken Macdonald KC of River Glaven, supported by former Assistant Chief Constable Owen Weatherill.
The review will ensure police powers remain fit for purpose, are used consistently, and strike the right balance between the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and the need to prevent disorder and keep communities safe.
It will address whether the existing legislation is effective and proportionate, whether it adequately protects communities from intimidation and hate and whether it strikes a fair and sustainable balance between the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and the need to prevent disorder and keep communities safe.
The review is currently underway and is expected to conclude in Spring 2026.
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 recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of live facial recognition surveillance on the rights to privacy, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Passport photographs are not being enrolled into biometric databases accessible for live facial recognition searches. However, His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) may conduct retrospective facial recognition searches against the passport database, on behalf of police forces, in relation to serious cases e.g. sexual offences, violent offences, serious and organised crime, or those that are of a national security interest. Guidance on this practice, and an Equality Impact Assessment has been published on the GOV.UK site.
When deploying facial recognition technology, police forces must comply with existing legislation including the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, Data Protection Act 2018, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as well as their own published policies. For live facial recognition, police forces must also follow the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Live Facial Recognition. Forces also need to comply with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, which is supplemented by published policing policies.
On 4 December the Government launched a consultation on law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies. We are consulting on a new legal framework to create consistent, durable rules and appropriate safeguards for biometrics and facial recognition. This framework will aim to strike the right balance between public protection and privacy.
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 passport photographs are being enrolled into biometric databases accessible for live facial recognition searches; and what assessment she has made of the privacy implications of this policy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Passport photographs are not being enrolled into biometric databases accessible for live facial recognition searches. However, His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) may conduct retrospective facial recognition searches against the passport database, on behalf of police forces, in relation to serious cases e.g. sexual offences, violent offences, serious and organised crime, or those that are of a national security interest. Guidance on this practice, and an Equality Impact Assessment has been published on the GOV.UK site.
When deploying facial recognition technology, police forces must comply with existing legislation including the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, Data Protection Act 2018, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as well as their own published policies. For live facial recognition, police forces must also follow the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Live Facial Recognition. Forces also need to comply with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, which is supplemented by published policing policies.
On 4 December the Government launched a consultation on law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies. We are consulting on a new legal framework to create consistent, durable rules and appropriate safeguards for biometrics and facial recognition. This framework will aim to strike the right balance between public protection and privacy.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase collaboration between her Department and Drinkaware.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government regularly engages with partners on matters relating to the Licensing Act 2003 and the sale and supply of alcohol, including with Drinkaware.
We will continue to do so as we take forward reforms to the licensing regime.
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, whether her Department received notification of West Midlands Police’s decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League game ahead of the Safety Advisory Board meeting.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office was not informed of the decision by Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group, following a risk assessment by West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans prior to its public announcement.
The Home Office routinely engages with international partners as part of its departmental interests in policing, border security and immigration. Officials have met with Dutch counterparts in recent weeks on these matters, as part of efforts to ensure full transparency around the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the fixture against Aston Villa in November. Ministers have not directly engaged with Ministers from the Netherlands on this matter.
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, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on security for the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv game on 6 November 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office was not informed of the decision by Birmingham City Council’s Safety Advisory Group, following a risk assessment by West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans prior to its public announcement.
The Home Office routinely engages with international partners as part of its departmental interests in policing, border security and immigration. Officials have met with Dutch counterparts in recent weeks on these matters, as part of efforts to ensure full transparency around the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the fixture against Aston Villa in November. Ministers have not directly engaged with Ministers from the Netherlands on this matter.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 13,000 additional (1) neighbourhood police officers, (2) PCSOs, and (3) special constables, they plan to deliver as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will be (a) newly recruited, and (b) recruited internally from other parts of the police force.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our approach to delivery in 2025-26 has been designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix is a local decision.
The Government has committed to publishing neighbourhood policing numbers every six months, to align with the official police workforce statistics. The next update is due at the end of January 2026, which will set out the numbers in neighbourhood policing roles as at the end of September 2025.
We will set out more information on the approach to future delivery in due course.