Asked by: Sam Carling (Labour - North West Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has considered the merits of allowing police to issue Community Protection Warnings and Notices to 10-16 year-olds.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Breach of a CPN is a criminal offence. Lowering the age that someone can receive a CPN from 16 to 10 years old risks putting young people into the criminal justice system.
While early and informal prevention-based approaches should generally be the first step where ASB is being perpetrated by a child, for the most serious cases of child-perpetrated anti-social behaviour, we already have powers available. The Civil Injunction is available for children from 10-18 and enables youth courts to make behavioural conditions to prevent ASB. It is for the youth court to determine if, on the balance of probabilities, the legal test is met, and it is just and convenient in the circumstances to grant a Youth Injunction.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the numbers of animals being used in tests in order to satisfy international regulators despite a non-animal alternative being accepted in the UK; and what steps is she taking to reduce those numbers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animals in Science Regulation Unit has published guidance for applicants intending to conduct research under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for regulated bodies outside the UK, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/research-and-testing-using-animals (see section entitled ‘Research for regulatory bodies outside the UK’).
In summary, where there is a difference between the requested test and the lowest impact test used elsewhere, there must be associated benefit commensurate with allowing the higher impact test for that jurisdiction. This is aligned with the legally binding principle of the implementation of the 3Rs - Replacement, Reduction and Refinement.
This Government has recently launched an Alternatives Strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of non-animal alternatives. The strategy is backed by £75 million in investment for delivery with plans to establish a UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the desired governance end state for policing in Wales following the policing white paper; when those discussions took place; and what the outcomes were.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are working closely with the Welsh Government, as well as other Welsh Stakeholders including Welsh local government, police forces and other partners, to ensure new governance arrangements provide strong and effective police governance in Wales.
Officials have established a specific Welsh transition working group as part of the Police Governance Reform project, which last met on 22 January. Welsh Government officials are members of this Board and Home Office and Welsh Government officials speak regularly to develop proposals. The Minister for Policing and Crime regularly speaks to the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Jane Hutt MS, and she attended the Policing Partnership Board for Wales on 18 December. The Minister plans to attend the next Board on 5 March.
We will continue to work collaboratively with Welsh stakeholders on the design and implementation of governance arrangements in Wales.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 104897 on Strategic Migration Partnership: Finance, and with reference to the Cabinet Office Guide to Parliamentary Work, paragraph 233, if he will provide an aggregate figure for the most recent year’s funding to the partnerships contained with the Government Grants Data and Statistics database.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently publish funding levels to Strategic Migration Partnerships, previous years funding can be found here Government Grants Data and Statistics Government grants data and statistics - GOV.UK
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to close asylum hotels, particularly the Four Points Hotel in Horley.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work.
For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 101646 on Offences against Children, whether guidance will explicitly address the concerns outlined in the Casey Review that Child Sexual Exploitation cases were being dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges where a 13 to 15 year-old has been 'in love' or 'had consented to' sex with the perpetrator.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidance accompanying the new mandatory reporting duty will make clear that child sexual abuse must never be tolerated. The government will work closely with those impacted by the introduction of the duty to ensure it is clearly understood ahead of commencement.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 101646 on Offences against Children, whether guidance to volunteer groups will explicitly state that child sexual abuse must not be tolerated under any circumstances, even where apparent consent is claimed.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidance accompanying the new mandatory reporting duty will make clear that child sexual abuse must never be tolerated. The government will work closely with those impacted by the introduction of the duty to ensure it is clearly understood ahead of commencement.
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 the average cost per unaccompanied asylum-seeking child to local authorities was in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Support for looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is the statutory responsibility of local authorities. The primary source of funding for local authority children's social care is through the Local Government Funding Settlement (and Devolved equivalents).
In addition to the funding for children's social care that local authorities receive through the Local Government Finance Settlement, and equivalent finance arrangements which apply to the Devolved Governments, the Home Office provides additional funding contributions to support local authorities in meeting the costs incurred looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
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 sustainability of current funding arrangements for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Support for looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is the statutory responsibility of local authorities. The primary source of funding for local authority children's social care is through the Local Government Funding Settlement (and Devolved equivalents).
In addition to the funding for children's social care that local authorities receive through the Local Government Finance Settlement, and equivalent finance arrangements which apply to the Devolved Governments, the Home Office provides additional funding contributions to support local authorities in meeting the costs incurred looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 101647 on Anti-social Behaviour: Children, whether she will provide a forum for volunteer groups to ask questions that may arise as a result of the new guidance.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidance accompanying the new mandatory reporting duty will make clear that child sexual abuse must never be tolerated. The government will work closely with those impacted by the introduction of the duty to ensure it is clearly understood ahead of commencement.