Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is in place to ensure that reports of violence by children towards parents or carers lead to appropriate safeguarding and support in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Prevention and early intervention with children and young people are fundamental to the government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade – including improving the response to child to parent or caregiver abuse.
‘The Domestic Abuse Act 2021: statutory guidance’ provides advice for frontline professionals and families to identify child to parent and caregiver abuse. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023’ provides guidance on the multi-agency response to support and safeguard children, including those using harm.
Since 2023 the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner has received Home Office funding to support their Steps to Change Hub via the Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. Funding supports delivery of Young People Using Violence and Abuse, a youth‑focused programme offering one‑to‑one support for young people who use violence or abusive behaviour towards family members, carers, siblings, or intimate partners.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to help protect the privacy of people affected by fatal or serious accidents.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to open justice which means criminal justice should be administered in public and subject to public scrutiny including media reporting. However, there are exceptions in statute or common law which: exclude the press/public from court for all/part of proceedings; permit information to be withheld from open court; or impose temporary/permanent bans on reporting of proceedings or part of proceedings (e.g. identity of those appearing).
Automatic reporting restrictions are applied to complainants in rape cases and all other sexual offences. There is a ban on reporting any matter that would identify a child or young person (under 18) in the Youth Court, whether that is a victim, witness or defendant. Victims of Female Genital Mutilation, Human Trafficking, and Forced Marriage are also granted automatic anonymity for life.
Lifetime anonymity can be granted to an adult witness or victim in any offence if the quality of the witness’s evidence or their co-operation is likely to be diminished by reason of fear/distress in testifying.
Reporting restrictions are a matter for judicial discretion - decisions on whether to impose these are made on a case by case basis by judges taking into account the circumstances of the case, the parties involved and the interests of justice.
In addition, the Victims’ Code is a practical and useful guide for all victims of crime to understand what they can expect from the criminal justice system. This includes victims of fatal or serious accidents where they constitute a criminal offence. We will consult on a new Victims’ Code in due course to ensure that we get the foundations for victims right.
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 assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of child criminal exploitation interventions in England.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Child criminal exploitation (CCE) is a form of child abuse, and this Government is clear that tackling CCE is a priority and plays a critical role in delivering on our commitment to halve knife crime in a decade.
As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we are introducing a new offence of criminal exploitation of children in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime. As part of this legislation, we are also delivering new civil preventative orders to disrupt and prevent child criminal exploitation from occurring or re-occurring. A new criminal offence is necessary to increase convictions against exploiters, deter gangs from enlisting children, and improve identification of victims.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we are targeting exploitative drug dealing gangs and safeguarding criminally exploited children caught up in this trade. Between July 2024 and June 2025, County Lines Programme partners referred over 3,200 children and vulnerable people to safeguarding services and provided specialist one-to-one support through Catch22’s county lines service to more than 500 children and young people.
Independent evaluation of the County Lines Programme found a causal link to 19% reductions in hospitalisations due to knife stabbings in key exporter force areas – equivalent to 500 fewer knife stabbings per annum or 15% of the national total. The latest Strategic Assessment (for 24/25) by the National County Lines Coordination Centre also found that dedicated policing efforts are impacting the County Lines model and that the number of children reported by police as involved in county lines has fallen by 8% since 23/24.
The Home Office-funded Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service also provides specialist expertise that seeks to ensure potential child victims in the NRM are protected from further harm, prevent possible repeat victimisation or re-trafficking, and promote the child’s recovery. Evaluation of the ICTG service has found it to be highly effective in supporting exploited and trafficked children, particularly in reducing risks of re-trafficking.
The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), established in 2019, aims to reduce serious violence among children and young people across the UK. Its mission is to fund evidence-based initiatives, evaluate their effectiveness, and generate knowledge to inform policy and practice in preventing youth violence. With an initial investment of £200 million from the Home Office, the YEF has supported numerous programmes across the UK. The YEF has funded work reaching over 150,000 of our most vulnerable children. Through its long-term funding model, it has been able to do this while conducting more high-quality evaluations of what works to prevent violence than have ever been conducted in the UK.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the National Youth Agency’s document entitled National Youth Sector Census Snapshot Report - Summer 2025, published in September 2025, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help (a) increase the level of targeted youth work and (b) improve referral pathways to safeguard young people from violence and exploitation in (i) deprived areas (ii) all areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We welcome the National Youth Agency’s (NYA) National Youth Sector Census Report.
The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) Million Hours Fund provides youth organisations with funding to deliver over a million additional hours of positive activities for young people in areas with higher levels of anti-social behaviour. It gives young people more places to go and positive things to do. Announced in July 2025, Phase 3 of the Million Hours Fund will receive a £19 million joint investment (£12 million from DCMS and £7 million from the National Lottery Community Fund). In addition, DCMS are working across government to develop a National Youth Strategy due to be published this Autumn, to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.
Through its Young Futures Programme the Government is intervening earlier, to ensure Children and Young People (CYP) who are facing poorer outcomes and are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way. As part of this, we are already piloting new Young Futures Panels – new local multi-agency approaches to proactively identify and support those young people at risk of being drawn into violence and crime. Alongside this, we are launching our first early adopter Young Futures Hubs next year to ensure that the right support is available to the right young people in the right places.
As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we are also introducing a new offence of criminal exploitation of children in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime. We are also delivering new civil preventative orders to disrupt and prevent child criminal exploitation from occurring or re-occurring.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds data on the number of instances where police have been unable to disclose (a) cautions and (b) convictions for child sexual offences to voluntary youth organisations due to legal restrictions.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme was introduced in 2011 and allows members of the public to make an application to police for information about a person who has contact with a child. The police guidance for the Scheme was updated in April 2023, which both modernised the Scheme and also formalised the process by which the police can make proactive disclosures when they are in receipt of information about a risk to a child or children without the need for an application by a member of the public.
The police have the common law power to disclose information about an individual where it is necessary to do so to protect another individual from harm. The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, including its proactive disclosure route, does not replace statutory safeguarding processes in place – such as the Disclosure and Barring Service, Subject Access requests, or Freedom of Information requests – and relevant referrals will still need to be made as required.
That being said, through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are working to place the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme on a statutory footing. This will ensure that police officers follow published guidance as they consider the disclosure of information when they suspect someone might pose a risk of sexual harm.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the threshold is for police to make a proactive disclosure under the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme in the absence of a named child at immediate risk; and if she will review that threshold in the context of voluntary youth organisations.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme was introduced in 2011 and allows members of the public to make an application to police for information about a person who has contact with a child. The police guidance for the Scheme was updated in April 2023, which both modernised the Scheme and also formalised the process by which the police can make proactive disclosures when they are in receipt of information about a risk to a child or children without the need for an application by a member of the public.
The police have the common law power to disclose information about an individual where it is necessary to do so to protect another individual from harm. The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, including its proactive disclosure route, does not replace statutory safeguarding processes in place – such as the Disclosure and Barring Service, Subject Access requests, or Freedom of Information requests – and relevant referrals will still need to be made as required.
That being said, through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are working to place the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme on a statutory footing. This will ensure that police officers follow published guidance as they consider the disclosure of information when they suspect someone might pose a risk of sexual harm.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the use of (a) electric bikes and (b) e-scooters by youth gangs involved in (i) drug dealing, (ii) theft and (iii) anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.
Our Crime and Policing Bill will give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour including street racing, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.
On 28 May, the Government launched a 6-week consultation on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially from 14 days to 48 hours. Combined, these proposals will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and illegally by sending a clear message to would be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we are targeting exploitative drug dealing gangs and breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade. This includes funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 levels of knife crime in the West Midlands in the last five years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and driving down serious violence across the UK, including in the West Midlands, will play a key role in meeting this ambition.
In the West Midlands, the government has allocated c.£3.7m for the Hotspot Action Fund in 2025-2026 to deliver high visibility patrolling and problem-oriented policing tactics in the areas with the highest densities of knife crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (‘hotspots’).
We routinely monitor police recorded crime data trends for all forces. West Midlands Police recorded 4,664 offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument in the year ending December 2024, a 12% fall compared with the previous year (5,323 offences). The fall was driven by a 14% fall in knife-enabled robbery (from 2,684 to 2,309 offences) and a 11% fall in assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm (from 1,952 to 1,730).
Through our Young Futures Programme, the Government will introduce Prevention Partnerships across the country, including in the West Midlands, to intervene earlier and ensure that children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.
As we continue to design the Young Futures Programme, we want to ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in this regard. In 2025/26 we are investing £47m via the Home Office in core grant funding to VRUs, including making over £4.3m available to the West Midlands VRU this year.
This funding will support the delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes such as youth workers in hospital settings (A&E Navigators), social skills training, and tailored support to individuals at risk of involvement in gangs and county lines to divert young people away from crime.
A further £14.3m in grant funding has been made available across all 43 local policing body areas to deliver the Serious Violence Duty with £254k available to the West Midlands.
Additionally, we have launched the Knife Enabled Robbery (‘KER’) Taskforce, focusing on reducing KER in the highest volume police force areas, including the West Midlands. The Taskforce identified school-age KER as a specific operational challenge and has worked with the Department for Education and school leaders to tackle it by developing bespoke “KER school action plans”.
To ensure community leaders, campaign groups, families of those who have tragically lost their lives to knife crime and young people who have been impacted are involved in our plans, the Prime Minister launched the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime in September 2024. The Coalition contributes to policy development in key areas. I (Minister for Crime Prevention and Policing) have attended several coalition meetings since it was founded, chairing its most recent meeting. The Coalition has discussed key policy issues, including the online sale of knives, child criminal exploitation and the banning of ninja swords.
To date, we have implemented a ban on the sale and possession of zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes and a ban on ninja swords will come into effect from 1 August. We are planning an expanded surrender scheme in July to allow those who currently own dangerous weapons to hand them in safely and securely.
In the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, we are increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence and are giving the police a new power to seize knives when they believe they are likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage (a) (i) community and (ii) campaign groups and (b) families affected by knife crime to participate in the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and driving down serious violence across the UK, including in the West Midlands, will play a key role in meeting this ambition.
In the West Midlands, the government has allocated c.£3.7m for the Hotspot Action Fund in 2025-2026 to deliver high visibility patrolling and problem-oriented policing tactics in the areas with the highest densities of knife crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (‘hotspots’).
We routinely monitor police recorded crime data trends for all forces. West Midlands Police recorded 4,664 offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument in the year ending December 2024, a 12% fall compared with the previous year (5,323 offences). The fall was driven by a 14% fall in knife-enabled robbery (from 2,684 to 2,309 offences) and a 11% fall in assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm (from 1,952 to 1,730).
Through our Young Futures Programme, the Government will introduce Prevention Partnerships across the country, including in the West Midlands, to intervene earlier and ensure that children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.
As we continue to design the Young Futures Programme, we want to ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in this regard. In 2025/26 we are investing £47m via the Home Office in core grant funding to VRUs, including making over £4.3m available to the West Midlands VRU this year.
This funding will support the delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes such as youth workers in hospital settings (A&E Navigators), social skills training, and tailored support to individuals at risk of involvement in gangs and county lines to divert young people away from crime.
A further £14.3m in grant funding has been made available across all 43 local policing body areas to deliver the Serious Violence Duty with £254k available to the West Midlands.
Additionally, we have launched the Knife Enabled Robbery (‘KER’) Taskforce, focusing on reducing KER in the highest volume police force areas, including the West Midlands. The Taskforce identified school-age KER as a specific operational challenge and has worked with the Department for Education and school leaders to tackle it by developing bespoke “KER school action plans”.
To ensure community leaders, campaign groups, families of those who have tragically lost their lives to knife crime and young people who have been impacted are involved in our plans, the Prime Minister launched the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime in September 2024. The Coalition contributes to policy development in key areas. I (Minister for Crime Prevention and Policing) have attended several coalition meetings since it was founded, chairing its most recent meeting. The Coalition has discussed key policy issues, including the online sale of knives, child criminal exploitation and the banning of ninja swords.
To date, we have implemented a ban on the sale and possession of zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes and a ban on ninja swords will come into effect from 1 August. We are planning an expanded surrender scheme in July to allow those who currently own dangerous weapons to hand them in safely and securely.
In the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, we are increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence and are giving the police a new power to seize knives when they believe they are likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Coalition to Fight Knife Crime on tackling knife crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and driving down serious violence across the UK, including in the West Midlands, will play a key role in meeting this ambition.
In the West Midlands, the government has allocated c.£3.7m for the Hotspot Action Fund in 2025-2026 to deliver high visibility patrolling and problem-oriented policing tactics in the areas with the highest densities of knife crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (‘hotspots’).
We routinely monitor police recorded crime data trends for all forces. West Midlands Police recorded 4,664 offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument in the year ending December 2024, a 12% fall compared with the previous year (5,323 offences). The fall was driven by a 14% fall in knife-enabled robbery (from 2,684 to 2,309 offences) and a 11% fall in assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm (from 1,952 to 1,730).
Through our Young Futures Programme, the Government will introduce Prevention Partnerships across the country, including in the West Midlands, to intervene earlier and ensure that children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.
As we continue to design the Young Futures Programme, we want to ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in this regard. In 2025/26 we are investing £47m via the Home Office in core grant funding to VRUs, including making over £4.3m available to the West Midlands VRU this year.
This funding will support the delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes such as youth workers in hospital settings (A&E Navigators), social skills training, and tailored support to individuals at risk of involvement in gangs and county lines to divert young people away from crime.
A further £14.3m in grant funding has been made available across all 43 local policing body areas to deliver the Serious Violence Duty with £254k available to the West Midlands.
Additionally, we have launched the Knife Enabled Robbery (‘KER’) Taskforce, focusing on reducing KER in the highest volume police force areas, including the West Midlands. The Taskforce identified school-age KER as a specific operational challenge and has worked with the Department for Education and school leaders to tackle it by developing bespoke “KER school action plans”.
To ensure community leaders, campaign groups, families of those who have tragically lost their lives to knife crime and young people who have been impacted are involved in our plans, the Prime Minister launched the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime in September 2024. The Coalition contributes to policy development in key areas. I (Minister for Crime Prevention and Policing) have attended several coalition meetings since it was founded, chairing its most recent meeting. The Coalition has discussed key policy issues, including the online sale of knives, child criminal exploitation and the banning of ninja swords.
To date, we have implemented a ban on the sale and possession of zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes and a ban on ninja swords will come into effect from 1 August. We are planning an expanded surrender scheme in July to allow those who currently own dangerous weapons to hand them in safely and securely.
In the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, we are increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence and are giving the police a new power to seize knives when they believe they are likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence.