Written questions by Snowden.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the police caution in preventing defendants from withholding information during interviews and later relying on it in court.

When the police interview a suspect they must explain that they do not have to answer questions but there could be consequences if they do not by reading to them the police caution:“You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”If the suspect does not understand the caution because they cannot understand English, the custody officer must arrange for the assistance of an interpreter, and if they are considered to be vulnerable then they must be supported throughout the interview by an appropriate adult. Whilst in police custody or undergoing a voluntary interview the suspect has the continuing right to free legal advice.We keep the operation of police powers, including the police caution, under regular review through engagement with policing stakeholders. We are not aware of any concerns about the effectiveness of the police caution in preventing defendants from withholding information.The Home Office collects and publishes data on detentions for over 36 hours without warrant of further detention where the person was subsequently released without charge, as part of the annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Custody and pre-charge bail’ statistical bulletin. The data is available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK

What steps she is taking to ensure that Prevent referrals made by school staff do not disproportionately impact neurodiverse children.

Prevent is about intervening early to stop people being drawn into terrorism.The Prevent duty guidance, which applies to those in the Education sector, helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes. Protecting pupils from the risk of radicalisation forms part of a schools’ wider safeguarding duties to protect children from a range of harms.When making referral, it is important to consider that neurodivergence, may - or may not - affect a person’s risk of radicalisation. Staff in education settings receive training to help them identify the signs of radicalisation and make appropriate referrals, taking account of any vulnerabilities that may be present or other factors that may be present.All referrals to Prevent are carefully assessed by specialist officers to ensure that there is a radicalisation risk before they receive support through the Channel process. Clinical psychiatrists work closely with counter-terrorism police to provide advice on how best to support cases where neurodiverse conditions might be present.Additionally, the first stage of a strategic policy review into how Prevent supports people with mental-ill health or who are neurodivergent has also concluded. This will help to ensure Prevent can effectively support people who are neurodivergent. Action is underway to implement those findings, and the Home Office will continue to work closely with the Department for Education to ensure that Prevent aligns with broader efforts to support neurodiverse children in schools.

How many people with no right to be in the UK were removed between 4 July (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

The Home office published transparency data relating to the return of individuals without lawful status in the UK, on 14 July. This can be found on gov.uk at Returns from the UK between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025 - GOV.UKThe next immigration system statistics quarterly release will be published on 21 August 2025, providing comprehensive statistics on the number of returns from the UK.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle pavement parking in Fylde constituency.

The Flyde constituency is a civil enforcement area and therefore pavement parking is a civil matter for Department for Transport (DfT) and Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 58584 on Undocumented Migrants: Biometrics, for how long is biometric data retained when it is collected from individuals who have entered the UK unlawfully.

In most cases the Home Office usually retains biometrics (facial image and fingerprints) taken from foreign nationals, including people who have entered the UK unlawfully, for a period of up to 15 years, but may do so for longer in certain circumstances.

If she will issue guidance on whether gig economy platforms are required to report suspected illegal working.

The Hon Member will be aware the that Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill contains new measures requiring companies operating in the gig economy to carry out employment checks on all individuals working for them, further strengthening our controls against illegal working, and it is a matter of regret that the Hon Member and his colleagues voted against those measures at the third reading of the Bill on 12 May 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 65158 on Undocumented Migrants: Fingerprints, what procedures are followed if biometric data cannot be collected at the time of encounter due to (a) age and (b) other limitations.

Where biometric data cannot be collected at the time of encounter, the Biometric Enrolment: Policy Guidance – GOV.UK sets out the procedures that should be followed. Children under five are not required to provide fingerprints, though facial photographs should be taken. In cases involving individuals who are medically or physically unable to provide biometric data, the reason is recorded, and collection is deferred until the individual is able to comply except in circumstances where fingerprints can never be enrolled.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 65159 on Undocumented Workers: Sharing Economy, whether gig economy platforms are required to report suspected illegal working; and what action is taken against platforms that fail to do so.

The Hon Member will be aware the that Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill contains new measures requiring companies operating in the gig economy to carry out employment checks on all individuals working for them, further strengthening our controls against illegal working, and it is a matter of regret that the Hon Member and his colleagues voted against those measures at the third reading of the Bill on 12 May 2025.

How much was the cost to the public purse of assessing Hamas' appeal against proscription.

No assessment of those costs has yet been carried out.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 65159 on Undocumented Workers: Sharing Economy, how many reports of suspected (a) asylum seekers and (b) irregular migrants working in the gig economy have resulted in enforcement action in each of the last three years.

The Hon Member will be aware the that Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill contains new measures requiring companies operating in the gig economy to carry out employment checks on all individuals working for them, further strengthening our controls against illegal working, and it is a matter of regret that the Hon Member and his colleagues voted against those measures at the third reading of the Bill on 12 May 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49682 on Deportation, what estimate she has made of the number of those 24,000 people that entered the UK illegally.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.More detailed published data on returns activity is published in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’. Data on the number of foreign national offender returns from the UK can be found in Ret_D03 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’ and enforced and voluntary returns of small boat arrivals can be found in Ret_06 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. This data goes up to March 2025.

What her policy is on recording the (a) DNA and (b) fingerprints of migrants who arrive in the UK illegally.

As per the practice under successive governments, the Home Office collects biometric data, in the form of facial images and fingerprints, from all people who enter the UK illegally where they are aged over five, for the purpose of verifying identity and evaluating risk to public safety.

What steps she is taking to reduce violence against women and girls in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

The scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. We are going further than ever before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach, which will be underpinned by a new VAWG Strategy later this year.In May 2025, we announced a £19.9m investment to provide vital support to victims of VAWG and increase awareness to prevent these horrific crimes. This includes over £6 million for national helplines supporting victims of domestic abuse, 'honour'-based abuse, revenge porn and stalking, and £2.5m on prevention and early intervention.Specifically in Lancashire, we have allocated £442,000 to Lancashire PCC for perpetrator funding. PCCs are best placed to understand their local communities and providers, and to commission appropriate support to meet that need.Lancashire PCC currently receives funding from the Home Office’s Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. Using this funding, they deliver the Drive Project, which works with high-risk, serial domestic abuse perpetrators who are deemed to cause the most harm, in a few local authority areas.At the national level, we have embedded domestic abuse specialists and dedicated domestic abuse teams in the first five 999 control rooms under Raneem’s Law, launched the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in selected police forces and courts and announced a new package of measures to tackle spiking, including committing to introducing a new criminal offence for spiking and piloting new spiking training for bar staff.Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a range of legislative measures to improve the response to sex offender management and stalking. Under the Bill, the police will be given new powers to issue a notice prohibiting registered sex offenders who pose a risk from changing their name without prior authorisation. Other measures include requiring registered sex offenders to provide advance notice before entering premises where children are present, and improving the management of stalkers. This includes statutory guidance for the police in releasing identifying information about online stalking perpetrators to victims as part of the “right to know”.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025, to Question 62738 on Undocumented Workers: Sharing Economy, how the public can report suspected asylum seekers and irregular migrants working in the gig economy.

We encourage members of the public to report suspected immigration crime and location where they believe illegal working is taking place They can report this to the Home Office directly by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime. The public can also call any of the following numbers to report an immigration crime or illegal working anonymously. Immigration Enforcement hotline 0300 123 7000 Crimestoppers www.crimestoppers-uk.org 0800 555111

Whether her Department takes fingerprints from people arriving into the UK illegally.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 18 June to Question 58584.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025, to Question 62738 on Undocumented Workers: Sharing Economy, whether spot checks are carried out in suspected hot spots of illegal migrants working in the gig economy.

All enforcement activity is intelligence-led, to ensure the most efficient and productive use of resources.

What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on tackling county lines gangs in schools.

The Home Office works closely with the Department for Education to tackle knife crime and the criminal exploitation of children.Ministers from both Departments met recently for a targeted conversation on tackling child criminal exploitation and county lines.

What recent estimate her Department has made of the number of people engaged in county lines activity.

According to the NCLCC’s latest Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment, 13,084 individuals were identified by the police as linked to County Lines between April 2023 and March 2024.These individuals had a variety of roles, including offenders, drug users and victims.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle county lines gangs operating in Lancashire.

To deliver our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the drug gangs that run county lines through violence and exploitation. That is why we are investing more than £43m this financial year (25/26) in the County Lines Programme, to target exploitative drug dealing gangs whilst breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade.While the majority of lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, West Yorkshire Police and Greater Manchester Police, county lines is a national issue which affects all forces.That is why, through the County Lines Programme, we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The County Lines Programme taskforces regularly conduct joint operations with other forces, and we have established a dedicated fund which provides local forces with additional funding to tackle county lines, including Lancashire Police.The NCLCC also regularly coordinates weeks of intensive action against county lines gangs, which all police forces take part in. The most recent of these took place 23-29 June 2025 and resulted in 241 lines closed, as well as 1,965 arrests, 1,179 individuals safe-guarded and 501 weapons seized.

What steps her Department is taking to (a) help improve (i) public confidence and (ii) perceptions of fairness in policing and (b) measure progress on the implementation of the measures set out in the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

This Government’s Safer Streets mission is focused on restoring neighbourhood policing, halving serious violence and rebuilding trust and confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee was developed through close working with the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) and other policing leads, and we continue to work closely with them to ensure it is delivered across all police forces in England and Wales.The Home Office has also worked with the College of Policing and the NPCC to develop a performance framework which outlines to forces and the public the performance measures which are being assessed to monitor the progress of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.The framework is attached at the following link Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee performance framework - GOV.UK