Written questions by Begum.

Whether she has had discussions with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime on (a) level of funding and (b) future sustainability for the holistic advocacy wrap around service provided by Southall Black Sisters.

All Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims. This includes ‘core’ funding for victims of all crime types and funding that is ring-fenced for sexual violence and domestic abuse services. PCCs allocate funding locally at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need. PCCs are best placed to understand their local communities and providers, and to commission appropriate support services to meet the need of victims in their area. Such services will include specialist organisations like the Southall Black Sisters.The Ministry of Justice is not involved in local commissioning decisions.Ministry of Justice officials engage regularly with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime regarding their grant funding and locally commissioned services.I co-chair the Violence Against Women and Girls Board joint ministerial group with the Home Office Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls. This board is attended by other government departments that are working together on the VAWG strategy.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) Tiktok and (b) other social media platforms on taking steps to help reduce incidents of fraud where people develop fake romantic relationships and manipulate victims into transferring large sums of money.

Fraud is a priority offence under the Online Safety Act. This means that since the illegal harms duties came into force in March, user-to-user services, including TikTok, must take proactive steps to prevent users from encountering fraudulent content on their platforms and swiftly remove it where it does. These duties apply to a range of fraud types, including romance scams, and are enforceable by Ofcom.Ministers and officials in DSIT have regular discussions with in-scope platforms on the implementation of the Online Safety Act and their broader efforts to tackle fraud.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession to include all migrant survivors of domestic abuse.

Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this government and our mission is to halve levels of violence against women and girls within a decade.We are reviewing all the issues impacting migrant victims of domestic abuse including the scope and operation of both the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (formerly the Destitution Domestic Violence Concession) and the provisions of Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse.We will communicate the outcome of these reviews as soon as is practicable.

What discussions she has had with the (a) Home Secretary and (b) Minister for Women and Equalities on (i) level of funding and (ii) future sustainability for the holistic advocacy wrap around service provided by Southall Black Sisters.

All Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims. This includes ‘core’ funding for victims of all crime types and funding that is ring-fenced for sexual violence and domestic abuse services. PCCs allocate funding locally at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need. PCCs are best placed to understand their local communities and providers, and to commission appropriate support services to meet the need of victims in their area. Such services will include specialist organisations like the Southall Black Sisters.The Ministry of Justice is not involved in local commissioning decisions.Ministry of Justice officials engage regularly with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime regarding their grant funding and locally commissioned services.I co-chair the Violence Against Women and Girls Board joint ministerial group with the Home Office Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls. This board is attended by other government departments that are working together on the VAWG strategy.

Whether she plans to publish the minutes or summaries of any meetings of the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy Advisory Panel.

The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy Advisory Board met on 19 March 2025 and 30 April 2025, and bilateral engagements with sector organisations and experts, as well as ministerial roundtables on specific VAWG issues, have taken place regularly.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle people who commit fraud by developing fake romantic relationships on (a) Tiktok and (b) other steaming platforms and manipulate victims into transferring large sums of money.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) was passed in November 2023 and requires all in-scope platforms to tackle fraud originating on their platforms. Fraud is included in the Act as an illegal harm, meaning in-scope companies must take proactive measures to stop fraudulent content appearing on the platform, and remove fraudulent material quickly when they become aware of it. In addition, the Act's Additional Duties for Categorised Services will require the largest companies to provides features for users to verify users on their platforms, and interact with other verified accounts.Ofcom, acting as the independent regulator, will have the power to levy significant fines on companies who they deem are not doing enough to tackle fraud on their platforms. As of 17 March 2025, Ofcom's illegal harm duties are now in force, and the regulator will now start assessing platforms' compliance with their new obligations under the Act, and will launch enforcement action where they uncover concerns.

With reference to the Written Statement of 23 June 2025 on Security, HCWS729, whether any Palestine Action members have been acquitted by a jury for those activities.

Data collated by the Ministry of Justice regarding the activity of the criminal court does not identify if a defendant is a Palestine Action member or if the offence was for activity relating to protests against arms sales to Israel. This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.

In how many (a) current and b) pending court cases a Palestine Action member is facing charges for protests against arms sales to Israel.

Data collated by the Ministry of Justice regarding the activity of the criminal court does not identify if a defendant is a Palestine Action member or if the offence was for activity relating to protests against arms sales to Israel. This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.

How many (a) current and (b) pending court cases there are on activities listed in her Written Statement of 23 June 2025 on Security, HCWS729.

Data collated by the Ministry of Justice regarding the activity of the criminal court does not identify if a defendant is a Palestine Action member or if the offence was for activity relating to protests against arms sales to Israel. This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.

What information her Department holds on the number of Palestine Action members who have been acquitted by a jury for activity relating to protests against arms sales to Israel.

Data collated by the Ministry of Justice regarding the activity of the criminal court does not identify if a defendant is a Palestine Action member or if the offence was for activity relating to protests against arms sales to Israel. This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.

Whether her Department has (a) had communications with and (b) met with representatives of Elbit Systems UK (i) in the last five years and (ii) since July 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the response I gave to UIN 41686 on 14 April.The Home Office engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including industry partners and diplomatic counterparts to support its departmental objectives, ensure the effective delivery of its responsibilities, and engage on stakeholder matters of concern.

How many Palestine Action members have been (a) arrested (b) charged, (c) convicted, (d) held on remand and (e) imprisoned for activities relating to protests against arms sales to Israel.

Data provided by police shows that, between 30 July 2020 and 27 June 2025, there have been over 400 “direct actions” claimed by or identified with Palestine Action. Police have made 750 arrests during this period, with 555 separate individuals arrested. Offences have included criminal damage, aggravated burglary, violent disorder, assault on emergency workers, actual bodily harm and gross bodily harm. For many relevant cases, police investigations and court proceedings are ongoing.

How many Palestine Action members have been (a) arrested, (b) charged, (c) convicted, (d) held on remand and (e) imprisoned for (i) assault, (ii) assaulting an emergency worker, (iii) inflicting grievous bodily harm, (iv) man slaughter and (v) murder related to activity regarding protests against arms sales to Israel.

Data provided by police shows that, between 30 July 2020 and 27 June 2025, there have been over 400 “direct actions” claimed by or identified with Palestine Action.Police have made 750 arrests during this period, with 555 separate individuals arrested. Offences have included criminal damage, aggravated burglary, violent disorder, assault on emergency workers, actual bodily harm and gross bodily harm.For many relevant cases, police investigations and court proceedings are ongoing.

If she will publish the redacted sections of her Department’s email to Israel’s Deputy Ambassador entitled CPS/SO15 contact details, published in April 2025.

It has been routine under successive governments for the Attorney General’s Office to help embassies get in contact with the relevant prosecuting authorities for the purposes of sharing information that could be relevant to a case. Freedom of information requests are considered on a case-by-case basis, and information is disclosed in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 and Question 19848 on Arms Trade: Israel, if she will take steps to centrally record how many people have been charged with offenses relating to protests against Elbit Systems UK's arms sales to Israel since (a) 8 October 2023, (b) 26 January 2024 and (c) 2 September 2024.

Between October 2023 to September 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service charged 142,221 suspects which reached a first hearing at the magistrates’ court. To determine which offences involved defendants who were taking part in a protest against Elbit Systems UK would require a manual review of each case, which would be at disproportionate cost.

How many people (a) have been arrested, (b) have been charged, (c) have been convicted, (d) have been held on remand and (e) are serving a prison sentence for the activities detailed in her Written Statement of 23 June 2025 on Security, HCWS729.

Data provided by police shows that, between 30 July 2020 and 27 June 2025, there have been over 400 “direct actions” claimed by or identified with Palestine Action.Police have made 750 arrests during this period, with 555 separate individuals arrested. Offences have included criminal damage, aggravated burglary, violent disorder, assault on emergency workers, actual bodily harm and gross bodily harm.For many relevant cases, police investigations and court proceedings are ongoing.

With reference to the Written Statement of 23 June 2025 on Security, HCWS729, how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) charged, (c) convicted, (d) held on remand and (e) are serving a prison sentence for the activity listed in the Written Statement.

Data provided by police shows that, between 30 July 2020 and 27 June 2025, there have been over 400 “direct actions” claimed by or identified with Palestine Action. Police have made 750 arrests during this period, with 555 separate individuals arrested. Offences have included criminal damage, aggravated burglary, violent disorder, assault on emergency workers, actual bodily harm and gross bodily harm. For many relevant cases, police investigations and court proceedings are ongoing.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 19789, how many of these were (a) charged, (b) convicted, (c) held on remand and (e) imprisoned.

Data provided by police shows that, between 30 July 2020 and 27 June 2025, there have been over 400 “direct actions” claimed by or identified with Palestine Action. Police have made 750 arrests during this period, with 555 separate individuals arrested. Offences have included criminal damage, aggravated burglary, violent disorder, assault on emergency workers, actual bodily harm and gross bodily harm. For many relevant cases, police investigations and court proceedings are ongoing.

How many people have been arrested for activity relating to protests against Elbit Systems UK's arms sales to Israel since December 2024?.

Data provided by police shows that, between 30 July 2020 and 27 June 2025, there have been over 400 “direct actions” claimed by or identified with Palestine Action. Police have made 750 arrests during this period, with 555 separate individuals arrested. Offences have included criminal damage, aggravated burglary, violent disorder, assault on emergency workers, actual bodily harm and gross bodily harm. For many relevant cases, police investigations and court proceedings are ongoing.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the offence of assault against an emergency worker on women.

The offence of assault against an emergency worker is the responsibility of Ministry of Justice.