Written questions by Goldsborough.

How many (a) airports, (b) ports and (c) train terminals had a dedicated Border Force customs team to deal with freight in each year since 2010.

The Home Office’s priority is to deliver a safe and secure border, Border Force maintain 100% checks for all scheduled arriving passengers into the UK and this will be continued during any period.Border Force does not publish information on operational activities. Doing so would publicise operational practices which would be used to assist in the evasion of customs controls and compromise Border security.

How many women were taken into immediate custody from (a) Crown courts and (b) magistrates courts for sentences of (i) less than and (ii) more than six months for each offence classification in each police force area in England and Wales in 2022-23.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of custodial sentences issued at criminal courts in England and Wales. This includes breakdowns by sex, sentence length, offence group and police force area, and therefore the information requested can be obtained from the following published data:Magistrates’ courts: Magistrates' court data toolCrown Court: Crown Court data tool

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing energy bill discounts of (a) £10,000 over ten years to people within 200 metres and (b) £20,000 over 20 years for people within 500 metres of an energy infrastructure project.

It is important for this Government that where communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should directly benefit from it. We are currently considering how to ensure communities benefit from living near new onshore electricity transmission infrastructure.

What steps her Department is taking to help people living in rural villages to benefit from safe active travel routes to larger urban areas to access (a) schools and (b) retail and other services.

Active Travel England (ATE) provides funding and support to all local authorities in England, including those in rural areas. For example, ATE provides training on infrastructure design guidance and is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas. In 2024, ATE also provided £1 million to the ten National Parks in England to help them develop better links to rural towns and villages.

How many people absconded from ports of entry after being detained by Border Force officers in each year since 2010.

The Home Office are unable to provide the requested data. This is on the basis the information requested is not available in a reportable format.The Home Office are relentless in the pursuit of those who seek to enter the UK illegally. Our extensive security measures include robust, specialist measures from both Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of promoting community-owned energy projects in the East of England to (a) help achieve Net Zero targets and (b) provide greater support for infrastructure construction in localities affected.

Community projects will play a crucial role in the Government’s mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, by saving families money and improving communities’ energy security. Through the Government’s Local Power Plan, which will be delivered by Great British Energy, we will put local communities and stakeholders at the heart of the energy transition. Great British Energy will collaborate with private energy companies, local authorities, and cooperatives to roll-out small and medium-scale clean energy projects. This will save families money and ensure communities directly benefit from local developments.

How much was allocated to (a) each police force in England and Wales, (b) each government department, (c) each local authority and (d) other bodies through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme in each year since 2010.

Allocations from the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) with breakdowns for police forces, government departments, local authority and other bodies that participate in ARIS is only available from financial year 2016/17 to 2022/23 Published data from financial year 2016/17 to 2021/22 can be found in tab 9 of the data tables: Reporting force and agency data - assets recovered: September 2022. Published data from financial year 2017/18 to 2022/23 can be found in tab 10 of the data tables: Asset Recovery Statistics, financial years ending 2018 to 2023: Data Tables. The total value of ARIS allocations to police forces, government departments, local authority and other bodies from 2016/17 to 2022/23 is £679.7m The next publication covering financial year 2023/24 is due to be published in September.

What estimate she has made of the financial impact of rural crime on the agriculture sector in Norfolk.

We are committed to stamping out crime and disorder in rural areas and we will ensure countryside communities blighted by organised crime, rural theft and antisocial behaviour will be protected.The Home Office provided a startup grant of £300,000 to set up the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU).The NRCU supports forces nationally in their responses to rural crime, such as the theft of farming or construction machinery, livestock theft, rural fly tipping, rural fuel theft and equine crime. The unit aims to help police forces tackle rural crime priorities through the provision of specialist operational support, as well as through sharing best practice and encouraging regional and national approaches to tackling rural crime. The NRCU helps police across the country tackle organised theft and disrupt organised crime groups, as well as working closely with the National Crime Agency.The Home Office also directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit to provide intelligence, analysis and investigative assistance to forces and other law enforcement agencies across the UK to support them in investigating wildlife crime which can affect the agriculture sector.

How many women sentenced to (a) less than and (b) more than six months were taken into immediate custody from each (i) magistrates and (ii) Crown court in East Anglia in 2022-23; and what the offence classification was in each of those cases.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of custodial sentences issued at criminal courts in England and Wales. This includes breakdowns by sex, sentence length, offence group and police force area:- Magistrates’ courts: Magistrates' court data tool- Crown Court: Crown Court data toolHowever, this published data does not include breakdowns by individual courts. Therefore, the information requested for magistrates’ courts has been provided in table 1 (broken down by Local Justice Area) and for Crown Court centres in table 2, both attached. The figures provided in these tables relate to criminal courts located in the police force areas of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk only, as an approximation to East Anglia.

What estimate she has made of the extent of (a) violence towards and (b) abuse of (i) shop staff and (ii) volunteers in the charity retail sector.

Police recorded crime figures recorded 430,104 shoplifting offences for year ending December 2023, an increase by 37% in the 12 months leading up to. The British Retail Consortium Crime Report 2024 showed there were around 475,000 incidents of violence and abuse in 2022-23. Shoplifting continues to increase at an unsatisfactory level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. Violence and abusive behaviour towards any worker, particularly those who provide a valuable service to the public, is never acceptable. The Government will not stand for this.Through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We will also end the effective immunity that has been granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.

How many adult men with no previous convictions were taken into immediate custody from (a) Crown and (b) magistrates courts for sentences of (i) below six months and (ii) six months and over in each police force area in England and Wales in 2022-23; and what the offence classification was in each of those cases.

Information on the numbers of adult men with no previous convictions who were taken into immediate custody from the Crown Courts and the Magistrates courts for sentences of below six months, and six months and over, are provided below. It is not possible to provide breakdowns by police force area because, due to low numbers, this would risk identification of the individuals concerned. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts, taking into account the circumstances of each case.Number of adult(1) male offenders with no previous convictions(2) sentenced to immediate custody by court type(3), sentence length(4)(5), and offence type; England and Wales(6), 2022-23(7): Offence type8Crown CourtMagistrates CourtLess than 6 months6 months or moreLess than 6 months6 months or moreViolence against the person319506940Sexual offences161,3472332Robbery111805Theft Offences111739718Criminal damage and arson32223Drug offences711,9801887Possession of weapons12848131Public order offences1197288Miscellaneous crimes against society574295027Fraud offences510973Summary offences excluding motoring22161617Summary motoring offences12541All offences2415,327590262 Source: Ministry of Justice extract of the Police National Computer(9) Notes:1) Aged 18 or over at time of sentence.2) Counting the number of male offenders who were convicted in court for the first time.3) Includes crown and magistrates’ courts cases, where this information is recorded on the PNC.4) 6 months has been assumed to be 180 days.5) Excludes cases where the sentence length is not known.6) England and Wales include all 43 police force areas plus the British Transport Police.7) Includes financial year beginning April 2022 to March 2023.8) For more detailed information on the offences included in each classification see the Offence Group Classifications file at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-20239) The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

How much money has accrued to the public purse in confiscation orders in each year since 2010; and how much of that money was allocated in compensation to victims of crime in each year.

The total value of confiscation order receipts and compensation paid to victims through confiscation order receipts for 2011/12 to 2022/23 is £1.7 billion and £281.7 million respectively, with the annual breakdown given below. Data for financial years 2011/12 to 2022/23 can be found in the annually published Asset recovery statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) We do not hold 2010/11 in a readily accessible format. The next publication covering financial year 2023/24 is due to be published in September. Table 1: Value of proceeds of crime recovered from Confiscation Orders and value of compensation paid to victims through confiscation order receipts in the jurisdictions of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, financial years 2011/12 to 2022/23Financial YearConfiscation Order Receipts (millions)Compensation Paid (millions)2011/12£124.6£22.72012/13£134.9£25.32013/14£139.1£28.52014/15£157.1£23.62015/16£207.0£38.42016/17£161.0£36.22017/18£142.6£30.72018/19£167.5£36.92019/20£137.4£30.92020/21£98.9£16.62021/22£153.9£22.72022/23£179.0£15.5

How many people who absconded from ports of entry after being detained by Border Force officers were subsequently recovered in each year since 2010.

The Home Office are unable to provide the requested data. This is on the basis the information requested is not available in a reportable format.The Home Office are relentless in the pursuit of those who seek to enter the UK illegally. Our extensive security measures include robust, specialist measures from both Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.