Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

What leadership the Border Security Command provides to (a) Border Force, (b) National Crime Agency, (c) Immigration Enforcement and (d) the police.

There are a number of different bodies that have a role in securing the UK border, including departments and agencies across Government and law enforcement. The Border Security Command is, for the first time, providing system leadership across those partners.Specifically, in terms of operational partners, the Border Security Command is enabling a step-change in how our full range of capabilities are coordinated, maximised and targeted on immigration crime and reducing irregular migration including through the investment of £150 million to provide new technology, capabilities and specialist officers tackling organised crime.

What resources her Department has allocated to law enforcement agencies to help tackle the level of Child Sexual Exploitation cases due to AI.

UK law is clear that AI generated child sexual abuse images are illegal material. We invest in capabilities across law enforcement to identify and disrupt child sexual abuse, which includes offences involving AI generated child sexual abuse material.This financial year, the Home Office provided over £17 million to build the workforce capacity and technical capability of the National Crime Agency, and over £11 million to resource undercover online officers.This funding targets the highest harm and most technologically sophisticated child sexual abuse offenders.

How many people smuggling gangs have been disbanded since the establishment of the Border Security Command.

The Border Security Command (BSC) is working strategically across the Border Security system, including with partners such as the National Crime Agency, police, and intelligence agencies to dismantle criminal smuggling gangs, and disrupt their supply chains.The BSC and its partner agencies are also working closely with their international counterparts to pursue Organised Immigration Crime gangs operating across Europe and beyond, and this work has already led to a number of widely publicised raids and arrests in recent months.While the BSC is continuing to mature, it is already working closely with delivery partners who tackle organised immigration crime across Whitehall, collecting key data across the system such as organised immigration crime disruptions, with the ambition to track long-term impact and support the delivery of operational activity. This will support the BSC’s ability to drive cohesive delivery across the system and ensure a secure and effective border. Working collaboratively in this way will allow us to increase the number of OIC groups which we break up and subsequently reduce small boat crossings. These numbers will be monitored to ensure we make changes to our approach when needed. Further detail on success measures, including a reporting framework, will be out in due course.

What proportion of deportations between 4 July and 31 December were (a) enforced and (b) voluntary.

The Home Office routinely publishes data on returns in the “Immigration Systems Statistics” quarterly release. Data on quarterly returns of individuals since July 2024 can be found in table Ret_D01 of the “returns detailed datasets”.The next full quarterly release, which will include data up to December 2024 is due to be published on the 27th February 2025. We have also published interim figures on the 9th of January to provide an overview of the number of people who have been returned from the UK since early July.Returns are reported in 3 main groups:enforced returns (people subject to administrative removal or deportation action which is carried out by the Home Office)voluntary returns (people who were liable to removal action or subject to immigration control but have left of their own accord, sometimes with support from the Home Office)port returns (people who are refused entry to the UK and have subsequently departed)

How many voluntary deportations took place between 4 July and 31 December 2024.

The Home Office routinely publishes data on returns in the “Immigration Systems Statistics” quarterly release. Data on quarterly returns of individuals since July 2024 can be found in table Ret_D01 of the “returns detailed datasets”.The next full quarterly release, which will include data up to December 2024 is due to be published on the 27th February 2025. We have also published interim figures on the 9th of January to provide an overview of the number of people who have been returned from the UK since early July.Returns are reported in 3 main groups:enforced returns (people subject to administrative removal or deportation action which is carried out by the Home Office)voluntary returns (people who were liable to removal action or subject to immigration control but have left of their own accord, sometimes with support from the Home Office)port returns (people who are refused entry to the UK and have subsequently departed)

How many (a) operational and (b) support staff Border Security Command employs as of 1 January 2025.

The Border Security Command (BSC) provides cross-system strategic leadership across partners in the border security system to tackle the facilitators of organised immigration crime (OIC) and wider border security threats.The BSC is being appropriately resourced to ensure it can deliver this cross-system effort. Roles are being filled in line with departmental practices and wider recruitment is ongoing as part of the broader organisational set up.

What steps the Government is taking to tackle the use of artificial intelligence in the creation of images for online child sexual exploitation.

The Government remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse online and in our communities across the UK and internationally. This includes working to safeguard children, provide support to victims and survivors, and pursuing offenders and bringing them to justice.UK law is crystal clear – AI generated child sexual abuse images are illegal material. It is an offence to produce, store or share any material that contains or depicts child sexual abuse, regardless of whether the material depicts a “real” child or not.We are committed to continuing to make sure law enforcement have the right powers to tackle this crime. That is why we will be bringing forward new legislative measures to tackle AI generated child sexual abuse material in this parliament.Home Office investment also supports the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt the highest harm offenders, safeguard children and remove the most horrific child sexual abuse material from the internet, including on the dark web.The Online Safety Act places new duties on these services to address priority illegal content, which includes child sexual exploitation and abuse, whether it is AI generated or not. The Act applies to companies that provide user-to-user services and search services.This Government is fully committed to tackling the creation of child sexual abuse online and will use every lever possible to continue to do so.

How many staff the Border Security Command will have; and at what grade.

The Border Security Command (BSC) provides cross-system strategic leadership across partners in the border security system to tackle the facilitators of organised immigration crime (OIC) and wider border security threats.The BSC is being appropriately resourced to ensure it can deliver this cross-system effort. Roles are being filled in line with departmental practices and wider recruitment is ongoing as part of the broader organisational set up.

Whether her Department plans to provide funding for the Community Security Trust.

The Community Security Trust will receive funding of £18 million per year through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant (JCPS) from 2024/25 to 2027/28.The Jewish Community Protective Security Grant provides protective security measures (such as s...

What plans the Government has to tackle knife crime amongst (a) young people and (b) young people in the black community.

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s mission to take back our streets. We are taking a range of steps to realise this ambition.We have banned Zombie style knives and zombie style machetes.We have set up a Knife-Enable...

How many taskings for Military Aid to the Civil Authorities from her Department required the use of RAF CH-47 Chinook helicopters since 2019.

The Home Office have made no Military Aid to the Civil Authority request that has required the use of RAF CH-47 Chinooks Helicopters since 2019.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2024 to Question 16677 on Community Policing: Cambridgeshire, how many of the 13,000 additional police officers Cambridgeshire Constabulary will receive.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.This includes delivering an additional 13,000 police offi...

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3381 on Police: Cambridgeshire, how many of the additional 13,000 police personnel will be redeployed police constables; what criteria her Depart

The Government is committed to introducing a neighbourhood policing guarantee as part of its Safer Streets mission. This will include the delivery of an additional 13,000 police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles thro...

How Cambridgeshire Constabulary will benefit from the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.This includes delivering an additional 13,000 police offi...

How many (a) police officers, (b) Police Community Support Officers and (c) special constables are planned to be recruited between 1 December 2024 and 31 March 2025.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This will include delivering an additional 13,000 police...

How many (a) warranted police officers, (b) Police Community Support Officers and (c) special constables have been recruited since February 2023.

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police workers joining the police service in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-...

With reference to her Written Statement of 19 November 2024 on Police Reform, HCWS232, what her definition of a community is.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. More detail will be set out in due course.

With reference to her Written Statement of 19 November 2024 on Police Reform, HCWS232, how the increase in the core grant for police forces will be divided up.

On 19th November, the Home Secretary announced that central government funding for policing will increase by half a billion pounds; this includes an increase of over £260m in the core grant for police forces, and additional funding for neighbourhood polic...

What progress she has made on recruitment of (a) warranted police officers, (b) Police Community Support Officers and (c) Special Constables.

This Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to tackle crime effectively.The latest Home Office statistics for the overall Police Workforce show a 1.2% increase when compared to the previous year. The total paid police workforce in...

How many (a) enforced, (b) voluntary and (c) port returns have taken place each month since July 2024.

The Home Office published an ad-hoc release “Returns from the UK between July and October 2024” on 4 November 2024 containing data on enforced and voluntary returns between 5 July and 28 October 2024.The Home Office also publishes data on returns in the “...