Written questions by McMurdock.

What mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of the Hotspot Action Fund in reducing (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) serious violence.

The Hot Spot Action Fund for 25/26 is being evaluated for effectiveness using the same approach as for hot spot policing programmes funded by the Home Office since 21/22.Details of the evaluation method along with previous results can be found within published reports on the Home Office research section of the GOV.UK website. including impact on anti-social behaviour) and to be published in 2026.

Whether the recent cyberattacks on Marks and Spencer have been investigated by the relevant authorities.

The National Cyber Security Centre and National Crime Agency are working to fully understand the nature of these attacks, and to provide support and expert advice to the affected organisations, as well as the wider sector.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of larger police presence in neighbourhoods on rates of (a) retail crime and (b) anti-social behaviour.

This Government is committed to tackling anti-social behaviour and retail crime and its causes, as a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. Key to this is our plan to transform neighbourhood policing through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. We will deliver 13,000 more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community has a named, contactable officer to turn to.To help tackle retail crime, we will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the national policing intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.Further, the National Police Chiefs' Council will receive funding to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics. The training will aim to empower retailers to develop and implement tactics to prevent retail crime.Finally, the Home Office is providing funding through the Hotspot Action Fund programme to all 43 Police Force Areas in England and Wales in 2025/26, of £66.3 million. This funding is to implement additional, high visibility patrolling and problem-solving policing in serious violence and anti-social behaviour hotspots.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle the causes of retail crime.

This Government is committed to tackling anti-social behaviour and retail crime and its causes, as a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. Key to this is our plan to transform neighbourhood policing through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. We will deliver 13,000 more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community has a named, contactable officer to turn to.To help tackle retail crime, we will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the national policing intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.Further, the National Police Chiefs' Council will receive funding to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics. The training will aim to empower retailers to develop and implement tactics to prevent retail crime.Finally, the Home Office is providing funding through the Hotspot Action Fund programme to all 43 Police Force Areas in England and Wales in 2025/26, of £66.3 million. This funding is to implement additional, high visibility patrolling and problem-solving policing in serious violence and anti-social behaviour hotspots.

How many Indian nationals have emigrated to the UK to work in each of the last five years.

Statistics regarding UK immigration and emigration are a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). Contact details can be found on their website at Making a request - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by nationality, year and visa type in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visas granted are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance dataset’. A visa grant does not necessarily correspond to the person arriving or remaining long-term in the UK. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2005 up to the end of December 2024.

What information her Department holds on the number of British nationals who have emigrated to India to work.

The Home Office does not hold this information.

What plans she has to ensure (a) appropriate funding for and (b) the retention of officers in Essex Police neighbourhood teams amid increasing demand.

Essex Police’s total police settlement for 2025-26 is up to £434.1m, an increase of £27.9m compared to 2024-25. Of this, £4,495,599 has been made available in the Neighbourhood Policing Grant.Enabled by this funding, Essex Police has a 2025-26 delivery plan to grow it’s neighbourhood policing cohort by 74 police officers (FTE).Funding beyond 2025-26 will be confirmed in the second phase of the Spending Review.

What assessment she has made of the effect of neighbourhood policing in (a) reducing crime and (b) improving public trust in the police.

The Home Office has 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.

What steps she is taking to with retailers in Essex to increase (a) the provision of security personnel and (b) local police presence in stores to help deter (i) violence and (ii) abuse against staff.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.This Government is committed to effectively tackling retail crime. In the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament on 25 February, we brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also repealing legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.There were 44,048 shoplifting offences recorded by the police in the East of England region in the year ending September 2024, a 19% increase on the previous year (37,166 offences). This was a 41% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (31,154 offences).There were 13,266 shoplifting offences recorded by Essex police in the year ending September 2024, a 20% increase on the previous year (11,101 offences). This was a 44% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (9,190 offences).We will provide £100,000 additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics, as well as investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other.I chair the Retail Crime Forum to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

What steps she is taking to support retail workers in reporting incidents of abuse, threats and violence to the police.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.This Government is committed to effectively tackling retail crime. In the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament on 25 February, we brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also repealing legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.There were 44,048 shoplifting offences recorded by the police in the East of England region in the year ending September 2024, a 19% increase on the previous year (37,166 offences). This was a 41% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (31,154 offences).There were 13,266 shoplifting offences recorded by Essex police in the year ending September 2024, a 20% increase on the previous year (11,101 offences). This was a 44% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (9,190 offences).We will provide £100,000 additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics, as well as investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other.I chair the Retail Crime Forum to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

What assessment she has made of recent trends in the level of retail crime in Essex.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.This Government is committed to effectively tackling retail crime. In the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament on 25 February, we brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also repealing legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.There were 44,048 shoplifting offences recorded by the police in the East of England region in the year ending September 2024, a 19% increase on the previous year (37,166 offences). This was a 41% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (31,154 offences).There were 13,266 shoplifting offences recorded by Essex police in the year ending September 2024, a 20% increase on the previous year (11,101 offences). This was a 44% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (9,190 offences).We will provide £100,000 additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics, as well as investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other.I chair the Retail Crime Forum to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

If she will make a comparative assessment of recent trends in the level of retail worker assaults reported in (a) the East of England and (b) other regions of England in the last 12 months.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.This Government is committed to effectively tackling retail crime. In the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament on 25 February, we brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also repealing legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.There were 44,048 shoplifting offences recorded by the police in the East of England region in the year ending September 2024, a 19% increase on the previous year (37,166 offences). This was a 41% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (31,154 offences).There were 13,266 shoplifting offences recorded by Essex police in the year ending September 2024, a 20% increase on the previous year (11,101 offences). This was a 44% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (9,190 offences).We will provide £100,000 additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics, as well as investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other.I chair the Retail Crime Forum to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

What discussions has she had with police forces on preventing reoffenders from committing retail crimes.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this.This Government is committed to effectively tackling retail crime. In the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament on 25 February, we brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We are also repealing legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.There were 44,048 shoplifting offences recorded by the police in the East of England region in the year ending September 2024, a 19% increase on the previous year (37,166 offences). This was a 41% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (31,154 offences).There were 13,266 shoplifting offences recorded by Essex police in the year ending September 2024, a 20% increase on the previous year (11,101 offences). This was a 44% increase when compared with the year ending March 2010 (9,190 offences).We will provide £100,000 additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics, as well as investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other.I chair the Retail Crime Forum to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

How much her Department has spent on housing asylum seekers in (a) Essex and (b) South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency since 2022.

Information on asylum expenditure is published on gov.uk in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts.

Whether her Department had discussions with Apple prior to the Government's issuing of an order under the Investigatory Act 2016 asking for access to fully encrypted files from Apple users.

I refer the Hon Member to my response to PQ 33378 answered on 3 March 2025.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by Apple to withdraw its advanced data protection system in the UK on the privacy of users.

I refer the Hon Member to my response to PQ 33378 answered on 3 March 2025.

How many people were overstaying legitimately-granted visas in the UK as of 25 February 2025.

As set out in legislation, an individual is liable to removal from the UK if "the person requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom but does not have it". The Home Office does not routinely categorise immigration offenders by the manner in which they became liable to removal, and to do so could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.We have already begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced, with almost 19,000 returns recorded between 5 July 2024 and 31 January 2025.Further data on returns activity is published quarterly and can be found on gov.uk at Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab).

What (a) training and (b) resources she is providing to law enforcement to ensure effective enforcement of the proposed offence of assaulting a shopworker.

Through our Crime and Policing Bill, introduced on 25 February, this Government has brought forward a new offence of assaulting a retail worker, to protect hardworking and dedicated shop workers, including small and independent retailers. The offence carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and/or unlimited fine, as well as a presumption on the courts to impose a Criminal Behaviour Order. This will prohibit the offender from doing anything described in the order, which might include a condition preventing specific acts which cause harassment, alarm or distress, or preventing an offender from visiting specific premises.As set out in the Autumn Budget 2024, we will provide £100,000 of additional funding next financial year for the National Police Chiefs' Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics. We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime. This will build on funding provided this financial year to the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, for development of training materials for both police and retailers to help combat retail crime and promote partnership working.We will continue to work closely with the police to consider further training opportunities, including through our Retail Crime Forum, and are delivering on our wider commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing.

What steps she is taking to ensure that the removal of Apple's encryption system for users in Britain will not lead to (a) abuse and (b) misuse by the (i) police and (ii) security services.

I refer the Hon Member to my response to PQ 33378 answered on 3 March 2025.

Whether her Department has had discussions with technology companies other than Apple on the removal of advanced data protection systems.

I refer the Hon Member to my response to PQ 33378 answered on 3 March 2025.