Written questions by Holden.

What the net zero targets for the Home Office and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.

The Net Zero target and timelines for the Home Office and its arm’s Length bodies, are those which are set out in the Climate Change Act 2008 as a target for the UK.These targets form part of the Greening Government Commitments (GGC), which is the central framework for UK Government Departments and their agencies to reduce their impacts on the environment, including targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.The Greening Government Commitments are currently under review by DEFRA, to ensure that they remain aligned with government priorities.

Whether expenditure on electric vehicles or electric vehicle charging infrastructure since 4 July 2024 has been incurred directly by their Department or indirectly through contracts with asylum accommodation or transportation providers.

The information sought is not collected and would only be available at disproportionate costAll readily available information on HO EV vehicles and infrastructure was provided in response to UIN 87860.

How many electric vehicles owned or leased by their Department or its arm’s-length bodies are allocated to (a) asylum accommodation operations, (b) migrant transportation, or (c) related contractor-led services; and for what operational purposes those vehicles are used.

The information sought is not collected and would only be available at disproportionate costAll readily available information on HO EV vehicles and infrastructure was provided in response to UIN: 87860.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of ghost plates pose on (a) national security and (b) the ability of hostile or organised criminal actors to evade detection by ANPR technology; and whether she has commissioned a cross-government review on the potential impact of the use of illegal plates on investigative leads, including those related to violent crime, terrorism, and serious organised criminal activity.

Under the new Road Safety Strategy, published on 7 January by the Department for Transport, the Government has announced firm action to tackle illegal or ‘ghost’ numberplates. This includes consulting on tougher penalties, including penalty points and vehicle seizure, more robust checks on number plate suppliers, and higher industry standards for numberplates. We also intend to commission targeted research to explore the potential use of artificial intelligence to identify illegal plates.In addition, the Government has pledged £2.7m for each of the next three years to support a roads policing innovation programme. As part of this innovation programme, the Department for Transport and Home Office are working in collaboration with National Police Chiefs' Council and others to consider new approaches to tackling the issue of illegal plate usage.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2025 to Question 89631 on Driving under Influence: Testing, whether her Department will begin collecting and publishing data on tests conducted by police for drug driving.

The Home Office does not collect data on tests conducted by police for drug driving.The Department for Transport is developing a Road Safety Strategy, the first in a decade and intends to publish by the end of the year.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2025 to Question 89631 on Driving under Influence: Testing, if she will publish all assessment her Department has made of the impact of the absence of any data on drug testing on road safety policy and enforcement.

The Home Office does not collect data on tests conducted by police for drug driving.The Department for Transport is developing a Road Safety Strategy, the first in a decade and intends to publish by the end of the year.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 84267 on the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, what direct financial or in-kind support her Department currently provides to NaVCIS; whether she has assessed the adequacy of its industry-funded model for tackling organised HGV and freight theft; and whether she plans to allocate public funding to support that Service in the 2026-27 financial year.

As noted in response to question 84267, the Government does not fund the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) and has no plans to do so.NaVCIS is funded by industry to provide dedicated specialist intelligence and enforcement. However we have regular discussions with key policing partners, including the NPCC, NaVCIS and Opal, the national policing intelligence unit for organised acquisitive crime, about the best ways to tackle organised freight crime.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2025 to Question 86746 on Roads: Accidents, whether her Department has received requests from the Department for Transport for data on (a) drug and (b) drink driving tests since July 4th 2024.

As a part of the Annual Data Requirement, the Home Office collects information on roadside breath tests for alcohol, carried out by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales.The Home Office makes all information collected on roadside breath tests for alcohol publicly available as a part of its annual “Police powers and procedures: Roads policing” statistical publication. The latest release is available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UKPublication of this data makes it accessible for use by Other Government Departments, external organisations, and members of the public.The Home Office does not collect data on tests conducted by police for drug driving.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31540 on Entry Clearances: Overseas Students, whether her Department has considered using (a) Programme for International Student Assessment results and (b) other international benchmarking data when determining which applicants are required to take additional English language tests.

We refer the honourable member to our answer of 24 February 2025 to PQ UIN 31540. Our position has not changed.

How much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

CDEL – HOPS Change BudgetRDEL – Resource BudgetFY CDEL RDEL20/21 £1,153,957.7721/22 £1,066,198.0322/23 £495,547.89 £721,655.0023/24 £442,482.0024/25 £1,123,253.8625/26 £318,642.00Sub Total £4,600,081.55 £721,655.00Total £5,321,736.55

What information her Department holds on (a) enforcement and (b) prosecution rates by police force following reports from members of the public of road traffic offences captured on (i) dashcams and (ii) other video evidence.

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on police enforcement of road traffic offences as a part of the annual ‘Police powers and procedures: Roads policing’ statistical release. These statistics include information on the number of offences by outcome, including Fixed Penalty Notice, driver retraining and referral to court action.The latest publication, covering 2023, can be found on GOV.UK at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-roads-policing-to-december-2023As part of these statistics, the Home Office publishes breakdowns on the number of camera-detected offences. However, these figures relate to offences captured by official traffic enforcement cameras and do not include footage submitted by members of the public via dashcams or other private video recording devices.Information on the prosecution outcome of offences referred to court action by the police is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

What steps she is taking to help protect (a) police officers, (b) immigration officers and (c) other public sector workers from online harassment by people who film and publish deliberately confrontational encounters with them on social media platforms.

Nobody should face harassment in person, on social media or anywhere online.The Online Safety Act (OSA) introduced a number of communication offences, including the false communications offence and which could include videos uploaded online. This offence captures communications where the individual knows the information to be false but sends it intending to cause harm, or intending for it to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience.The Act requires services, including social media platforms, to implement robust measures to reduce the risks that users post illegal content, and to reduce the risk of users coming across this content. Moreover, platforms should also have their own terms, community guidelines or options for people to submit complaints to them and potentially have content removed, even if it may not be in breach of the Online Safety Act.Anybody who believes online material may be in breach of the Online Safety Act or falls short of the social media provider’s policies should report it to the relevant company. We expect companies to take their legal obligations seriously.It is a criminal offence to engage in behaviour that intentionally causes another person harassment, alarm, or distress, or for a person to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment. In some circumstances, the repeated filming of an individual could be captured under these offences. It is for the police to decide whether a particular offence applies in any given circumstance.

How many officers are currently assigned to the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service; what that Service’s annual budget is for the 2025-26 financial year; and what discussions she has had with that Service on the adequacy of its capacity to tackle organised HGV and freight thefts.

We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy. This Government is determined to crack down on it.The Government does not fund the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS). NaVCIS is funded by industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers, to provide dedicated specialist intelligence and enforcement.My officials have regular discussions with key partners, including Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, and NaVCIS about tackling organised freight crime.

What steps the Government is taking to ensure that defibrillators are routinely procured and installed in (a) police cars and (b) other frontline public service vehicles.

Provision of defibrillators in police and fire vehicles is an operational matter for either the individual police force or fire and rescue service to determine at local level.The Home Office has been working to provide more defibrillators to all 43 forces across the country and recently purchased over 500 defibrillators to distribute to police forces free of charge, for them to deploy according to their local knowledge. We continue to work to explore what more could be done to increase availability of defibrillators more generally where this is within the remit of the Home Office, including through our ongoing engagement with the OurJay Foundation.The Department for Health and Social Care has confirmed that all ambulances carry defibrillators.

With reference to page 26 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what her planned timetable is for the publication of the Anti-Corruption Strategy.

The Anit-Corruption Strategy will be published later this year, and will be set out to Parliament in the normal way.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authorities’ (a) powers and (b) resources to enforce Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) requiring dogs to be kept on leads in public parks; and what steps her Department is taking to support councils in (i) extending PSPO coverage where necessary and (ii) improving public (A) awareness and (B) enforcement to reduce dog-related incidents in shared green spaces.

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police and local authorities with a range of flexible tools and powers, including Public Spaces Protection Orders, that they can use to tackle dog-related incidents in public spaces.Appropriate use of the powers is a local decision for local authorities, police and other agencies. The Home Office regularly engages with police and local authority partners to discuss the effectiveness of the legislation.We are making changes to some of the powers in the 2014 Act via the Crime and Policing Bill to ensure the powers – based on engagement with police and local authorities – are as effective as possible. These changes include increasing the upper limit for a fixed penalty notice for breach of a Public Spaces Protection Order from £100 to £500 to act as a stronger deterrent to anti-social behaviour, including dog-related incidents in public spaces.

What recent assessment she has made of the (a) legal and (b) operational feasibility of local councils (i) establishing or (ii) co-funding neighbourhood policing constabularies under the Police Act 1996 in partnership with Police and Crime Commissioners.

The Government remains firmly committed to ensuring strong neighbourhood policing across England and Wales. The 43 territorial police forces across England and Wales are responsible for neighbourhoods policing in their areas.To reinforce neighbourhood policing teams, we are providing £200 million to police forces in the 2025/26 financial year to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales. Essex Police has been allocated £4,495,599 from the £200 million fund for 2025/26. Based on their funding allocation, the projected growth for neighbourhood officers in Essex Police over 2025/26 will be 74 (FTE) police officers.The Government has also announced that by July, every community will have named, contactable officers dedicated to addressing local issues as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging police forces to establish ringfenced neighbourhood policing units with a dedicated remit to tackle (a) illegal e-scooter use, (b) public disorder, (c) low-level crime and (d) other antisocial behaviour.

Restoring neighbourhood policing is at the heart of the Government’s Plan for Change and on 10 April the Prime Minister and Home Secretary outlined further details about our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.Through the Guarantee, by July, every community will have named, and contactable officers dedicated to addressing local issues. These officers will play a vital role in preventing and responding to crime at all levels by building trust, gathering intelligence, and maintaining a visible presence in communities.The Guarantee will also ensure that neighbourhood policing teams hold regular local beat meetings that residents and businesses can use to raise concerns and help shape local policing priorities.Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to police and other relevant agencies under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to improve the tools agencies have at their disposal to tackle ASB. This includes introducing new Respect Orders to tackle the most persistent adult ASB offenders, extending the maximum exclusion period for dispersal directions from 48 to 72 hours, and increasing the upper limit for a fixed penalty notice for breaches of a Public Spaces Protection Orders or a Community Protection Notice from £100 to £500.The Bill will also enhance the powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, and other vehicles which are being used in an anti-social manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender.To reinforce neighbourhood policing teams, we have made £200 million available in FY 25/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel across England and Wales, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by 31 March 2026.

What steps she has taken with his German counterparts to facilitate more bi-lateral school visits since July 4 2024.

During the Prime Minister's successful visit to Berlin on 28 August 2024, Chancellor Scholz and he agreed to work on a once-in-a-generation bilateral treaty between our countries, rooted in our shared values and common goals. Within the context of wider and strengthened migration cooperation, we agreed to develop arrangements with Germany similar to those we already have with France on school group travel. Significant progress has been made at working level on both the wider agreement and school group arrangements. The Government will provide updates on the rules regarding school groups travel in advance of any change.

Whether her Department holds data on the number of instances where police have been unable to disclose (a) cautions and (b) convictions for child sexual offences to voluntary youth organisations due to legal restrictions.

The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme was introduced in 2011 and allows members of the public to make an application to police for information about a person who has contact with a child. The police guidance for the Scheme was updated in April 2023, which both modernised the Scheme and also formalised the process by which the police can make proactive disclosures when they are in receipt of information about a risk to a child or children without the need for an application by a member of the public.The police have the common law power to disclose information about an individual where it is necessary to do so to protect another individual from harm. The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, including its proactive disclosure route, does not replace statutory safeguarding processes in place – such as the Disclosure and Barring Service, Subject Access requests, or Freedom of Information requests – and relevant referrals will still need to be made as required.That being said, through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are working to place the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme on a statutory footing. This will ensure that police officers follow published guidance as they consider the disclosure of information when they suspect someone might pose a risk of sexual harm.