Written questions by Darling.

What assessment she has made of the positive role advanced technology can play in the reporting and prevention of violence against women and girls.

Awaiting answer.

What recent assessment she has made of barriers to innovation and technology adoption across police forces; and what steps she is taking to break down those barriers to support crime prevention and prosecutions.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to encourage police forces to adopt advanced technological innovations.

Awaiting answer.

What consideration she has given to provision of bleed kits in first aid kits in police cars.

Bleed kits can play a valuable role in saving lives in emergency situations. Decisions on the placement of bleed kits in first aid kits in police vehicles are an operational matter for Chief Officers to decide. Their assessment should be based on local risk assessments and priorities, in conjunction with their Police and Crime Commissioner and in line with health and safety legislation and the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP).

Between 1 January 2026 and 28 February 2026, how many licences have been granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for projects that use a) cats b) dogs c) horses and d) non-human primates.

Between 1 January 2026 and 28 February 2026, one project licence was granted which authorised the use of dogs, and one was granted that authorised the use of non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. No project licences were granted within this period that authorised the use of cats or horses.Official statistics are published on an annual basis and are available here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics

With regard to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit Annual Report 2024, published in December 2025, how many unannounced audits were there in 2024; and whether she plans to increase the number of unannounced audits by inspectors.

There were 10 unannounced audits in 2024, as reported in the published Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) 2024 Annual Report.ASRU will increase the number of unannounced audits as part of its programme of regulatory strengthening. The inspectorate is being expanded from an average of 14.5 inspectors in 2023 to 22 by March 2026, enabling a greater volume of risk‑based audits across the system.Both announced and unannounced audits play an important role in providing regulatory assurance. The number of audits alone should not be taken as a measure of regulatory impact: audit quality, depth and scope are central to assessing compliance effectively.

Which Departments and schemes will include families with No Recourse to Public Funds within their eligibility criteria following the introduction of new guidance; and what steps she will take to monitor and enforce consistency of support.

The new guidance being produced by the Home Office is designed to assist local authorities in supporting families with NRPF, as set out in the Child Poverty Strategy. The guidance will provide clarity around statutory duties and key safeguards for local authorities, ensuring a clear and consistent approach. The guidance does not alter the eligibility criteria for any current schemes or benefits.Children whose families are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) can currently access schemes and benefits such as free school meals, 15 hours of free childcare for disadvantaged two-year-olds and 15 hours free childcare for three- to four-year-old.The Home Office will continue to work across government where relevant to ensure that migrant children with NRPF are specifically considered when reviewing or deciding on eligibility for schemes and benefits.

When she plans to respond to the urgent correspondence from the hon. Member for Torbay dated 12 November 2025 on the potential closure of the custody suite in Torbay.

A response to this letter has been sent.

Whether she plans to extend arrangements allowing UK-bound group travellers to use national identity cards to other major sending countries such as Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

EU national children are permitted to use their national identity cards instead of a passport when travelling to the UK as part of an organised French school group accompanied by documentation which has been authenticated by the relevant French authorities. This scheme has been in operation since 10 March 2023. A similar scheme is planned for German school groups.The UK currently has no plans to extend the current arrangements allowing French and German groups to use national identity cards to other countries.

Whether her Department is taking steps to expedite delayed biometric processing in Islamabad, Pakistan, for family members of people who assisted UK military operations in Afghanistan; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential risk of family members being deported to Afghanistan and identified by the Taliban.

The Home Office does not hold this information.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that Police and Crime Commissioners are held accountable to their respective Police and Crime Panels.

The Home Office provides funding through a dedicated annual grant to host local authorities to support the activity of Police and Crime Panels, who have a wide range of powers and responsibilities to scrutinise the actions and decisions of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). Panels can require PCCs to attend public meetings to answer their questions, investigate complaints against PCCs and make recommendations on the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan.To further assist Panels to improve the quality and consistency of their scrutiny, the Home Office has also issued a comprehensive package of guidance and training. Whilst Panels scrutinise PCCs, PCCs are ultimately accountable to the public at the ballot box.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of decreased funding on the provision of specialist domestic violence services; what steps she is taking to prevent further harm to victims.

Specialist and ‘by and for’ services are essential for providing the tailored support that victims and survivors of domestic abuse need. Access to support services can prevent re-victimisation, and help victims to access support, escape abuse, and move forward with their lives. That is why we uplifted the National VAWG Helplines, including ‘by and for’ helpline providers, by over £1.5m in 2024/25, and we are now providing a further uplift of over £1m, bringing the total investment to over £6m in 2025/26. We also uplifted the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme by £398k in 2024/25, and we are now providing a further uplift of £600k to bring the total investment up to £2.4m for 2025/26. The is part of a wider £19.9 million investment into 2025/26, which also includes £2.5m to help prevent and improve the response to VAWG. This includes increasing the understanding and identification of VAWG, work to prevent ‘honour’ based abuse and improving multi-agency working and risk management.

What steps her Department is taking to improve coordination across departments to ensure that key Domestic Homicide Review recommendations are acted upon in a timely manner.

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) provide vital opportunities for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths.We know that recommendations are often made to the Home Office by default when they should sit with other departments and we are working to resolve this issue through clearer guidance and embedding best practice in training for those responsible for DHRs, the DHR Chairs. Creating a clear process that directs recommendations to the right department will ultimately ensure recommendations are received and implemented in a timely manner.The Home Office also worked closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner on the DHR Oversight Mechanism pilot, to improve the implementation of DHR recommendations across Government.The upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy will detail the Government’s work going forward to reform DHRs.

What steps her Department is taking to (a) improve awareness of and (b) ensure the implementation of Domestic Homicide Reviews recommendations.

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) provide vital opportunities for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths.We know that recommendations are often made to the Home Office by default when they should sit with other departments and we are working to resolve this issue through clearer guidance and embedding best practice in training for those responsible for DHRs, the DHR Chairs. Creating a clear process that directs recommendations to the right department will ultimately ensure recommendations are received and implemented in a timely manner.The Home Office also worked closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner on the DHR Oversight Mechanism pilot, to improve the implementation of DHR recommendations across Government.The upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy will detail the Government’s work going forward to reform DHRs.

How many applications to the Ukrainian Permission Extension scheme have been (a) made, (b) processed, (c) granted, (d) withdrawn and (e) rejected for which the latest data is available.

The Ukraine Permission extension scheme is open for those granted under the previous Ukraine Schemes to apply up to 28 days before their current permission expires. Applications received – 53,870Applications processed – 45,576Applications approved – 44,105Applications withdrawn – 1,321Applications rejected or refused – 150 These figures have been taken from a live operational database. As such, numbers may change as information on that system is updated.

What steps her Department is taking to help small unitary authorities to access funding for domestic abuse perpetrator programmes.

For the current financial year (2025/26), the Home Office has awarded over £19 million to continue funding 27 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) through the Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. This fund enables PCCs to commission domestic abuse and stalking interventions to suit the priorities and scale of their local area. PCCs work with local agencies and delivery partners to deliver a range of interventions which cover the full range of risk and harm.

What funding is available to local authorities for community-based behaviour change programmes for (a) high-risk and (b) medium-risk perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this government, and we have committed to use every government tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. The Home Office Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund provides funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to commission domestic abuse and stalking perpetrator interventions in their local area to reduce reoffending and protect victim-survivors. For financial year 2025-26, over £19 million of funding has been continued to 27 PCC areas. The interventions delivered by PCCs include behaviour change programmes for perpetrators at different risk levels, or other interventions to support a reduction in reoffending, and may also be used for victim support services which sit alongside perpetrator intervention programmes.

What funding her Department makes available to local authorities for community-based behaviour change programmes for (a) high risk and (b) medium risk perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this government, and we have committed to use every government tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. The Home Office Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund provides funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to commission domestic abuse and stalking perpetrator interventions in their local area to reduce reoffending and protect victim-survivors. For financial year 2025-26, over £19 million of funding has been continued to 27 PCC areas. The interventions delivered by PCCs include behaviour change programmes for perpetrators at different risk levels, or other interventions to support a reduction in reoffending, and may also be used for victim support services which sit alongside perpetrator intervention programmes.

How many staff in her Department were working on the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme on 24 March 2025.

Specific resource has been allocated to process Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) Scheme applications, which will allow for fluctuations in application volumes. As of 24 March, we had 30.9 full time equivalent staff working on UPE.

What steps her Department is taking to strengthen cooperation with other nations to help tackle online fraud.

The Government recognises the serious threat posed by fraudsters targeting UK citizens from abroad. In October 2024, the UK played a pivotal role in helping pass the first ever UN Resolution on Fraud at the 12th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).The resolution outlines a set of key recommendations that all signatories to the UNTOC (186 Member States) should implement to mitigate the threat of fraud to their citizens. These recommendations include codifying fraud as a serious crime, pursuing fraudsters, protecting victims, and collaborating closely with the private sector to design out fraud. By establishing these guidelines, the resolution sets a baseline of global standards for all member states to follow. This is a significant advancement in the global fight against fraud and underscores our shared commitment with international partners in combating this pernicious crime.As part of the Government’s on-going work to tackle fraud internationally, we continue to work closely with our strategic partners including Five Eyes countries, Singapore, EU nations and INTERPOL, to target fraud and scams at source. Through these forums we are working with source countries (where transnational organised fraud and cybercrime groups operate) to build capacity in their law enforcement agencies, in order to tackle and disrupt overseas fraud before it reaches the UK.