Hare coursing remains a national wildlife crime priority and is one of the offences for which police forces most frequently seek support from the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). Defra is providing £530,000 to the NWCU in 2026/27, strengthening its intelligence, data analysis and financial investigation capabilities to help disrupt criminal networks, identify illicit profits, and bring offenders to justice.

New sentencing guidelines for hare coursing came into force on 1 June 2026. These should help ensure the courts fully recognise the significant harm and intimidation this serious crime poses to wildlife, farmers, and others across rural areas.

This Government cannot confirm offending levels as hare coursing is not a ‘notifiable crime’. Hare coursing can also be ‘hidden’ under notifiable offences such as criminal damage if it has taken place as part of the same incident.

The UK remains concerned by developments in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, including reports of loss of life among civilians and security personnel. We recognise the concern caused by continuing communications restrictions, particularly for diaspora communities with family in the region. The safety of British nationals remains our top priority, and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office travel advice continues to advise against all but essential travel to the region.

I raised our concerns directly with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, on 27 August, including the reported loss of life, arrests and communications restrictions, and their impact on British nationals. The British High Commissioner to Pakistan has also raised our concerns with senior Pakistani counterparts. We continue to monitor the situation closely and encourage all sides to show restraint, uphold human rights and resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue.

The Home Office does not provide operational guidance to police forces on the use of facial recognition technology.

Forces using the technology must comply with all relevant legal requirements including data protection, human rights and equality legislation, as well as the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice and force-level policies. For live facial recognition, forces are required to follow the College of Policing’s national guidance in the form of an Authorised Professional Practice (APP). The APP sets out how the technology should be used, including the categories of individuals who may be included on watchlists and the need for deployments to be necessary and proportionate to a specific policing objective.

The Police Reform Bill will include clearer rules and safeguards, and a single expert body to provide independent advice and oversight.

The Border Force activity highlighted in the press release formed part of wider operational and safeguarding work to raise awareness of the risks of criminal exploitation by organised crime groups involved in drug smuggling. The activity was delivered using existing Border Force resources, staff and communication channels.

Border Force undertakes internal reviews of operational activity to identify lessons learned and inform future safeguarding and prevention work. There are currently no plans to publish internal evaluations produced for operational learning purposes.

Border Force does not hold data on the number of UK nationals arrested overseas for attempting to smuggle cannabis into the UK.

Border Force does not hold data on the number of UK nationals recruited by organised criminal groups to smuggle controlled drugs into the UK.

As part of its safeguarding work, Border Force works with a range of partners, including the travel industry and media organisations, to raise awareness of the risks of criminal exploitation. Border Force has not engaged directly with social media companies as part of this activity.

The activity was intended to raise awareness of the risks associated with organised criminal groups exploiting individuals to act as drug couriers. Border Force considers a range of information when reviewing such activity, including operational intelligence, detection trends, media reach and feedback from frontline officers and partners.

The Home Office and operational partners work closely with international partners to prevent illegal drug trafficking and disrupt the organised crime groups enabling it. There is frequent and ongoing engagement with the Government of Thailand on countering drug trafficking from Thailand, including by senior Home Office, FCDO, National Crime Agency and Border Force officials. In July 2026, Thai authorities introduced a scheme to fine drug couriers who are caught smuggling cannabis out of Thailand to any other country. So far, almost 100 couriers have been caught, over 60 of whom were heading for the UK.

The British Transport Police (BTP) commenced a six-month pilot of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) at certain railway stations in February 2026. The purpose of every deployment is to identify and apprehend individuals wanted for serious crimes.

BTP have reported that to date (a) no offenders have been matched to watchlists, (b) one individual has been stopped by police but this was a false alert which was resolved quickly and (c) no individuals have been arrested specifically following use of facial recognition technology.

BTP have reported 13 arrests linked to the deployment of LFR so far during the pilot, and the locations see a reduced level of crime whilst LFR is in use.

The following railway stations have had LFR deployed:

As I have said to the Noble Lord in previous answers, we are aware of the cases referenced in these questions. The UK maintains a constructive and longstanding relationship with Bahrain, enabling frank discussion on a range of issues including human rights. We recognise the important role of the Special Investigation Unit within Bahrain's oversight framework and note that an officer has been sentenced in relation to the death of Sayed Mohammed al-Mousawi.

The Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF) programme for the financial year 2025/26 supported a wide range of UK strategic objectives in Bahrain. This included support to security institutions in progressing community justice reforms and exploring avenues of cooperation to counter money laundering and terrorist-financing. All GSF programming is subject to rigorous assessments to ensure it meets with human rights obligations and our values.

The Government welcomes the Children’s Commissioner’s report, Police powers and children – strip searching and use of force, and takes its recommendations seriously.

Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use must be lawful, fair, respectful and without unlawful discrimination. We recognise that any strip search of a child can be traumatic, particularly where safeguards are not followed, and that the welfare and safeguarding of children must remain paramount. There will, however, be occasions where a strip search is necessary to prevent or detect crime, or to protect the individual, police officers or the public.

The report highlights progress, including reductions in the number of strip searches of children and improvements in data transparency, but also raises important concerns about the consistent application of safeguards, repeat searches, racial disproportionality and the use of force.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on strip searches in police custody and strip searches following stop and search as part of the Police Powers and Procedures statistical series: [Police powers and procedures England and Wales. (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales).

The Government is carefully considering the Children’s Commissioner’s findings and recommendations. We are taking forward work to strengthen safeguards for children and vulnerable people, improve accountability and oversight, and provide greater clarity and consistency for police. This work is being progressed with relevant partners across Government and policing as part of wider consideration of the legal, operational and safeguarding framework for police search powers. We will continue to engage with the Children’s Commissioner, policing partners and other stakeholders as this work progresses.

Law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom make use of a range of domestic and international information sources when preventing, detecting and investigating crime, including information provided from European law enforcement databases. However, neither the Home Office nor UK law enforcement agencies routinely record whether an arrest or charge has resulted from information obtained from a specific law enforcement database.

The Home Office therefore does not hold figures for the number of individuals arrested and charged in the United Kingdom on the basis of information provided from European law enforcement databases between 2010 and 2019.

The Home Office publishes data on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, including the total number of offences by Police Force Area (found here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK). This provides insight into geographic variation overall, as well as by the strand of hostility motivating the offence. Detailed breakdowns, by Police Force Area, for hate crime offences targeted at Jewish people are not published.

Data on arrests and prosecutions are held operationally by police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service and are not routinely published in a way that allows consistent assessment of regional variation for antisemitic offences. Accordingly, no central assessment of variation has been made.

Officials at our High Commission in Colombo are monitoring this case, and the British High Commissioner raised it with the Sri Lankan authorities on 4 June.

The UK remains firmly committed to protecting human rights in Sri Lanka, including securing truth, justice and accountability for past abuses against the Tamil community and other minority groups. We also continue to press the Sri Lankan Government, bilaterally and at the UN Human Rights Council, for meaningful progress and urge them to uphold their commitments to international human rights standards.

In particular, we have consistently raised concerns about the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka, and urged its repeal and replacement in line with international law and safeguards.

The Home Office publishes data on illegal working enforcement activity, including the number of visits and arrests conducted by Immigration Enforcement teams by region.

The number of illegal working enforcement visits increased from over 6,000 in 2019 to almost 13,000 in 2025 while the number of arrests from these visits has increased from over 3,000 in 2019 to around 9,000 in 2025.

This data is published on GOV.UK alongside illegal working enforcement statistics: A full regional breakdown of illegal working visits and arrets for each year is available on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/returns-from-the-uk-and-illegal-working-activity-since-july-2024/illegal-working-and-enforcement-activity-to-the-end-of-december-2025

We have invested £40 million in new security measures to clamp down on contraband that fuels violence behind bars - including £10 million on anti-drone measures, such as window replacements, external window grilles and specialist netting.

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has adopted a multi-faceted approach to the problem, which includes physical security countermeasures, exploring technological developments, exploiting intelligence, strengthening legislation and working across Government and with international partners on this global issue. HMPPS will continue to adapt its counter-drone security measures to ensure we keep pace with the evolving threat.

It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the proportion of the reduction in drone-related smuggling incidents that can be attributed to the installation of steel grilles. Similarly, the requested information in relation to arrests linked to prison drone activity is not available, as arrests and charges are matters for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Government is clear that all individuals in police custody must be treated safely, with dignity and in accordance with their individual needs, including those with medical conditions or disabilities.

The statutory framework governing detention and treatment is set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and its Codes of Practice. These require that detainees are treated fairly and that reasonable steps are taken to identify and address any vulnerabilities, including health and welfare needs, throughout the period of detention and transport.

Operational guidance for police forces is provided through the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP), including its guidance on turn1search7. This makes clear that officers and designated escort staff are responsible for ensuring detainees continue to be treated in accordance with PACE during transport, and that appropriate training, supervision and risk management arrangements are in place.

The APP also emphasises the importance of identifying and responding to individual needs and vulnerabilities, including those arising from medical conditions or disabilities, as part of ongoing risk assessment and care.

It is for chief constables, as operationally independent leaders, to ensure their officers and staff apply this guidance appropriately in practice.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical series, available here: Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK

However, the data on arrests is collected by offence group only, for example ‘Violence against the person’. Data on arrests specifically for knife crime offences is not available.

Separately, the Home Office publishes official statistics on knife-enabled crime including how these offences were dealt with by the police. This information can be found in our Open Data Tables, available here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical series, available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK

However, data is collected by broader offence group for example ‘drug offences’ or ‘possession of weapons’, therefore data specifically on arrests relating to serious and organised crime is not available.

Additionally data is collected by Police Force Area, therefore further geographical details relating to arrests such as arrests made on high streets in rural areas is also not available.