British Transport Police (BTP) holds readily extractable, comparable data for knife-enabled crimes at railway stations over the past five years. Providing comparable figures for each of the last 30 years would require a manual review of historic records which was not possible within the required timescales.

A breakdown by the number of charges and convictions for all criminal offences is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Security checks are undertaken for all those arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately. All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks to confirm their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.

We continually assess potential threats in the UK. The Home Office works closely with other government departments as well as relevant agencies and law enforcement.

A breakdown by the number of charges and convictions for all criminal offences is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Security checks are undertaken for all those arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately. All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks to confirm their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.

We continually assess potential threats in the UK. The Home Office works closely with other government departments as well as relevant agencies and law enforcement.

This Government has recently laid legislation that will replace the light-touch waste carriers, brokers and dealers registration system with a new waste controllers and transporters system under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. This new regime will mean that operators will need to undergo stricter background checks and demonstrate technical competence to be granted a permit.

The Joint Unit for Waste Crime brings together law enforcement partners to tackle serious and organised waste crime and has already developed an enhanced intelligence sharing approach to enable this. Under the Waste Crime Action Plan, Defra is working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to undertake a review of the end-to-end multi-agency response to waste crime, including areas such as information sharing. The review will identify opportunities to strengthen how agencies work together and will aim to strengthen existing intelligence sharing structures.

The EA has commissioned a waste crime reporting Crimestoppers campaign which launched on 20 May 2026 and is set to finish in July/August. This radio and social media campaign aims to increase public awareness, understanding, and reporting of waste crime. The Crimestoppers campaign is featured on the Environment Agency website, and any communications on social media are amplified by Defra. The public should report any information regarding individuals or organised networks anonymously by visiting the Crimestoppers Illegal Waste Dumping page or by calling their 24/7 hotline at 0800 555 111.

The Gambling Commission, as the independent regulator for gambling, has responsibility for making decisions around licensing.

As part of its regulatory approach, the Gambling Commission assesses applicants against the statutory licensing objectives and may take compliance and enforcement action where it identifies evidence of breaches of licence conditions or other regulatory requirements. This includes where operators or gambling software licensees are found to be supplying the illegal gambling market.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.

The Government is committed to tackling rural crime and safeguarding rural communities. That is why we have worked closely with the Home Office and the National Police Chief’s Council to deliver their 2025-28 Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy which was published November 2025.

The strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities. The strategy, lasting until 2028, will ensure efforts to reduce crime benefit every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

Dangerous behaviour by any road user is, of course, completely unacceptable. We are aware of the concerns raised about the use of illegal e-bikes, particularly in relation to the gig economy. My Department has commissioned specific research into those issues so that we can better plan action to tackle that.

One of my constituents was nearly knocked over on a dedicated cycle path by an illegal e-bike. Riders in the gig economy in particular ride fast and dangerously. What steps are being taken to tackle the demands of illegal bikes in the gig economy?

This Government is committed to tackling rural crime and safeguarding rural communities. That is why Defra has worked closely with the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to deliver the 2025-28 Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy which was published in November 2025.

The strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities. The strategy, lasting until 2028, will ensure efforts to reduce crime benefit every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

To tackle waste crimes specifically, including those taking place in rural areas, Defra published the Waste Crime Action Plan in March. It sets out the decisive measures that we are taking in England to prevent harm, disrupt and prosecute offenders and clean up the damage that they leave behind.

The CPS considers every case referred to it by investigators and will prosecute where the evidential and public interest tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors are met.

The Solicitor General supports the CPS in tackling serious financial crime across all sectors, including where offending occurs in the waste sector. This includes supporting cross-government economic crime reforms and investment in economic crime and asset recovery capability, helping the CPS and its law enforcement partners to prosecute offenders and recover criminal assets.

The UK has a comprehensive regulatory framework for gambling, overseen by the Gambling Commission, including powers to tackle illegal gambling and unlicensed operators.

We are tackling the illegal market through work with industry and platforms via the Illegal Gambling Taskforce and by providing an additional £26 million to the Gambling Commission over the next three years.

The Online Safety Act 2023 complements this, requiring in-scope services to mitigate the risk of illegal content and activity on their platforms. Where gambling related content is illegal, services must take proportionate measures to prevent users encountering it and swiftly address it when identified.