Sarah Jones

My hon. Friend will know that Lord Ken Macdonald has done a review for the Home Secretary on protests more widely. The issue of intimidation at protests is very pertinent to that review, and we will soon publish our response. It is also the case that some police forces have PSPOs that ban face coverings and balaclavas in an area. That is another approach that some areas are taking, and it is one that I welcome. I will not list them all, but we have introduced a raft of other changes through the 2026 Act that are explicitly designed to target antisocial behaviour. We will also gather more data, because one of the issues with antisocial behaviour is that we do not quite understand the data. Some of it is reported to local authorities and some to the police, so we do not quite understand the nature of the problems. We are gathering that data together. Lots of Members talked about the trouble we are having across so many communities with e-bikes and e-scooters, which is a debate that we have had numerous times. We have changed the law so that the police can seize them without having to give notice, which is important, but we are looking at what else we can do with this problem—and I recognise that it is a problem. I am going to have a series of roundtables, and I am talking to MPs about both the challenges and the solutions. Some solutions will sit within other Departments—whether that is what was formerly called the Department for Business and Trade, or the Department for Transport—and some will sit within the Home Office, so we are looking at how we can have a collective approach to that challenge. Some Members talked about persistent shoplifting offenders. It is the case that about 8% of the offenders are responsible for about 50% of the crime, and we will soon be able to announce some work on those prolific offenders in particular. Many Members talked about the underlying problems associated with some of this antisocial behaviour. When we look at prolific offenders, we often find drug addiction, homelessness and other challenges that we need to face collectively. We are considering how we target and support that cohort in a similar way to our rough sleeping cohort that the Prime Minister is so keen to champion. We need to think not just about housing but about the other support that those people need, and we are also trying to take that approach here. Prevention was mentioned by many people, and I think it is really important. It plays a part in our respect orders and in our prolific offenders work, as well as the wider Government action on youth work and other support, including mental health support. All of these are core things. A lot of antisocial behaviour comes from people who are not getting the support that they might have received 10 or 15 years ago, so it is incredibly important that we look at that side of things.