Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 5 November (HCWS188), what is the status of the Home Office's Cerberus Project in relation to using safety and security declarations to target Border Force activity.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Safety & Security declarations are a key dataset that will enhance Home Office capability to protect the border. We have already undertaken a discovery exercise on the operationalisation of this data for the purposes of detecting high risk movements of goods. On the basis of that discovery our approach in 2025 will be to:
The Home Office already uses Rest of the World S&S data to risk RoW traffic.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what policy, memorandum of understanding or guidance is held by the Home Office as a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to the operation of the Special Escort Group’s blue-light policing on public highways.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Special Escort Group (SEG) is part of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and is operationally independent. The policy for the deployment of the SEG is a matter for the MPS.
The government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) discussed the escorted policing protection to be given to Taylor Swift and her entourage at her concerts this year.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The first job of this Government is to ensure that the British people are safe and we make absolutely no apology to ensure our citizens are protected. As you would expect with events of this size in the capital, there would be meetings between the government, police and the mayor on planning to ensure events happen safely. But decisions on security arrangements are made by the police independent of politicians.
The government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the High Court ruling of [2024] EWHC 418 (Admin) of 28 February, what are (1) the current terms of reference for, and (2) the organisations sitting on, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC); and how Ministers’ views on (a) policy, and (b) operational matters are represented on the committee by their representatives,
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The current terms of reference for the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) were agreed in 2021, as set out in the High Court’s judgement.
These terms of reference set out the roles and responsibilities of the Committee, including those of the Committee as a whole and each organisation on the Committee.
The Committee’s membership includes the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the Metropolitan Police Service, and the Royal Household.