Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of concerns raised by police officers about the supply of personal protection equipment for frontline duties; and what (1) guidance they have issued, and (2) support they have provided, to police forces in England and Wales in relation to the provision of such equipment.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have confirmed that the police have a good supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and they are working to oversee its distribution to forces. The Government continue to work closely with the police to ensure this continues.
The Government has published guidance on appropriate PPE for emergency workers, including the police. The NPCC and the College of Policing have issued operational guidance to all forces on the use of PPE tailored to their unique role to ensure officers and staff are protected sufficiently. The guidance covers how, when and what type of PPE to wear across a range of practical scenarios.
An explanatory note of the guidance is available here: https://www.college.police.uk/What-we-do/COVID-19/Documents/Personal-Protective-Equipment-Operational-Guidance-1.pdf
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the timeline for the delivery of the proposed 20,000 new police officers in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government has committed to increasing the number of police officers by 20,000 over the next three years.
The Home Office has confirmed the recruitment targets for every force in England and Wales in the first year of the uplift, and 6,000 additional officers will be recruited in forces across England and Wales by the end of March 2021. Details of the allocations in years two and three are still to be determined. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-announces-first-wave-of-20000-police-officer-uplift
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional measures, alongside the introduction of 20,000 police officers, they are taking to address the rate of retention of serving police officers.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Around 7,500 police officers leave the service each year, the majority through normal retirement. Forces will continue to fill these vacancies as a matter of routine. The Police Uplift Programme will deliver 20,000 completely new posts across policing in addition to replacing leavers.
Relatively few officers choose to leave their job before retirement, compared to other public and private sector workforces. Voluntary resignations remain low at a rate of under 2% of the workforce and the independent pay review bodies have concluded that police officer retention rates a stable.
Nevertheless, the Government is not complacent, and we believe that more can be done to improve the retention of key skills to support the uplift in police officer numbers. The Home Office is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and other policing partners, to consider what further action may be needed to support retention.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the (1) numbers, and (2) use, of Tasers by police officers in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Secretary has already announced up to £10 million of additional funding for forces to increase the number of officers carrying TASER®. This will help forces to better protect themselves and the public from harm.
The use of TASER® remains an operational matter. Chief Officers decide the number of TASER® and the number of TASER® officers deployed based on their assessments of the threats and risks in their areas.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the current structure of Police and Crime Commissioners; and in particular, whether that structure is able to support the desired approach towards combatting knife crime.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Since their introduction, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) have brought real local accountability to how chief constables and their forces perform, and they are working hard to ensure that local communities have a stronger voice in policing. Beyond policing, PCCs have brought focus and drive to work with local partners, including on wider crime and criminal justice matters.
PCCs are already at the forefront of delivering local solutions to the issue of serious violence. In the 18 worst affected areas, the Government has provided locally accountable PCCs with up to £63.4m through surge funding in 2019-20 to help support operational and preventative activity; as well as an additional £35m in the same period to invest in Violence Reduction Units (VRUs). In December 2019, the Home Secretary announced a further £35m to continue funding VRUs in 2020-21.
The Early Intervention Youth Fund is also supporting 40 projects match-funded by PCCs, with £22m being made available over two years (2018-19 and 2019-20) to support communities in tackling the root causes of serious violence.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the use of water cannons by police to respond to outbreaks of public disorder.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
There are no plans to introduce water cannon into UK policing. The Home Office works closely with the National Police Chiefs Council on police capability and the measures that can be used in response to public disorder.
All less lethal weapons use by police must be approved by the Home Secretary. A stringent authorisation process is set out in the UK’s Code of Practice on armed policing and police use of less lethal weapons.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reduction in the number of crimes solved by police.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The likelihood of a crime resulting in a charge and summons can vary for several reasons. Improved crime recording by the police has resulted in
increased caseloads and a changing crime mix. These include more complex crimes which take longer to receive an outcome, such as domestic abuse or sexual offences.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of knife crime offences in England and Wales in 2018.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government is very concerned about increases in knife crime and its impact on victims, families and communities. The latest statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on 25 April for the year ending December 2018 show an increase of 6 per cent in police recorded knife crime.
The action we are taking to tackle knife crime is set out in our Serious Vio-lence Strategy and includes new legislation in the Offensive Weapons Bill to introduce Knife Crime Prevention Orders, to make it an offence to possess certain offensive weapons in private, and stopping knives being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online unless the seller has arrangements with a delivery company to verify age.
We are also raising awareness among young people of the dangers of carrying a knife through our national media campaign - #knifefree – and supporting early intervention through the £22 million Early Intervention Youth Fund, which is already supporting 29 local projects, and we have also introduced the £200 million Youth Endowment Fund, which will be delivered over the next 10 years to support interventions with children and young people at risk of involvement in crime and violence, focusing on those most at risk. The charity Impetus, working in partnership with the Early Intervention Foundation and Social Investment Business, is now operating the Fund We also continue to support the police national weeks of action under Operation Sceptre.
In addition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Spring Statement on 13 March that there will be £100 million additional funding for the police in 2019/20 to tackle serious violence, including £80m of new funding from the Treasury. The majority of the investment will largely go towards supporting police forces most affected by the violence we are seeing, but the funding will also support Violence Reduction Units, bringing together a range of agencies, including health, education, social services and others, to develop a multi-agency approach to preventing serious violence.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the conditions of immigration detainees who are being detained for indeterminate lengths of time due to a lack of appropriate alternative accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government treats detainee welfare as a matter of the utmost seriousness and expects the highest standards from those who manage the detention estate on its behalf. Conditions at all detention facilities, are kept under regular review. Independent scrutiny is a vital part of assurance that our removal centres are secure and humane. We will continue to implement actions in response to recommendations made by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and by the individual centre’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) in their published reports
Any asylum seeker, including foreign national offenders released from de-tention on bail, can apply for accommodation and other support if they would otherwise be destitute.
Asylum seekers who require support are housed where there is appropriate accommodation available. Agreements between the Government and participating local authorities are voluntary and our dispersal policy ensures a reasonable spread amongst UK local authorities
Decisions about accommodation and detention are made on a case by case basis. We work closely with the Police, HM Prison and Probation service to source and offer suitable accommodation as quickly as possible when it is required.
We are aware of some cases that are waiting for accommodation to be allocated and we are working closely with the accommodation providers, Police and HM Prison and Probation Service to source suitable accommodation. These are complex cases, as they relate mostly to Foreign National Offenders who have specific accommodation needs and restrictions that must be met before they can be released safely from detention.
Detention and removal of those with no lawful basis to stay in the UK are essential parts of effective immigration controls. However, we do not detain individuals indefinitely when people are detained, it is for the minimum time possible and detention is reviewed on a regular basis.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to combat the unauthorised urban exploration of and criminal trespassing in high profile buildings.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The police have a range of powers to deal with criminal activity, which includes public order offences, aggravated trespass and anti social behaviour. There are also measures that can be taken to combat trespass through civil courts. When criminal activity does occur, the decision whether to arrest individuals is an operational matter for the police in line with their duties to keep the peace, to protect communities, and to prevent the commission of offences.
The Home Office keep the available police powers under constant review and work closely with National Police Leads to ensure they are fit for purpose and allow the police to respond appropriately to a range of offences.