Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what formal legal qualifications are required for any person seeking election as a Police and Crime Commissioner.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The criteria for those who wish to stand for, and hold the office of Police and Crime Commissioner, is set out in legislation under Section 64 to 69 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
Those who wish to stand as a candidate must be at least 18 years of age on the day of their nomination and registered to vote in the force area in which they wish to stand. They must also be a British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen or a qualifying EU citizen or EU citizen with retained rights. To be nominated as a candidate, candidates must obtain 100 nominations and tender a deposit of £5,000.
Individuals are not required to have any formal legal qualifications or other qualifications.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who is responsible for ensuring the (1) accuracy, and (2) reliability, of electronic devices used to measure the speed of vehicles on (a) motorways, and (b) other major highways; and whether they have any plans to amend these arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government’s Home Office Type Approval (HOTA) process oversees the accuracy and reliability of vehicle speed measurement devices to ensure they meet the specified requirements.
Manufacturers work with Road Safety Support to test the accuracy of speed cameras and provide test reports as part of the HOTA submission process. These reports are reviewed by scientific colleagues at the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) who will then make a recommendation on a device’s suitability for Type Approval.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many fixed penalty notices have been issued under powers granted by orders made under the Coronavirus Act 2020.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Data on the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued under the new emergency COVID-19 health regulations, are published by the NPCC on a fortnightly basis and can be found on the National Police Chiefs' Council website.
The NPCC release provides information about FPNs issued by police forces in England and Wales, the British Transport Police and the Ministry of Defence Police.
Policing is a devolved matter and FPNs issued by Police Scotland and Police Service Northern Ireland are reported separately by the respective forces.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to propose amendments to the provision of the Civil Partnership, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 as they relate to the issue of marriage certificates by churches immediately following the ceremony in question.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The General Register Office (GRO) is currently working on the secondary legislation, IT systems and administrative processes that are required to implement the marriage schedule system, which includes the issue of certificates following a ceremony.
GRO continues to engage interested stakeholders on these matters, including the Church of England and Church in Wales.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to re-employing recently retired police officers as part of their plans to increase the number of such officers by 20,000.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to support successful recruitment in all forces, to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of police officers by an additional 20,000 over the next three years. This work includes attracting former officers who may wish to re-join following resignation or retirement, as well as maximising opportunities to retain those who have important skills and policing experience.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what are the criteria taken into account by the Lord Speaker when he is considering whether or not to accept a Private Notice Question.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
The Companion to the Standing Orders and Guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords states that a private notice question (PNQ) gives members of the House the opportunity to raise urgent matters on any sitting day. The Lord Speaker, after consultation, considers whether the question is of sufficient urgency and importance to justify an immediate reply. The Procedure Committee’s 2nd Report of Session 2009-10 (HL Paper 51), recommended that the Lord Speaker’s decision, in respect of the admissibility of PNQs, be considered final. The House agreed this report on 16 March 2010.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the present retirement age for police officers; and what is their estimate of how many officers (1) reached that age, and (2) retired during the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The retirement age for police officers depends on their pension scheme. Members of the 1987 Police Pension Scheme can take their pension after thirty years of service. This means that someone joining the scheme at 18 can retire at age 48. The 2006 scheme members’ pension age is 55. And for the 2015 scheme it is 60 years with the option to take it from 55 with actuarial reduction.
The Home Office publishes information on the number of police officers who retire, by Police Force Area, in the annual “Police workforce, England and Wales” statistical bulletin. The latest release was published on 19th July, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2018
Table JL4 of the accompanying data tables (see attached) shows the number of police officers who retired in 2017/18.
The Home Office also publishes information on the age of officers, which is grouped into the following categories: Under 26, 26 to 40 years old, 41 to 55 years old, and Over 55 years old. The exact age of the officer is not collected.
Table D5 of the accompanying data tables at the link above shows the number of officers in each of the four age groups, by rank.
Table D5 Age of police officers1, by rank, as at 31 March 2018 |
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England and Wales |
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Rank | Age group | Total | |||
Under 26 | 26 to 40 | 41 to 55 | Over 55 | ||
Constable | 7,207 | 50,968 | 38,330 | 1,267 | 97,772 |
Sergeant | 16 | 6,805 | 11,575 | 297 | 18,693 |
Inspector | 3 | 1,209 | 4,311 | 105 | 5,628 |
Chief Inspector | 0 | 234 | 1,348 | 21 | 1,603 |
Superintendent | 0 | 98 | 785 | 10 | 893 |
Chief Superintendent | 0 | 15 | 269 | 5 | 289 |
Chief Officer | 0 | 1 | 206 | 8 | 215 |
All Officers | 7,226 | 59,330 | 56,824 | 1,713 | 125,093 |
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Notes |
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Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Metropolitan Police Service has sufficient funds to undertake its anti-terrorism operations; and what is their estimate of how much additional funding, if any, is required.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
For reasons of national security we do not publically disclose the detailed allocation of funding for counter terrorism by force area or by capability. However, overall this Government has protected Counter-Terrorism police spend in real terms over the Spending Review period, and invested in counter-terrorism policing to grow key capabilities, including providing £144m to increase armed policing capability.
We remain committed to increasing cross-government spending on counter-terrorism by 30%, from £11.7 billion to £15.1 billion, including funding an additional 1,900 officers at our security and intelligence agencies which reflects the changing nature of Counter Terrorism in the 21st Century.
The Government has a constructive dialogue with policing to ensure that the right powers, capabilities and resources are in place.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to appoint a permanent Chief Constable of Surrey.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since their introduction in 2012, the appointment of a chief constable is a matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Surrey’s new Police and Crime Commissioner, David Munro, announced on 14 June that Nick Ephgrave is his preferred candidate for the role of Chief Constable of Surrey Police. The appointment is subject to a confirmation hearing by the Surrey Police and Crime Panel on 5 July.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 18 July (WA 147) what are the powers available to police officers to establish the correct identity of cyclists who decline to co-operate or who give false identity information.
Answered by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 sets out the general powers available to the police, including in circumstances when an individual’s identity needs to be established or when false identity information has been provided. Similarly, powers exist under Section 168 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 where the person is suspected of having committed an offence under Sections 28 and 29 of the same Act. The application of any such powers is an operational matter for the police.