Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce domestic burglaries.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Crime Survey for England and Wales data shows a 55% per cent fall in the level of domestic burglary when comparing the Crime Survey to year ending March 2023 with the year ending March 2010. This represents a fall from 917,000 incidents to 409,000 incidents. While this is clearly good news, the Government recognises the significant impact invasive crimes such as domestic burglary can have on individuals and the wider community, and we are committed to tackling and preventing these crimes.
In her open letter to police leaders in September 2022, the Home Secretary made it clear the public want to know the police will visit them when a home burglary has been committed. We therefore welcome the announcement made by the National Police Chiefs’ Council on the 8 June that all 43 police forces in England and Wales have been implementing this policy since March. We are working with police leaders to ensure forces are making their attendance data available to the public. https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/police-now-attending-scene-of-every-home-burglary
The commitment to attend home burglaries is being supported by specific College of Policing good practice guidance on conducting residential burglary investigations. https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/residential-burglary Setting the standard in respect of the initial response and the subsequent investigation, the guidance sits alongside the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice on Investigations.
As part of this back-to-basics approach, police forces across England and Wales have committed to pursue all ‘reasonable lines of enquiry’ where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. This commitment, announced on 28 August, has been worked up and agreed by the Home Office, in tandem with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pursuing-all-reasonable-lines-of-enquiry-letter-to-police-leaders/pursuing-all-reasonable-lines-of-enquiry-letter-to-police-leaders
Furthermore, the Home Secretary has made it clear she expects forces to work with partners across the justice system to see more criminals charged and prosecuted.
To help ensure the police have the resources they need to fight crime and tackle anti-social behaviour, we have delivered on our commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers by the end of March this year. As of 31 March, a total of 20,947 additional officers had been recruited across England and Wales through the Police Uplift Programme, raising the number of police officers in England and Wales to 149,566, the highest number on record since comparable records began.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to improve the quality of police uniforms.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our police face some of the most challenging situations on a daily basis and it is vital that they have access to the equipment and clothing that they need to keep themselves safe and protect our communities.
Decisions about police uniform and equipment are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces.
There are no current plans for the Government to implement a national police uniform.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on the provision of police uniforms in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our police face some of the most challenging situations on a daily basis and it is vital that they have access to the equipment and clothing that they need to keep themselves safe and protect our communities.
Decisions about police uniform and equipment are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces.
There are no current plans for the Government to implement a national police uniform.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many approved suppliers of police uniforms there are in the UK as of 13 October 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our police face some of the most challenging situations on a daily basis and it is vital that they have access to the equipment and clothing that they need to keep themselves safe and protect our communities.
Decisions about police uniform and equipment are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces.
There are no current plans for the Government to implement a national police uniform.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce a national police uniform for town and county forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our police face some of the most challenging situations on a daily basis and it is vital that they have access to the equipment and clothing that they need to keep themselves safe and protect our communities.
Decisions about police uniform and equipment are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces.
There are no current plans for the Government to implement a national police uniform.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on the threat level from international terrorism of the UK's support for Israel in its war with Hamas.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The national threat level is subject to continuous review and assessment. Considerations have and continue to be made in light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The threat level remains at Substantial and will continue to be reviewed to ensure it accurately reflects the threat of a terrorist attack in the UK.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle (a) verbal and (b) physical abuse of shopkeepers and retail staff.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violent and abusive behaviour towards any worker, particularly those who provide a valuable service to the public, is never acceptable and the Government takes this issue very seriously.
We have introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public, via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This sends a very clear signal about the unacceptability of assaults against public-facing workers.
I recently met colleagues from the retail sector and the police to discuss retail crime; and how we can take action together to tackle this important issue. Police forces across England and Wales have committed to pursuing any available evidence where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime – and this includes verbal and physical abuse towards retail workers.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to help the London Fire Brigade with tackle future wild fires on Green Belt land.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
London Fire Brigade, like all Fire and Rescue Authorities are required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area, through their Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP). These need to incorporate the top local and national risks such as wildfire, and have regard to other key local responders and the communities which they serve.
Fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.6 billion in 2023/24. Standalone fire and rescue authorities will see an increase in core spending power of 8.1 per cent in cash terms compared to 2022/23. The Greater London Authority has a core spending power of £2.8bn in 2023/24 which is an increase of £319m (12.7%) compared with 2022/23. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.
More widely, the Government working closely with NFCC Wildfire Lead, and The England and Wales Wildfire Forum has developed a “Wildfire Framework”; supporting a multiagency approach to mitigate the risks and impacts of wildfire to people, property, habitats and wildlife and to provide an effective response to wildfire incidents. [Wildfire Framework for England – December 2021 (fireengland.uk)]. Furthermore, the Home Office are currently scoping a wildfire strategy and action plan, as outlined in the third National Adaptation Plan.
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) have surveyed and collated feedback from all UK Fire and Rescue Services on the 2022 wildfire season. The Home office are working closely with the NFCC to implement relevant policy recommendations.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials her Department has stationed on Ascension Island as of September 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Home Office does not comment on staffing levels for operational security.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish details of the hotel chains with which her Department has signed contracts for the exclusive use of asylum seeker accommodation within the last 12 months.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Details of the hotel chains contracted for asylum accommodation are considered commercially confidential and we do not routinely publish these details. Published statistics of where asylum seekers are accommodated can be viewed under the Local Authority Dataset Asy-D11 at:
Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)