Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to increase the accountability of police (a) services and (b) officers to the public.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) meetings and (b) other discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on knife crime in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Secretary and Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire regularly meet with the Mayor of London and Police and Crime Commissioners to discuss crime and policing matters.
Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £43m of funding for a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in London which is providing a multi-agency, preventative response designed to tackle the drivers of serious violence and knife crime in London. In addition, c.£8.1m has been awarded in 2024/25 to deliver the ‘Hotspot Response’ programme and enable additional, high visibility patrols and problem-solving tactics in the areas worst affected by serious violence and ASB.
Additionally, just under £1.3m has been awarded in 2023/24 to support delivery of the Serious Violence Duty in London.
Following a surrender scheme, the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes that are designed to look intimidating but have no practical purpose will be outlawed from 24 September 2024.
Additionally, through the Criminal Justice Bill, we are providing more powers for police to seize knives held in private that they believe will be used for unlawful violence, increasing the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s and creating a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or an offensive weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence.
We are also providing £3.5 million into the research, development, and evaluation of new technologies to reduce knife crime, including knife detection technologies. The Metropolitan Police has been given £547,863 for further live facial recognition mobile units to be deployed across their 75 London hotspots.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2024 to Question 25470 on UK Border Force: Patrol Craft, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting that data.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Border Force are constantly improving our data capture in support of maritime operations to ensure an effective response across a range of threats that we deal with.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many maritime boarding actions Border Force performed on (a) recreational and (b) commercial vessels in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Border Force does not hold the data requested in an easily accessible format.
Border Force enhance UK maritime border security through intelligence-led and proactive maritime operations to deliver the right law enforcement effect in the right place, at the right time. This is in order to:
Reassure the public and wider maritime community whilst minimising interference into the lawful passage of people and goods within UK Territorial Waters.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contingency measures are in place to mitigate delays when eGates are not in use.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.
The Home Office has a number of contingency arrangements in the event of a single system failure, including technical and business contingency measures.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many sea-faring vessels are under the command of the Border Force.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Border Force Maritime Command operate a fleet of vessels including five offshore Cutters, six inshore Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPV), and a range of smaller crafts to secure the UK maritime border.
Since April 2022, Border Force Maritime have deployed five dedicated rescue vessels to the Channel, formerly in support of the Ministry of Defence and currently Small Boats Operational Command. These five vessels work on rotation to provide 24 hours support to rescue operations in the Channel.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Border Force sea-fairing vessels have been out of service in each of the last three years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Border Force Maritime Command operate a fleet of vessels including five offshore Cutters, six inshore Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPV), and a range of smaller craft to secure the UK maritime border. Routine maintenance on these vessels is an essential part of ensuring operational availability.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many days e-gates were not in use in airports in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office does not hold this information in an accessible format.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a revised impact assessment for Electronic Travel Authorisation to include an assessment of the impact of that scheme on airside transit passengers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.
We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisation on transit passenger volumes.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.
The process for obtaining an ETA is quick and light touch, and the cost (£10 per application) is minimal compared to the overall cost of international travel. An ETA will be valid for two years, or until the expiry of the passport used to apply, and can be used for multiple trips during this period.
We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.