Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Digital Evidence Transfer Service (DETS).
Answered by Kit Malthouse
A programme to support the development of a Digital Evidence Transfer Service (DETS) was funded through the Police Transformation Fund. The ambition of DETS was to develop a single product which could be used by all forces to share digital evidence with Criminal Justice System. However, a decision was made in September 2019 to discontinue the project. This was following a review of the project and the national landscape for digital evidence sharing capabilities across all forces, which found that the majority of forces had subsequently acquired and implemented their own digital evidence sharing capabilities. Lessons learnt from this project are being taken forward to ensure joined-up approaches on wider programmes within the wider Criminal Justice System.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are (a) accredited and practising and (b) practising and not accredited in forensic science as at 4 February 2021.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Information on accredited organisations can be found on the website of the UK Accreditation Service: https://www.ukas.com/find-an-organisation/?q=forensic
There is no register of forensic science organisations in the UK, which means that it is difficult to estimate how many unaccredited and practicing forensic science providers exist. However, police forces should not use providers who do not have the appropriate UKAS accreditation.
By supporting legislation to give the Forensic Science Regulator statutory powers, we will make it possible for the Regulator to investigate and take action against forensic science providers who do not meet the necessary quality standards.
In addition, we have supported the creation of the Forensics Capability Network (FCN) as part of an £28.6m investment in forensic capability. The FCN is leading improvement in quality standards and accreditation attainment through a number of workstreams.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what metrics have been developed to illustrate the effectiveness of forensic science on the number of successful (a) convictions and (b) prosecutions.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office is leading on a project that aims to measure the impact of forensic science on the CJS. We are currently working with several police forces and academic institutions in England and Wales to test the approach through a series of small-scale studies.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on assessing the effectiveness of section 176 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing 2014 Act.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Review of the effectiveness of Section 176 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing 2014 Act would form part of wider post-legislative review of the Act. No date has been set for this.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Police and Crime Commissioners since her letter to PCCs and Chief Constables setting out that the theft of goods valued up to £200 from a shop should be prosecuted as a criminal offence.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
I wrote to all chief constables and Police and Crime Commissioners in September 2020, stating that section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 does not constrain the ability of the police to arrest or prosecute someone for shop theft in the way they feel is most appropriate, and urging them to consider the impact on local shops when dealing with this crime type. It is for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to decide on individual cases.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the (a) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on ensuring the Government is taking a comprehensive approach to tackling online scams.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government recognises the serious risks presented by online scams and fraud and are committed to tackling fraudulent activity online.
Fraudsters will use any hook, including Covid-19, to commit these terrible crimes and we must therefore remain vigilant to any risks and vulnerabilities. We are working collaboratively across government to reaffirm messages to the public setting out how they can protect themselves from fraud and stay safe online.
This is why we launched a gov.uk page targeted at coronavirus-related fraud and cybercrime. The page includes easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves as well as signposting all relevant advice and tips and can currently be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-fraud-and-cyber-crime.
As well as this, we continue to work alongside law enforcement to ensure the public has the protection and advice needed to shield themselves from online crimes.
We continue to encourage anyone who has been a targeted by a scam to report it. Action Fraud is the central police reporting point for all victims of fraud and can be contacted by phone on 0300 123 2040 or through their website: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud.
We have also worked with the National Cyber Security Centre to recently establish a Suspicious Email Reporting Service. This service allows the public to report potential scams safely and effectively and to date, has led to the removal of 22,192 scams. Members of the public can forward suspicious emails to this address: report@phishing.gov.uk
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to tackle scams that are enabled by content on (a) search engines, (b) social media sites and (c) other online platforms.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government recognises the serious risks presented by online scams and fraud and are committed to tackling fraudulent activity online.
Fraudsters will use any hook, including Covid-19, to commit these terrible crimes and we must therefore remain vigilant to any risks and vulnerabilities. We are working collaboratively across government to reaffirm messages to the public setting out how they can protect themselves from fraud and stay safe online.
This is why we launched a gov.uk page targeted at coronavirus-related fraud and cybercrime. The page includes easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves as well as signposting all relevant advice and tips and can currently be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-fraud-and-cyber-crime.
As well as this, we continue to work alongside law enforcement to ensure the public has the protection and advice needed to shield themselves from online crimes.
We continue to encourage anyone who has been a targeted by a scam to report it. Action Fraud is the central police reporting point for all victims of fraud and can be contacted by phone on 0300 123 2040 or through their website: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud.
We have also worked with the National Cyber Security Centre to recently establish a Suspicious Email Reporting Service. This service allows the public to report potential scams safely and effectively and to date, has led to the removal of 22,192 scams. Members of the public can forward suspicious emails to this address: report@phishing.gov.uk
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to tackle online scams during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government recognises the serious risks presented by online scams and fraud and are committed to tackling fraudulent activity online.
Fraudsters will use any hook, including Covid-19, to commit these terrible crimes and we must therefore remain vigilant to any risks and vulnerabilities. We are working collaboratively across government to reaffirm messages to the public setting out how they can protect themselves from fraud and stay safe online.
This is why we launched a gov.uk page targeted at coronavirus-related fraud and cybercrime. The page includes easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves as well as signposting all relevant advice and tips and can currently be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-fraud-and-cyber-crime.
As well as this, we continue to work alongside law enforcement to ensure the public has the protection and advice needed to shield themselves from online crimes.
We continue to encourage anyone who has been a targeted by a scam to report it. Action Fraud is the central police reporting point for all victims of fraud and can be contacted by phone on 0300 123 2040 or through their website: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud.
We have also worked with the National Cyber Security Centre to recently establish a Suspicious Email Reporting Service. This service allows the public to report potential scams safely and effectively and to date, has led to the removal of 22,192 scams. Members of the public can forward suspicious emails to this address: report@phishing.gov.uk
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful Windrush Compensation claims have been (a) paid and (b) completed.
Answered by Priti Patel
Information on the Windrush Compensation Scheme claims that have been paid is available to view on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2020
Information on the number of Windrush Compensation Scheme claims that have been completed is not available in the public domain.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Windrush Compensation Scheme claims her Department has (a) accepted and (b) rejected, to date.
Answered by Priti Patel
Information on the Windrush Compensation Scheme claims that have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected, to date is available to view on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2020
Our priority remains to process claims as quickly as possible. However, the Home Office does not have a set time within which claims are to be resolved. This is because the Windrush Compensation Scheme has thirteen claim categories, each individual’s compensation claim is deeply personal and requires detailed consideration to understand their circumstances and experiences. This enables the Home Office to make an individualised assessment of the value of compensation to be awarded. Some individuals’ experiences are more complex than others and it is right we take the time to ensure these are considered carefully. This holistic approach necessarily takes time, but is ultimately beneficial to individuals.
In some cases, we will make interim payments on parts of the claim that are straightforward to determine, such as immigration fees, thereby speeding up the provision of compensation.