Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help support victims of domestic abuse who are unable to pay their mortgage due to the perpetrator emptying a joint bank account.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of domestic abuse are unacceptable, and no one should have to suffer financially at the hands of their perpetrator.
The landmark Domestic Abuse Act became law in April 2021, and created for the first-time a general purpose legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including economic abuse. This recognition will improve understanding among frontline professionals, law enforcement officers and prosecutors so that victims can be better supported.
The Home Office supports and funds organisations that raise awareness of economic abuse and support victims. This includes providing £567k of funding between 2018-2022 to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, which provides emotional and practical support targeted at victims of economic abuse.
In recognition of the role that financial services have to play in responding to domestic abuse, in 2018 UK Finance and the Building Societies Association introduced a Financial Abuse Code of Practice. The voluntary Code of Practice sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of domestic and financial or economic abuse. We are building on this by working to encourage banks and the wider financial services sector to improve the support provided to victims of domestic abuse accessing their services; help victims move forward to escape debt, joint accounts, and mortgages.
We will continue to work alongside financial institutions and frontline agencies to raise awareness and improve support for victims of economic abuse.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to safeguard domestic abuse victims against financial abuse in the event that they have a joint bank account with a perpetrator.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of domestic abuse are unacceptable, and no one should have to suffer financially at the hands of their perpetrator.
The landmark Domestic Abuse Act became law in April 2021, and created for the first-time a general purpose legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including economic abuse. This recognition will improve understanding among frontline professionals, law enforcement officers and prosecutors so that victims can be better supported.
The Home Office supports and funds organisations that raise awareness of economic abuse and support victims. This includes providing £567k of funding between 2018-2022 to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, which provides emotional and practical support targeted at victims of economic abuse.
In recognition of the role that financial services have to play in responding to domestic abuse, in 2018 UK Finance and the Building Societies Association introduced a Financial Abuse Code of Practice. The voluntary Code of Practice sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of domestic and financial or economic abuse. We are building on this by working to encourage banks and the wider financial services sector to improve the support provided to victims of domestic abuse accessing their services; help victims move forward to escape debt, joint accounts, and mortgages.
We will continue to work alongside financial institutions and frontline agencies to raise awareness and improve support for victims of economic abuse.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the digitalisation of the death registration process on bereaved people; and whether that process is planned to continue after March 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
No formal assessment has been made of the effect of the digitalisation of death registration on bereaved people, as the registration process has not been digitalised.
The current easements for death registration, which facilitate telephone registration if required by the informant and the transmission of documents electronically as part of the death certification process, have been used effectively during the pandemic but will expire in line with the Coronavirus Act 2020.
Separate to this, the General Register Office continues to work with the Department of Health and Social Care on taking forward death certification reforms, which includes consideration of digital services.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on support for victims of domestic abuse who are travelling to flee their abuser.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have been clear in our communications and guidance that self-isolation restrictions do not apply to those at risk of abuse who need to leave home to seek help or refuge.
To help make this possible, the Department for Transport announced in June new rail to refuge schemes which provide free travel to those seeking refuge from domestic abuse.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps she is taking to (a) protect and (b) support victims of modern slavery.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK is a world-leader in the fight against modern slavery.
We have lifted thousands of modern slavery victims out of situations of exploitation and supported them to rebuild their lives.
The 2020 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery, published last month, sets out actions taken in the UK to tackle modern slavery, including:
- Publishing the statutory guidance for the identification and support for victims;
- Introduced innovative methods of support during the pandemic;
- Published the world’s first government modern slavery statement covering the government’s supply chains.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on police force finances of funding the long-term salaries of new police officers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The police funding settlement for 2020/21 sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system since 2010. The Government will provide a total police funding settlement of up to £15.2 billion in 2020/21, which is an increase of up to £1.1 billion compared to 2019/20. As part of this, police forces will receive £700 million to recruit up to 6,000 additional officers by the end of March 2021.
Further to this, there is a set range for starting salaries for new officers and the decision on which pay point to appoint is a decision for each force for which this generous funding package will effectively allow the force to meet.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for South Wales police.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The police funding settlement for 2020/21 sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system since 2010, with South Wales Constabulary receiving a total of up to £315.8m, an increase of up to £44.8m on 2019/20.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the merits of funding the (a) long-term and (b) starting salaries of recently recruited police officers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The police funding settlement for 2020/21 sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system since 2010.
The Government will provide a total police funding settlement of up to £15.2 billion in 2020/21, which is an increase of up to £1.1 billion compared to 2019/20. As part of this, police forces will receive £700 million to recruit up to 6,000 additional officers by the end of March 2021. This is the first year of a multi-year commitment. Funding for future years will be set out at the Spending Review.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of the Government funding the salaries of the recently announced 20,000 new police officers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The police funding settlement for 2020/21 sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system since 2010.
The Government will provide a total police funding settlement of up to £15.2 billion in 2020/21, which is an increase of up to £1.1 billion compared to 2019/20. As part of this, police forces will receive £700 million to recruit up to 6,000 additional officers by the end of March 2021. This is the first year of a multi-year commitment. Funding for future years will be set out at the Spending Review.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of allocating additional funding and other resources to the police to respond to the rise in internet-related crime and online fraud.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The department is committed to tackling all forms of crime, including those that exploit technology and the internet. We are considering all routes to ensure law enforcement have the tools they need to go after these criminals and to protect the vulnerable.
Setting police budgets for 2020 to 2021, this government has prioritised £150 million to tackle serious and organised crime. This includes substantial investment in fraud and cyber crime.