Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of newly warranted officers in the Metropolitan Police Force left within their first two years of service in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect information on the length of service of police officers leaving the police service.
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officer leavers in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales
Information on the number of police officers leaving the Metropolitan Police Service, between the years ending 31 March 2007 and 2023, by reason for leaving, can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba76662059dc000d5d27c0/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-260723.ods
Voluntary resignation rates in the Metropolitan Police Service, at around 3%, are low compared to other sectors.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of live facial recognition technologies on the right to privacy.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The use of technologies like facial recognition are an operational matter for the police.
The Government supports police use of facial recognition, including live facial recognition (LFR), which has been helping them to catch criminals including murderers and rapists quickly and accurately. But it is important that the police use it appropriately.
Its use is subject to data protection, human rights, and equalities laws, which means that it can only be used for a policing purpose, where necessary, proportionate and fair.
The College of Policing has published an Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on police use of LFR. The APP includes details on when the police can use it, the categories of people they can look for, the requirement for immediate deletion of unmatched biometric data, and the need for a Data Protection Impact Assessment.
Following a possible alert, it is always a police officer on the ground who will decide what action, if any, to take; all deployments are targeted, intelligence-led, time-bound, and geographically limited; and before a deployment, the police will inform the public where they intend to use the technology and where they can obtain more information on its use. If the LFR system does not make a match with the watchlist of wanted individuals, the person’s biometric data is deleted immediately and automatically.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the police use the passport database for facial recognition searches.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The sharing of passport data with law enforcement agencies for the purpose of preventing and detecting crime is longstanding, and is provided for within His Majesty’s Passport Office’s Privacy Information Notice:
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to prioritise passport renewals for aeroplane cabin crew currently grounded by delays at Her Majesty's Passport Office; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ahead of unrestricted international travel returning, HM Passport Office prepared extensively to serve an unprecedented number of customers, with 9.5 million British passport applications forecasted throughout 2022.
These preparations, which include the recruitment of 500 additional staff since April 2021 and with plans in place to recruit a further 700 by this summer, have ensured passport applications can be processed in higher numbers than ever before. Across March and April 2022, HM Passport Office completed the processing of approximately two million applications.
Ministers continue to meet regularly with officials to monitor performance, and to explore further options that will help to ensure that people receive their passports in good time.
Any customer who has submitted a passport application using Her Majesty’s Passport Office’s standard service and now needs their passport sooner, is advised to contact the Passport Adviceline.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan citizens have successfully reached the UK since the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme was launched on 6 January 2022; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme opened on 6th January, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
There are around 6,500 people in the UK who have been brought to safety during and after the evacuation who are eligible for the ACRS through pathway 1. Eligible people who were called forward during the evacuation, but were not able to board flights, will also be eligible for the ACRS through this pathway.
Due to the success of our emergency evacuation and the larger than anticipated number of people brought over to the UK, we plan to exceed our initial aim of 5,000 people in the first year of the ACRS.