Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there are regulatory (a) provisions and (b) other measures in place on public filming of police officers during the performance of their duties which is intended to harass or intimidate those officers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Policing by its very nature can be a demanding job. The wellbeing of our police is a priority for this Government and it is vital that we protect our officers from any form of harassment, abuse or assault as they work bravely to protect our communities. We will continue to work closely with policing partners and help Chief Constables in their duty to support their workforce effectively.
There are no provisions in place which prohibit an individual from taking photographs or filming in public places. This extends to the filming of police officers and buildings unless the behaviour of the person filming represents a genuine security risk or risk to the personal information of staff to be misused.
Whilst individuals are not prohibited from filming in public places, behaviour which intentionally causes harassment, alarm or distress is prohibited under the Public Order Act 1986. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 also makes it a criminal offence to pursue a course of conduct amounting to harassment. Whether these offences apply to individual cases will depend on the circumstances.
The NPCC have released national guidance on persons recording police in public spaces. This also sets out the legislation that does apply when the officers suspect terrorism: NPCC Guidance.
The College of Policing have also published guidance as part of their Media Relations APP and the Public Order APP.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has held discussions with law enforcement agencies on members of the public filming (a) police officers and (b) police station car parks.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Policing by its very nature can be a demanding job. The wellbeing of our police is a priority for this Government and it is vital that we protect our officers from any form of harassment, abuse or assault as they work bravely to protect our communities. We will continue to work closely with policing partners and help Chief Constables in their duty to support their workforce effectively.
There are no provisions in place which prohibit an individual from taking photographs or filming in public places. This extends to the filming of police officers and buildings unless the behaviour of the person filming represents a genuine security risk or risk to the personal information of staff to be misused.
Whilst individuals are not prohibited from filming in public places, behaviour which intentionally causes harassment, alarm or distress is prohibited under the Public Order Act 1986. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 also makes it a criminal offence to pursue a course of conduct amounting to harassment. Whether these offences apply to individual cases will depend on the circumstances.
The NPCC have released national guidance on persons recording police in public spaces. This also sets out the legislation that does apply when the officers suspect terrorism: NPCC Guidance.
The College of Policing have also published guidance as part of their Media Relations APP and the Public Order APP.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on implementing the End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has made strong progress on implementing the End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan, published on 18 June 2021, which is focused on improving the system response to rape and ensuring more victims see justice. The most recent six-monthly Progress Report is available here: End to End Rape Review Progress Report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Our progress on implementing the End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan includes:
We are more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/5, up from £41m in 2009/10.
As of September 2022, we have fully rolled out pre-recorded cross examination (Section 28) for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Courts across England and Wales. This is being used in over 150 cases per month.
In December we launched a new 24/7 support line for victims of rape and sexual abuse, meaning every victim can now access free, confidential emotional support whenever and wherever they need it.
The police and Crown Prosecution Service are rolling out a new investigatory model for rape, which focuses on the suspect’s – rather than the victim’s – behaviour, called Operation Soteria. The model is now in operation across nineteen police forces with a national rollout planned to start from June 2023.
Overall, we have delivered on the vast majority of actions set out in the plan and continue to make steady and sustained progress towards this Government’s ambition to return volumes of cases being referred to the police, charged by the Crown Prosecution Service, and going to court to at least 2016 levels by the end of this parliament. The latest data shows that we are on track to meet each of these ambitions ahead of schedule:
In October- December 2022, there were 1,079 total police referrals, more than double the 2019 quarterly average (461) and up by 41% compared to the 2016 quarterly average (766). Over the last quarter, total police referrals went up by 8% (999 to 1,079).
In October – December 2022 we recorded 472 CPS charges, nearly double the 2019 quarterly average (244), 12% below the 2016 quarterly average (538). Over the last quarter CPS charges remained stable (slight fall from 473 to 472).
In October - December 2022 we recorded 509 Crown Court receipts, more than double the 2019 quarterly average (231), 8% below the ambition of 553 per quarter. Over the last quarter, Crown Court receipts increased by 8% (from 473 to 509).
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of people currently classed as (a) economically inactive, (b) unemployed for any length of time and (c) unemployed for over nine months who have (i) a driving licence and (ii) access to a car, motorbike or other form of private motorised transport.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not held by the department.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) Greater Manchester Combined Authority or (b) any other councils within that Combined Authority (i) applied for and (ii) secured funding through the Air Quality Grant scheme 2022-23.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra did not receive or accept any applications from Greater Manchester Combined Authority or any councils within the combined authority as part of the Air Quality Grant scheme 2022-23.
79 applications were received from councils for this year’s scheme. 44 applicants were provided with funding totalling £10.7 million, which is helping them to develop and implement measures to benefit schools, businesses and communities and reduce the impact of air pollution on people’s health. Examples include supporting programmes that will educate doctors, nurses and social care workers about air quality; support for an e-cargo bike library helping local businesses in Norfolk to cut operating costs while lowering their emissions; and data collection to develop and deliver a traffic management plan that will reduce congestion and improve traffic flow across Derbyshire.
The air quality grant scheme sits alongside a further£883 million made available as part of the government’s NO2 Plan to support local authorities in cleaning up transport and cutting levels of nitrogen dioxide down to legal levels in the shortest possible time.
Under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations, Greater Manchester authorities are required to take urgent action to address NO2 pollution and develop plans to bring levels to within legal limits in the shortest possible time.
Greater Manchester’s review in July 2022 identified they would not be fully compliant with legal limits before 2027 without action, with 79 points of exceedance predicted in 2023. We have reviewed Greater Manchester’s proposals and identified a number of gaps in the evidence, meaning it is not yet possible to understand how the proposed approach will achieve compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest possible time. We have requested further evidence from the Greater Manchester authorities to enable us to consider the plans further.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help long-term unemployed people back into work; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of such support; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for getting people into work and making work pay.
We do this through our core Jobcentre offer which provides a range of options to those seeking employment, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce isolation of elderly people in local communities.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is working with partners to support local areas to share and learn from best practice examples. This includes working with the Local Government Association to provide guidance on how local councils can tackle loneliness and providing a space for organisations to share resources on the Tackling Loneliness Hub.
The Levelling Up White Paper set out ambitions to improve wellbeing and pride in place across the country. We know that connected communities that provide people with opportunities to develop strong social relationships are an important part of delivering those ambitions.
In addition, social prescribing is a key component of the National Health Service Universal Personalised Care and is a way for general practitioners or local agencies to refer people to a link worker. Link workers connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. Social prescribing can work well for those who are socially isolated or whose wellbeing is being impacted by non-medical issues.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries occurred per million miles travelled on (i) roads and (ii) railways in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The rate of deaths and serious injuries for different modes of transport, including road and railways, covering each of the last 10 years for which data are available, can be found in the table below.
Passenger casualty rates per billion passenger kilometres by mode (road, air, rail and water): Great Britain, from 2006 | ||||||||||||
Transport mode | Severity | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Air | Killed | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Air | KSI | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
Rail | Killed | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Rail | KSI | 80.2 | 85.5 | 82.8 | 91.0 | 88.0 | 87.8 | 80.4 | 80.0 | 84.7 | 136.1 | 103.4 |
Water | Killed | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Water | KSI | 92.6 | 43.2 | 39.6 | 47.4 | 44.9 | 43.1 | 18.4 | 67.2 | 68.5 | 53.7 | 22.7 |
Bus or coach | Killed | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Bus or coach | KSI | 13.1 | 12.5 | 13.2 | 12.5 | 11.8 | 12.1 | 9.7 | 12.0 | 10.6 | 11.9 | 11.0 |
Car | Killed | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
Car | KSI | 21.9 | 21.3 | 19.8 | 20.3 | 19.3 | 18.6 | 17.5 | 17.8 | 17.3 | 17.2 | 17.7 |
Van | Killed | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Van | KSI | 5.9 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 5.5 |
Motorcycle | Killed | 71.9 | 72.9 | 72.0 | 71.3 | 76.5 | 66.3 | 73.2 | 75.0 | 72.5 | 75.8 | 70.6 |
Motorcycle | KSI | 1,495.2 | 1,593.8 | 1,520.3 | 1,587.5 | 1,522.4 | 1,475.9 | 1,394.4 | 1,380.6 | 1,316.1 | 1,276.8 | 1,268.8 |
Pedal cycle | Killed | 21.0 | 21.9 | 20.9 | 19.6 | 18.4 | 18.8 | 18.1 | 17.5 | 17.1 | 16.5 | 16.4 |
Pedal cycle | KSI | 907.7 | 885.1 | 908.9 | 898.6 | 878.5 | 839.3 | 813.4 | 797.9 | 744.5 | 524.9 | 660.7 |
Pedestrian | Killed | 23.2 | 22.2 | 20.3 | 23.3 | 20.8 | 22.0 | 22.1 | 20.9 | 22.0 | 15.0 | 16.3 |
Pedestrian | KSI | 425.9 | 437.4 | 387.3 | 405.1 | 381.0 | 349.2 | 334.1 | 332.9 | 327.6 | 204.9 | 243.5 |
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made of an assessment of the feasibility of introducing secondary legislation to require drivers to stop and report an accident with a cat.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
It would not be possible to do this without amendment to primary legislation.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the white paper entitled Levelling Up the United Kingdom, published on 2 February 2022, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to include policies on increasing voter registration among disabled citizens in the Disability Action Plan.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is taking steps to support the participation of disabled people in the electoral process.
This includes making registering to vote as easy and accessible as possible. The Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service also complies with accessibility standards set by GDS.
It is the responsibility of individual Electoral Registration Officers and the Electoral Commission to raise awareness of and ensure registration of all eligible people. Recognising those responsibilities, DLUHC works closely with organisations representing disabled people and the electoral sector and helps to facilitate conversations and sharing best practice between local authorities and such bodies.