Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the quarantine criteria on people entering the UK will be dependant on the mortality and infection rates of the country from which they are travelling.

Answer (Kevin Foster)

From 8 June, all passengers arriving in the UK without having travelled through another part of the Common Travel Area are required to self-isolate for 14 days, apart from those on a short list of exemptions. This applies to arrivals from all countries outside of the Common Travel Area. These public health measure will be kept under review.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that tasers will be available to all Nottinghamshire Police Force officers who request one.

Answer (Kit Malthouse)

The use of TASER^® remains an operational matter for Chief Officers to decide the number of TASER^® and the number of TASER^® officers deployed based on their assessments of the threats and risks in their areas.

The Home Secretary will provide £6.7 million ringfenced funding to police forces in England and Wales to purchase 8,155 TASER^® devices. This could mean more than 8,000 more officers will be able to carry TASER^®.

A total of 41 forces submitted bids and all will receive the full amount of money they requested. This will help forces to better protect themselves and the public from harm.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to fears of violence against police officers, what steps she is taking to support the mental wellbeing of police officers.

Answer (Kit Malthouse)

We have accelerated work to establish a Police Covenant, recognising the bravery and commitment of our police who work night and day to keep us safe. One of the key areas of focus will be the health and wellbeing of our police, along with physical protection and support for families.

The wellbeing of our police is a key priority for this Government and we have invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers. This included £7.5 million to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), which was launched in April 2019. The NPWS has developed evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces, as well as individual officers and staff. There is an emphasis on prevention, for example by helping forces to identify mental health issues early through pyschological screening, helping officers to access support earlier. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of all officers and staff, which includes supporting officers with specific welfare needs by signposting to relevant services and additional support.