Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional support has been offered to Border Force officers in Northern Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The safety and health of the public and our staff in NI, as across the entirety of the UK is of the utmost importance and we are doing everything in our power to stop the spread of this deadly disease.
We have a robust COVID Safe System of Work in place across all our ports. Lead by national guidance, which is informed by the latest government guidelines in order to advise and lead officers in ensuring their own and the public’s safety throughout this pandemic. This includes working closely with Public Health bodies in order to make sure that all staff members are provided with protective clothing and equipment. Supporting and shielding vulnerable staff members as well as ensuring that every Border Force office and workplace has implemented the guidelines to ensure a ‘COVID secure’ workplace.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional support they have provided to frontline police officers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government has been clear that it will provide police forces with the support they need to continue protecting the public and keep communities safe through the coronavirus pandemic.
In October 2020 the Government announced an additional £30m of funding for police forces in England and Wales to step up their enforcement of coronavirus rules.
In addition, we have provided the police the powers and guidance they need to support compliance with covid-19 social distancing and lockdown restrictions. This includes the powers to issue FPNs against offences breaching the Coronavirus regulations
The Home Office continues to work closely with the policing sector to monitor and respond to their needs in these challenging circumstances.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the efficacy in aiding police investigations, and (2) the number of successful prosecutions resulting from the use, of body-worn camera footage.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government is committed to empowering police to use new technologies, like body-worn cameras, which equip officers with the tools they need for modern policing. Its deployment is an operational matter for each police force and decisions will be made based on local priorities.
There is no centrally held data on its efficacy in investigations or prosecutions, however the benefits are recognised widely in policing.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps the National Crime Agency is taking to address people smuggling.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government remains committed to tackling Organised Immigration Crime (OIC) and disrupting the Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) responsible. The NCA undertakes investigations into complex and serious OIC offences, arresting offenders in the UK and overseas and bringing them to justice.
The NCA is the operational lead for the OIC Taskforce. The Taskforce is a critical element of the UK government’s multi-agency response to tackling people smuggling. It takes a whole of route approach, deploying over 150 multi-agency officers to operate in 17 countries, with Crown Prosecution Service prosecutors placed in key source and transit countries to disrupt OCGs profiting from illegal migration. In these locations the Taskforce works with partner law enforcement and prosecution agencies to gather intelligence, build resources and share expertise to disrupt people-smuggling networks. The NCA are actively engaging bilaterally and multilaterally with partner countries to tackle specific cases of OIC activity.
As part of its Taskforce activities, the NCA also works alongside the Home Office Clandestine Threat Command targeting the small boats threat. Activity includes enhancing the collective understanding of the threat, developing intelligence and executing an effective operational response. The Taskforce has also played a significant role in the investigation in the UK’s response to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in a lorry in Essex in October 2019 which led to the prosecution of the offenders.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current level of police recruitment in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government is committed to increasing the number of police officers by 20,000 by March 2023 and good progress is being made to increase the numbers of officers across all forces in England and Wales.
As part of the Police Uplift, data on police recruitment is now published quarterly. The latest data to 31 December 2020, shows that 6,620 additional officers had been recruited in England and Wales as part of the police uplift meaning that we are on track to deliver this commitment.
Since November 2019 (when data collection began), 14,585 officers have joined police forces. 6,620 were recruited specifically as part of the uplift programme, with others joining forces through locally funded recruitment and to replace leavers.
As at 31 December 2020 provisional data show that there were 135,248 officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, 5% above the baseline taking into account those recruited through the uplift programme and through other routes since the start of the campaign.
The Police Officer uplift statistics can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many former military bases they are currently using for other purposes.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office is currently utilising two former military bases.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the current steps being taken to tackle money laundering in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have consistently reinforced our ability to crack down on money laundering in the UK and with our operational partners, we continue to bring the full capabilities of law enforcement to bear against serious criminals, corrupt elites, and their assets.
In July 2019 we published an ambitious public-private Economic Crime Plan and Asset Recovery Action Plan, for the first time bringing together government, law enforcement and the private sector to deliver a collective response to the threat from economic crime. We are making good progress, in particular on enabling better information sharing to combat economic crime, reforming the Suspicious Activity Reports system and implementing the 5th Money Laundering Directive to bear down on money laundering.
The Financial Action Task Force completed a landmark review of the UK’s regime for tackling money laundering and terrorist financing in December 2018, concluding that we have some of the strongest controls in the world.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many DNA profiles of individuals not convicted of any crime have been added to the National DNA Database since 2015.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The National DNA Database system does not maintain the conviction (or otherwise) status for retained DNA profiles of individuals.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the powers of the police to enforce provisions related to COVID-19, in particular in relation to (1) mass gatherings, and (2) large celebrations.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020, it is against the law to gather outdoors in groups of more than 30 people.
The police have powers to break up groups larger than 30 in certain circumstances, through dispersal and removal powers, as well as through issuing Fixed Penalty Notices.
The Police will continue to follow the four-step escalation principles of engaging, explaining, encouraging, with enforcement as a last resort.
The Government will continue to work closely with the police on any future changes to the regulations and guidance.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of police recruitment during the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on joiners in the annual police workforce statistics, which can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales
In 2018/19, 9,427 police officers joined the 43 police forces in England and Wales, accounting for 8% of officers. Excluding those who transferred from other forces, joiners accounted for 6% of all officers. This was a 16% increase on the previous year and the highest number of joiners in a financial year since 2008/09.
The Government is also delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years. In October 2019 the Home Office confirmed officer allocations for every force in England and Wales in the first year of the uplift.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-announces-first-wave-of-20000-police-officer-uplift
The Home Office has announced plans to publish quarterly updates outlining the progress on delivering the police uplift programme. They will start from April 2020, lasting throughout the duration of the campaign.