Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce new powers for police forces to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
It is important that the police and local agencies have the powers they need to tackle local issues quickly and effectively. That is why we reformed the tools and powers available to tackle anti-social behaviour through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. We currently do not plan to introduce any new powers.
The powers in the Act are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. We keep anti-social behaviour policy under review through the Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to respond to individual crimes and local crime priorities but to help ensure that the police have the resources they need to do so, we are recruiting 20,000 officers over the next three years.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many crimes have been recorded as committed by drivers of private hire vehicles in each year since 2013.
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 for notifiable crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. From this data, specific offences where a private hire vehicle was involved are not distinguishable, and so Home Office does not hold this information.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific offences they categorise as violent crime; and what are the criteria for such categorisation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The scope of the Serious Violence Strategy is concerned with homicide, knife crime, and gun crime and areas of criminality where serious violence or its threat is inherent, such as in gangs and county lines drug dealing. It also includes emerging crime threats faced in some areas of the country such as the use of corrosive substances as a weapon.
Serious violence also extends to other forms of serious assault. We know that a significant proportion of violence is linked to either domestic abuse or alcohol, but these two important elements are not driving the increases we are seeing in violent crime. The strategy also does not address specifically sexual abuse, modern slavery or violence against women and girls. They may all involve forms of serious violence but there are already specific strategies addressing those important issues, and so they are not included within the scope of the Serious Violence Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they plan to provide for police training in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Chancellor announced at the Spring Statement that he intends to launch a spending review this year, to be concluded alongside an Autumn Budget, which will set police budgets for the period.
The Home Secretary has been clear that he will prioritise funding for the police at the next spending review.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans are in place to allow visitors from Australia and Canada to use e-passport gates.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
As part of the budget on 29 October 2018, the Government announced that, from this summer, nationals of Australia and Canada would be permit-ted to use ePassport gates when crossing the UK border. Nationals of Ja-pan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States will also benefit from this change.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in what locations non-UK citizens attempting to enter the UK illegally were apprehended in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2016–17.
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 unable to disclose the requested information as it would substantially prejudice the operation of border controls by providing information to potential offenders allowing an opportunity for them to circumvent current systems and procedures used for the security of the UK border.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to address threats of physical violence made through social networking sites.
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 clear that internet companies must go further and faster to tackle illegal content online.
As part of our work to deliver the Serious Violence Strategy, we have established a social media action group to bring together Government, social media companies, police, and community groups to tackle violent material available via social media.
The social media companies represented include Google (YouTube), Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. The group meets regularly and has received updates on the development of the new police capability to tackle gang related content online, which was announced by the Home Secretary on 17 June.
On 17 June the Home Secretary announced funding of £1.38m to support a new national police capability to tackle gang related activity on social media. The new social media hub will be established within MPS, transforming the current capability and extending its reach to other forces.
On 11 June 2018, representatives from Google and Facebook attended a meeting of the Serious Violence Taskforce chaired by the Home Secretary, to present the action being taken to tackle violent content online.
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 National Crime Agency's cooperation to date with the government of the Republic of Ireland in respect of tackling cross-border crime.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The NCA works closely with law enforcement partners in the Republic of Ireland to tackle serious and organised crime which affects both countries. In particular, the NCA participates fully in the Joint Agency Task Force (JATF), which was established under the 'Fresh Start' Agreement to enhance efforts to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking, if any, to encourage police forces to recruit ex-servicemen and women.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government’s police reforms are designed to create a more capable, flexible and professional workforce. Central to these reforms was the establishment of the College of Policing as the professional body for policing; charged with setting standards and further professionalising the police.
Recruitment to the police is managed locally, within a national application, assessment and selection framework maintained by the College. Within this remit the College is delivering a number of major pieces of work including a review of initial police recruitment and proposals for a new policing education qualification framework. This framework will introduce new entry routes for police officers, via a pre-join degree, for degree holders and through a degree level police constable apprenticeship which will become available later this year.
These reforms, along with innovative schemes such as direct entry, are ensuring that policing can continue to attract the brightest and best new recruits. The three direct entry schemes offer the opportunity to widen the talent pool from where we attract our police officers and will bring in people from a diverse range of backgrounds. The inspector and superintendent schemes are aimed at those who have the potential to reach the highest ranks in the police.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been apprehended when illegally entering the UK via Northern Ireland's land border with the Republic of Ireland during the last twelve months, broken down by month.
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 does not hold the information requested.