Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In March, the Government launched the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, backed by £160m of funding overseen by the ASB taskforce. This includes funding Police and Crime Commissioners to increase patrolling in ASB hotspot areas and to run immediate justice schemes.
In July we launched Round 5 of the Safer Streets Fund funding PCCs to deliver ASB and crime prevention measures.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of burglary and theft.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government recognises the devastating impact crimes such as burglary and theft have on our communities and businesses.
That is why we are recruiting 20,000 extra police officers and why we have introduced the Safer Streets Fund to prevent these crimes from happening, supporting the deployment of solutions such as home security and increased street lighting in high crime areas.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support is being provided to local police forces to help the enforcement of changing and complex covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has been clear that it will provide police forces with the support they need to continue protecting the public and keeping communities safe through the coronavirus pandemic.
The Government has moved quickly to give the police the powers and guidance they need to support compliance with essential measures on social distancing. The department continues to work closely with our operational partners to ensure the new changes are understood by police forces around the country. The police have been kept updated on these changes as we act quickly to address the public health risk.
On 8 October the Government announced an additional £30m for police forces in England and Wales to step up their enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions through the autumn and winter months.
The department continues to work closely with the policing sector to monitor and make decisions on their current and future needs.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the level of reserves held by (a) Lancashire Police Constabulary and (b) other police constabularies.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) can keep part of their funding in financial reserves to help manage financial risk and to fund major future costs such as change programmes aimed at improving services to the public.
Information on police force reserves in England and Wales is published online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-financial-reserves This also includes statutory guidance in the information that PCCs should publish on their financial reserves.
The Lancashire PCC held total resource reserves of £37.9 million in March 2018.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to confiscate money from criminals; and what plans she has to further strengthen the asset recovery regime.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Government is committed to attacking criminal finances, by making it harder for criminals to move, use and hide their proceeds of crime. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as amended by the Serious Crime Act 2015, provides a robust set of provisions for confiscating assets from criminals, and further reforms will be brought forward in the forthcoming Criminal Finances Bill. These reforms will significantly improve our ability to recover the proceeds of crime, tackle money laundering and corruption, and counter terrorist financing.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the potential closure of the Lancashire Police helicopter base on the safety of the local Fylde community.
Answered by Mike Penning
Since October 2012, the provision of police air support has been the responsibility of the National Police Air Service (NPAS), a police-led operational initiative designed to deliver a cost effective and efficient service to forces in England and Wales. It is the responsibility of the NPAS Strategic Board, comprising police and crime commissioners and chief constables, to make decisions on the deployment of resources to meet local policing and crime priorities.