Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce measures to help victims of domestic violence retrieve their possessions safely from their ex-partner's properties in circumstances when the police will not intervene.
Answered by Sarah Dines
It is important that police officers recognise and understand domestic abuse in all its forms. Post-separation abuse is an established risk factor for homicide. The College of Policing authorised professional practice guidance is clear that officers should offer assistance to victims intending to recover property from a residence to ensure this process is carried out safely.
Domestic abuse training plays a crucial role in police officers’ understanding and response to domestic abuse. The specialist Domestic Abuse Matters programme developed by the College of Policing and domestic abuse charities, has been delivered to the majority of forces to date. The Government is also now funding the rollout of the training to those forces who have yet to undertake it. It is, however, crucial that police forces continue to remain updated with domestic abuse training, particularly for new officers.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce instances of theft of farm equipment and machinery.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to driving down rural crime including theft of farm equipment and machinery.
To help prevent the theft of agricultural machinery, the Government has introduced the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act which will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to all new All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes.
The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 gained Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Home Office issued a Call for Evidence to inform the necessary secondary legislation regulations, which closed on 13 July and responses are currently being considered.
There are currently no plans to include all agricultural vehicles. However, the provisions could be extended in the future, through secondary legislation, where evidence shows this is necessary.
I also welcome the recent commitment by chief constables across England and Wales, to pursue any available evidence where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. This relates to all crimes, no matter where they are committed.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to support the police to help reduce the number of cases of (a) children assaulting their parents or guardians due to (i) gaming and (ii) other technology withdrawal disorders and (b) other inter-familial attacks.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse (‘CAPVA’) is a hidden but increasingly recognised form of abuse.
The Home Office have been working to better understand CAPVA, including why it happens and how best to tackle it. As part of our 2021-22 Domestic Abuse Research Fund, we awarded over £1m for various research projects. Included in this were projects that specifically focused on under-researched areas like CAPVA. Over the last three years we have also invested over £41m in increasing the availability of interventions for domestic abuse perpetrators (for example behaviour change programmes) which will also improve our understanding of what works to reduce reoffending. This has included funding projects that specifically work with children and young people displaying these types of behaviours. We recently launched a similar fund worth £36m over the next two years.
More widely, in our cross-government Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, the Home Office committed to publishing updated guidance for front line practitioners on child to parent abuse. We will seek input from those working in police, health, education and social care to help develop and hone this guidance. The Home Office will also work with stakeholders to reach an agreed definition and terminology for this type of behaviour which will help in identifying and addressing it.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission research on the impact of (a) conflict, (b) economic exclusion, (c) religious and ethnic persecution, (d) famine and (e) terrorism on migration from the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa and illegal migration into the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Migration is a permanent feature of the global economy. It is estimated that there are 281 million international migrants globally, accounting for about 3.6% of the global population. Work remains the major reason people migrate internationally, but UNHCR estimate that 100 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced from their homes. In Sub-Saharan Africa including the Sahel, millions of people have been displaced from their homes due to conflict, human rights violations, violence and natural disasters, exacerbated by climate change; the vast majority remain in or near their country of origin. His Majesty’s Government takes a “whole of route” approach to addressing the challenges of illegal migration, recognising that people’s motivations to move can be complex and inter-related. There are a number of drivers for migration and some of those include illegal migration to the UK or other European countries. While the Home Office does monitor trends, there is no plan to commission any new research at this time.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces in England & Wales took part in television programmes in the period 2020-22; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of participating in those programmes on (a) local communities and (b) reducing crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect information on how many police forces have taken part in television programmes or documentaries. We do not monitor the operational impact of this and have no plans to do so.
Decisions about media engagement are an operational matter for police forces. The College of Policing has published Authorised Professional Practice (APP) which covers engagement with the media.
This is available online at: https://www.college.police.uk/app/engagement-and-communication/media-relations
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission research into the potential impact of taking part in broadcast television crime documentaries on the operational effectiveness of police forces in England & Wales.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect information on how many police forces have taken part in television programmes or documentaries. We do not monitor the operational impact of this and have no plans to do so.
Decisions about media engagement are an operational matter for police forces. The College of Policing has published Authorised Professional Practice (APP) which covers engagement with the media.
This is available online at: https://www.college.police.uk/app/engagement-and-communication/media-relations
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has held with chief police officers on lawful business monitoring within police forces to help improve the internal operating culture of those forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has been clear that standards and culture in policing must improve. In the wake of the horrific murder of Sarah Everard, the Home Secretary commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect forces’ vetting and counter-corruption arrangements. Their report on vetting, misconduct and misogyny was published in November last year and found that, whilst most forces have the capability to use IT monitoring to gather corruption intelligence, there was little evidence of it being used to proactively identify corruption-related intelligence
HMICFRS issued a recommendation that, by 31 March 2023, all Chief Constables should ensure that their forces are able to monitor all use of its IT systems and that forces use this to enhance investigative and proactive intelligence gathering capabilities. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has committed to implementing all of the inspectorate’s recommendations. The Home Secretary has recently asked the inspectorate to conduct a rapid review of forces’ responses to recommendations from that report.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to (a) update or (b) replace the Official Secrets Act.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The National Security Bill, currently before Parliament, will update the Official Secrets Acts (OSAs) 1911, 1920 and 1939 which relate primarily to espionage.
The Government is considering the case for the potential future legislative reform of OSA 1989, which relates to unlawful disclosures of Government information. It is important that this work runs in lockstep with other crucial work the Government is doing to strengthen whistle-blowing practices and transparency.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will maintain grant support at 85 per cent of the investigation costs this year for the Operation Lincoln investigation into baby deaths at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office provided West Mercia Police £2.7 million in Special Grant funding in 2021-22 for Operation Lincoln.
The Department has received and is considering a request from West Mercia Police for the additional policing costs of Operation Lincoln in 2022-23.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish legislative proposals on countering state threats.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
As announced in the Queen’s Speech of May 2021, the Home Office will be introducing new legislation to provide the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to tackle the evolving threat of hostile activity by foreign states.
This legislation will modernise existing offences, to deal more effectively with the espionage threat, and create new offences, to criminalise other harmful activity conducted by, and on behalf of states.
A bill will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.