Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support police staff who are (a) abused and (b) injured by people intoxicated with alcohol.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It is absolutely unacceptable for police officers and staff to be assaulted when carrying out their duties, and we are determined to ensure that they have the support and protection they need.
The Government has invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers and staff. This includes £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. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of all officers and staff, by signposting to relevant services and additional support.
However, we want to go further, and have therefore accelerated work to introduce a Police Covenant, to recognise the service and sacrifice of our brave police officers and staff and to deliver the urgent practical support they need. The key areas of focus will be physical protection, health and wellbeing and support for families. On 26 February, we launched a public consultation into the scope and principle of the Covenant. The consultation will run for 8 weeks, closing on 22 April, and will subsequently be put into law as part of the planned Police Powers and Protection Bill.
We have also committed to consult on doubling the maximum sentence for assaults on emergency workers and are working closely with the Ministry of Justice who are leading on this important work.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 264399 on Disclosure and Barring Service, and with reference to page 1 of the letter from the Cabinet Secretary of 10 April 2019 to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on Disclosure and Barring Service: progress review if he will place in the Library copies of the analysis provided by his Department's officials.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
3677:
A copy of the requested documents have been provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and will be placed in the Library.
3678
The information you requested is being withheld as the data is commercially sensitive. To disclose would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
3679:
The 2012 FBC set a funding envelope of £537.7m to cover the ICT investment and the running costs of DBS for a five-year period to 2017/18. The changes made in 2014 led to a revised funding envelope of £786m for the whole life cost of the programme that would run the entire DBS programme until the financial year 2018/19. Subject to finalisation of DBS’s 2018/19 financial accounts, we anticipate the final whole of life cost being £873 million, with the largest component of this relating to operating costs to deliver a higher volume of products and services than originally forecast in either of the business cases.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 264401 on Disclosure and Barring Service and with reference to page 2 of the letter from the Cabinet Secretary of 10 April 2019 to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on Disclosure and Barring Service: progress review, what estimate he has made of the increased cost to deliver modernisation as a result of the revision of the Full Business Case.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
3677:
A copy of the requested documents have been provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and will be placed in the Library.
3678
The information you requested is being withheld as the data is commercially sensitive. To disclose would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
3679:
The 2012 FBC set a funding envelope of £537.7m to cover the ICT investment and the running costs of DBS for a five-year period to 2017/18. The changes made in 2014 led to a revised funding envelope of £786m for the whole life cost of the programme that would run the entire DBS programme until the financial year 2018/19. Subject to finalisation of DBS’s 2018/19 financial accounts, we anticipate the final whole of life cost being £873 million, with the largest component of this relating to operating costs to deliver a higher volume of products and services than originally forecast in either of the business cases.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 264398 on Disclosure and Barring Service and with reference to page 1 of the letter from the Cabinet Secretary of 10 April 2019 to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on Disclosure and Barring Service: progress review, if he will place in the Library copies of the independence assurance reviews of the programme conducted in February 2014 and June 2014.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
3677:
A copy of the requested documents have been provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and will be placed in the Library.
3678
The information you requested is being withheld as the data is commercially sensitive. To disclose would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
3679:
The 2012 FBC set a funding envelope of £537.7m to cover the ICT investment and the running costs of DBS for a five-year period to 2017/18. The changes made in 2014 led to a revised funding envelope of £786m for the whole life cost of the programme that would run the entire DBS programme until the financial year 2018/19. Subject to finalisation of DBS’s 2018/19 financial accounts, we anticipate the final whole of life cost being £873 million, with the largest component of this relating to operating costs to deliver a higher volume of products and services than originally forecast in either of the business cases.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 1 of the letter from the Cabinet Secretary of 10 April 2019 to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on Disclosure and Barring Service: progress review, if he will place in the Library, copies of the independence assurance reviews of the programme conducted in February 2014 and June 2014.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 1 of the letter from the Cabinet Secretary of 10 April 2019 to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on Disclosure and Barring Service: progress review, if he will place in the Library, copies of the analysis provided by his Department's officials.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 2 of the letter from the Cabinet Secretary of 10 April 2019 to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on Disclosure and Barring Service: progress review, what estimate he has made of the increased cost to deliver modernisation as a result of the revision of the Full Business Case.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to improve the visa application system in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page one of the letter from the Cabinet Secretary of 10 April 2019 to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on Disclosure and Barring Service: progress review, what agreed changes the revised Full Business Case was subject to before approval by the Home Office Portfolio and Investment Committee.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Disclosure and Barring Service Full Business Case was revised in 2014 with the following agreed changes: an increase of 12 months to the business case to reflect the delays in the transitioning of services; a revised demand assumption for the update service due to uptake being less than previously envisaged; and reassessed costs, benefits and fee income.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the implications are for his forthcoming alcohol strategy of Public Health England’s support for minimum unit pricing for alcohol.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is developing a new cross-government alcohol strategy which will set out targeted action to prevent and reduce harmful drinking, support vulnerable people affected by others’ alcohol misuse, improve the pathway into treatment for people with alcohol dependency and professionalise the licensing system.
The new strategy will not include a commitment to introduce minimum unit pricing in England at this time, but Public Health England is being commissioned to carry out a scientific review into the impact of minimum unit pricing following its recent introduction in Scotland.