Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidance to the statutory charges recovery industry on (a) punitive charges and (b) income generation; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No assessment has been made of statutory charging guidance nor the number of management companies used by the police and National Highways for vehicle recovery operations.
Details of the contracts and of the obligations between the parties to those contracts, are between the police, National Highways and individual contractors or managing agents whom the police and National Highways employ to run schemes on their behalf. These, and any other arrangements that might be made for vehicle recovery are operational matters for the police and Highways England.
The Home Office met with representatives of the recovery industry on 11 August to listen to their concerns. We advised the representatives that vehicle recovery contracts continue to be operational matters between the police, National Highways and individual recovery operators.
The Home Office’s role is limited to setting the statutory charges which the Police and National Highways can levy when they have exercised their recovery powers.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times police forces have used their statutory powers to require a recovery of a vehicle in each of the last three years for which data is available.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No assessment has been made of the validity of recovery industry reports that police authorities are imposing fees on recovery operators nor of the additional costs associated with the roadside removal and storage of electric vehicles compared to ICE vehicles.
Data on the volume of vehicles recovered and how much revenue is accrued or allocated in vehicle recovery fees is not routinely collected by the Home Office.
The Home Office is currently running a consultation to assess the current statutory fees and whether new levels of charges should be applied to the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles in England and Wales. These charges will apply where the police have cause to remove or recover a vehicle in particular sets of circumstances. This consultation does not cover the way in which the police use their powers to order vehicle removal, or the operation of recovery schemes and contracts. These are matters between the police and individual recovery operators.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the additional costs associated with the roadside removal and storage of electric vehicles compared to ICE vehicles; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No assessment has been made of the validity of recovery industry reports that police authorities are imposing fees on recovery operators nor of the additional costs associated with the roadside removal and storage of electric vehicles compared to ICE vehicles.
Data on the volume of vehicles recovered and how much revenue is accrued or allocated in vehicle recovery fees is not routinely collected by the Home Office.
The Home Office is currently running a consultation to assess the current statutory fees and whether new levels of charges should be applied to the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles in England and Wales. These charges will apply where the police have cause to remove or recover a vehicle in particular sets of circumstances. This consultation does not cover the way in which the police use their powers to order vehicle removal, or the operation of recovery schemes and contracts. These are matters between the police and individual recovery operators.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money has been raised from statutory fees to contribute to police funding in each year since the last Government review in 2008.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No assessment has been made of the validity of recovery industry reports that police authorities are imposing fees on recovery operators nor of the additional costs associated with the roadside removal and storage of electric vehicles compared to ICE vehicles.
Data on the volume of vehicles recovered and how much revenue is accrued or allocated in vehicle recovery fees is not routinely collected by the Home Office.
The Home Office is currently running a consultation to assess the current statutory fees and whether new levels of charges should be applied to the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles in England and Wales. These charges will apply where the police have cause to remove or recover a vehicle in particular sets of circumstances. This consultation does not cover the way in which the police use their powers to order vehicle removal, or the operation of recovery schemes and contracts. These are matters between the police and individual recovery operators.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much of the statutory fees for recovery operations is allocated to (a) Highways England, (b) police forces, (c) management agencies and (d) recovery operators who carry out that work; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No assessment has been made of the validity of recovery industry reports that police authorities are imposing fees on recovery operators nor of the additional costs associated with the roadside removal and storage of electric vehicles compared to ICE vehicles.
Data on the volume of vehicles recovered and how much revenue is accrued or allocated in vehicle recovery fees is not routinely collected by the Home Office.
The Home Office is currently running a consultation to assess the current statutory fees and whether new levels of charges should be applied to the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles in England and Wales. These charges will apply where the police have cause to remove or recover a vehicle in particular sets of circumstances. This consultation does not cover the way in which the police use their powers to order vehicle removal, or the operation of recovery schemes and contracts. These are matters between the police and individual recovery operators.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the validity of recovery industry reports that police authorities are imposing fees of up to £50 plus VAT on recovery operators through statutory fees; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No assessment has been made of the validity of recovery industry reports that police authorities are imposing fees on recovery operators nor of the additional costs associated with the roadside removal and storage of electric vehicles compared to ICE vehicles.
Data on the volume of vehicles recovered and how much revenue is accrued or allocated in vehicle recovery fees is not routinely collected by the Home Office.
The Home Office is currently running a consultation to assess the current statutory fees and whether new levels of charges should be applied to the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles in England and Wales. These charges will apply where the police have cause to remove or recover a vehicle in particular sets of circumstances. This consultation does not cover the way in which the police use their powers to order vehicle removal, or the operation of recovery schemes and contracts. These are matters between the police and individual recovery operators.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the passport office will reinstate the passport renewal service that was suspended during the covid-19 outbreak; and id will she make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Her Majesty’s Passport Office has continued to operate throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and the processing of passport renewal applications has not ceased during this period.
Face-to-face passport services were suspended on 24 March. We will determine when they will resume in due course.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to permit local authorities to allow reimbursement of fees for the annual premises licence; and what guidance the Government has issued to local authorities on the reimbursement or reduction of those fees during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Kit Malthouse, the Minister for Crime and Policing, wrote to the chairs of the licensing committees on 8 April about issues arising from the coronavirus outbreak. He set out an expectation that where a business was unable to pay the charge for reasons related to coronavirus then the licensing authority should exercise its discretion to delay suspending the licence. This would allow the business to continue selling alcohol until it was able to pay.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) protect and (b) subsequently test police officers who are involved in policing demonstrations where demonstrators are failing to abide by the Government’s social distancing measures; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Our emergency services are doing a fantastic job keeping us safe, using their professional judgement to protect our NHS and save lives. We are committed to ensuring the police have the powers, resources and equipment they need to do their crucial work.
The Government recognises the importance of Personal Protective Equipment for all of those on the frontline. As of 29 May, the National Police Co-ordination Centre (NPoCC) have distributed 345,733 masks to police forces across the country over the last two weeks. In total, 20,098,314 pieces of PPE have been procured and will be delivered over the following weeks. Over the course of this week, NPoCC is also set to supply over 200,000 masks and continue to receive additional stock to support forces.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have confirmed that police currently have a good supply of PPE and they are working to oversee its distribution to forces. The NPCC have issued guidance to all forces on the use of PPE tailored to their unique role to ensure officers and staff are protected sufficiently.
Testing continues to be available to all symptomatic police officers. This enables staff to be able to determine if they should remain isolated or can come back to the workplace in the immediate term. This is vital for our frontline resilience in areas such as policing, fire and Border Force.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has received representations on Derbyshire constabulary advising firearms licence holders not to contact hon Members in relation to the firearms licensing system operated by Derbyshire Police.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office has not received representations from the public about Derbyshire constabulary advising firearms licence holders to refrain from contacting their Member of Parliament about licensing matters. We are aware that the ‘Derbyshire Alert’ community messaging system recently carried a post inviting firearms applicants to contact the force licensing department directly for advice on current processes for firearms licensing, and in particular in relation to background medical checks. This does not, of course, prevent any member of the public from contacting their MP about any matter of concern