Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the delivery of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are making good progress on implementation of the Government’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan that was published in March 2023. We have banned nitrous oxide, increased fines for fly-tipping, littering and graffiti, and over 80,000 hours of uniformed patrols have been undertaken, targeting areas blighted by anti-social behaviour in 10 police force areas.
From 1st April we will be providing funding of £66m to every police force in England and Wales to support a hotspot enforcement approach for both anti-social behaviour and serious violence across England and Wales from April onwards.
We are strengthening police and local authority powers to tackle anti-social behaviour through a number of measures in the Criminal Justice Bill.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in Bournemouth.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As a result of the range of measures put in place to stop the boats, reform the management of the asylum accommodation estate and deliver alternative forms of accommodation sites, we have successfully met our ministerial commitment of closing over 50 hotels across the UK by the end of January 2024.
We continue to work with our providers on closing further hotels across the estate and will write to local authorities and MPs when a decision to close a site has been made.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a violence reduction unit in Bournemouth to tackle knife crime.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) can play a key role in the implementation of a whole-system, or public-health, approach to tackling violence. The value of such approaches is recognised in the Government’s 2018 Serious Violence Strategy.
Since 2019, the Government has provided over £160m to support the implementation of VRUs, with a further £55m invested in 23/24. Violence is strongly linked to specific geographies and to ensure maximum impact, this funding is targeted at 20 force areas that collectively experience the highest volumes of violent offences (around 80% of relevant offences). In light of the number of violent offences taking place in the Dorset Force area, Dorset does not currently meet the threshold for VRU funding specifically.
We recognise, however, that a public health approach can still have value in areas with comparatively lower levels of violence, and that is why in 2023, we introduced the Serious Violence Duty, which requires specified authorities across England and Wales to work together to plan to prevent and reduce serious violence in their local areas. Local areas may choose to implement VRU-style partnerships as part of their work to fulfil obligations arising under the Duty. Useful information for those wishing to do so can be found here: Violence Reduction Units 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Government remains committed to providing the resources needed to tackle violent crime. We have provided funding to support implementation of the Duty, which for Dorset, amounts to £292k in 23/24, and we have also recently confirmed Dorset’s police funding settlement of £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £11.1 million when compared to 2023/24. In addition, in recognition of recent exceptional policing demand arising in Bournemouth, we are pleased to have recently approved, on an exceptional basis, an additional £600k in 23/24 to enable Dorset Police to respond to this pressure.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's press release entitled New law to ban zombie-style knives and machetes, published on 25 January 2024, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of that proposed legislation on preventing the sale of zombie-style knives; and what steps his Department plans to take to confiscate zombie-style knives already in public possession.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The maximum penalty for being in possession of a bladed or pointed article in public is 4 years imprisonment. In 2015, we introduced minimum custodial sentences for repeat knife possession, alongside the existing minimum sentence for threatening with a knife. Adults face a minimum of 6 months’ imprisonment whilst young people aged 16 or 17 face a minimum 4-month Detention and Training Order.
Measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which came into force on 28 June 2022, strengthen existing provisions by ensuring that the courts pass at least the minimum sentence for certain offences, including threat and repeat possession of a knife or offensive weapon, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. Parliament has provided the courts with a broad range of sentencing powers to deal effectively and appropriately with offenders, including discharges, fines, community sentences, suspended sentences and custodial sentences.
It is the function of the court to decide the sentence in each case subject to the maximum that Parliament has provided and any guidelines that may be laid down by the Sentencing Council or the Court of Appeal. Sentencing must also be proportionate to the offence committed, considering all the circumstances of each case. That is why our sentencing framework generally sets maximum penalties but not mandatory or minimum penalties.
Research shows that it is the certainty of apprehension and punishment which consistently has a deterrent effect. However, it is of course crucial that serious offenders serve sentences that truly reflect the severity of their crimes, helping to protect the public and giving victims confidence that justice has been served.
Where someone is actually harmed by a knife or offensive weapon, there are a range of serious offences that the person may be charged with, such as causing grievous bodily harm. These can result in lengthy sentences including life imprisonment.
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) Order 2024 was laid in Parliament on 25 January 2024.
Once the legislation has been approved by Parliament, a surrender scheme will come into effect on 26 August 2024 to remove zombie style machetes and knives from circulation. The manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes will be outlawed from 24 September, and this will be enforced by the Police, Trading Standards and Border Force. An impact assessment, supporting the Statutory Instrument, will be published very shortly.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory jail terms for people caught in possession of (a) blades, (b) knives and (c) other pointed articles without authorisation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The maximum penalty for being in possession of a bladed or pointed article in public is 4 years imprisonment. In 2015, we introduced minimum custodial sentences for repeat knife possession, alongside the existing minimum sentence for threatening with a knife. Adults face a minimum of 6 months’ imprisonment whilst young people aged 16 or 17 face a minimum 4-month Detention and Training Order.
Measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which came into force on 28 June 2022, strengthen existing provisions by ensuring that the courts pass at least the minimum sentence for certain offences, including threat and repeat possession of a knife or offensive weapon, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. Parliament has provided the courts with a broad range of sentencing powers to deal effectively and appropriately with offenders, including discharges, fines, community sentences, suspended sentences and custodial sentences.
It is the function of the court to decide the sentence in each case subject to the maximum that Parliament has provided and any guidelines that may be laid down by the Sentencing Council or the Court of Appeal. Sentencing must also be proportionate to the offence committed, considering all the circumstances of each case. That is why our sentencing framework generally sets maximum penalties but not mandatory or minimum penalties.
Research shows that it is the certainty of apprehension and punishment which consistently has a deterrent effect. However, it is of course crucial that serious offenders serve sentences that truly reflect the severity of their crimes, helping to protect the public and giving victims confidence that justice has been served.
Where someone is actually harmed by a knife or offensive weapon, there are a range of serious offences that the person may be charged with, such as causing grievous bodily harm. These can result in lengthy sentences including life imprisonment.
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) Order 2024 was laid in Parliament on 25 January 2024.
Once the legislation has been approved by Parliament, a surrender scheme will come into effect on 26 August 2024 to remove zombie style machetes and knives from circulation. The manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes will be outlawed from 24 September, and this will be enforced by the Police, Trading Standards and Border Force. An impact assessment, supporting the Statutory Instrument, will be published very shortly.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help protect young people from online (a) abuse and (b) grooming.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse online and in our communities across the UK and internationally. Our approach is underpinned by the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy which sets out firm commitments to drive action across the whole system.
The Online Safety Act gained Royal Assent in October 2023, and seeks to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. The Act will for the first time, place clear legal duties on technology companies to take proactive steps to identify, remove and prevent users encountering illegal content, including child sexual abuse, from their platforms. The Government has worked closely with Ofcom to ensure that the implementation period that will be necessary following passage of the legislation is as short as possible.
Child sexual abuse is named in the act as a priority offence meaning companies must use systems and processes to minimise, remove, and report this content to the NCA or another foreign body. The regulator shall publish codes of practice which will include specific measures on CSEA, setting out how companies will have to comply with their legal duties. Companies must take the steps recommended by Ofcom or take measures that are equally as effective.
The Home Office continues to work with international Partners to work on law enforcement cooperation to pursue offenders and bring them to justice, and building capacity to combat this complex and evolving threat around the world given the nature of evolving threat
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the rise in fatal knife related incidents in Bournemouth East constituency.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need to tackle violent crime. That is why I have recently confirmed Dorset’s police funding settlement of £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £11.1 million when compared to 2023/24. I am also pleased to have recently approved, on an exceptional basis, an additional £600 thousand in 23/24 to enable the police to respond recent exceptional policing demand arising in Bournemouth.
We have also increased the number of police officers through the Police Uplift Programme and as of 31 March 2023, 20,947 additional officers have been recruited in England and Wales delivering on the manifesto commitment of 20,000 more police officers by the end of March 2023. As of 31 March 2023, Dorset has recruited 174 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 166 officers and at this time there were 1,441 police officers in Dorset, a total growth of 174 additional officers against the baseline (1,267) at the start of the Police Uplift Programme.
We keep all relevant legislation under review in the interests of public safety and we recently consulted on new legislative proposals to tackle knife crime and published the government response on 30 August 2023. As a result, in the Criminal Justice Bill, we have introduced provisions to:
o Provide more powers for police to seize knives held in private that could be used in crimes .
o Increase the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s.
o Create a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or offensive weapon with intent to use unlawful violence or cause someone to fear unlawful violence.
And via secondary legislation we will introduce, in the next few weeks, a new ban on zombie-style machetes and knives that seem to appeal who those who want to use them as weapons.
In addition, we have introduced the Serious Violence Duty, which requires relevant agencies to work in partnership to tackle violence. Funding has also been provided to support implementation of the duty (for Dorset amounting to £292 thousand in the 23/24, with funding continuing in 24/25).
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative estimate he has made of the number of police officers in Dorset (a) in 2019 and (b) as of 9 January 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
During the Police Uplift Programme, the Home Office published a quarterly update on the number of officers (headcount only) in England and Wales. A monthly breakdown of these data are available, for October 2019 to March 2023, broken down by Police Force Area (PFA), here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics.
More routinely however, the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin is the key measure of the size of the police workforce, These data are collected and published at PFA level, on a bi-annual basis and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales
These data are a snapshot of the workforce as at 31 March and 30 September of each year only.
Information on the number of police officers in Dorset as at 31 March each year, from 2007 to 2023, on a full-time equivalent and headcount basis, can be found in the ‘Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba640bef5371000d7af05f/open-data-table-police-workforce-260723.ods.
The next release of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which covers the number of police officers employed as at 30 September 2023, is scheduled for release at 9:30am on Wednesday 24 January 2024.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans his Department has to end the requisitioning of hotels for the housing of asylum seekers in Bournemouth.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are making significant progress in closing hotels, with 50 due to be closed by the end of January, and more in the coming months.
We are also working to move asylum seekers into alternative, cheaper accommodation and have successfully cleared the legacy backlog by deciding more than 112,000 cases, while maintaining the integrity of the system.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to introduce a Violence Reduction Unit within the Dorset constabulary to tackle knife crime in Bournemouth.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need to tackle violent crime. That is why I have recently confirmed Dorset’s police funding settlement of £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £11.1 million when compared to 2023/24. In addition, in recognition of recent exceptional policing demand arising in Bournemouth, I am pleased to have recently approved, on an exceptional basis, an additional £600k in 23/24 to enable Dorset Police to respond to this pressure.
Serious Violence is strongly linked to specific geographies, and, to ensure maximum impact, Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) funding is accordingly allocated in accordance with volumes of serious violence (as measured by hospital admissions relating to injury with a sharp object). This means that Violence Reduction Unit funding is allocated to 20 Police Force Areas, not including Dorset, which collectively account for around 80% of total relevant admissions.
However, the Government also recognises that a preventative approach to tackling violence will also benefit in other parts of England and Wales with lower levels of violent crime and that is why we have introduced the Serious Violence Duty, which requires relevant agencies to work in partnership to tackle violence. Funding has also been provided to support implementation of the duty (for Dorset amounting to £292kin the 23/24, with funding continuing in 24/25) which can be used to support delivery of a Violence Reduction Unit based approach in Dorset.