Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many ministerial red boxes belonging to her Department have (a) been reported missing or lost or (b) had their security features removed in order that they can be purchased for personal use by former ministers from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
There have been no missing or lost ministerial red boxes from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and no red boxes which have had their security features removed between 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.
The departmental security unit records and investigates each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries.
It is a long standing convention under successive administrations that Ministers may pay to retain red boxes as a memento of their time in their role, as long as the security features are removed.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the requirements regarding (1) appointment procedures, and (2) financial remuneration, for Deputy Police Commissioners.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold information on the annual cost of Police and Crime Commissioners which includes pay, employer pension and national insurance contributions and expenses. However, the total basic pay cost of PCCs annually is approximately £3m. PCCs are under a duty to publish information relating to their salary, allowances, the composition of their office and the salaries of their senior staff on an annual basis.
The Home Office does not hold information on the annual cost of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioners. The appointment, pay and other arrangements for Deputy Police and Crime Commissioners is a matter for each Police and Crime Commissioner. As the locally elected representative for policing, they are ultimately responsible for balancing their budget and making decisions about the size and composition of their offices.
Police and Crime Commissioners are required to seek the views of their local Police and Crime Panel before appointing a Deputy, and other senior staff, as set out in Schedule 1 to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the annual cost of Police and Deputy Police Commissioners for each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold information on the annual cost of Police and Crime Commissioners which includes pay, employer pension and national insurance contributions and expenses. However, the total basic pay cost of PCCs annually is approximately £3m. PCCs are under a duty to publish information relating to their salary, allowances, the composition of their office and the salaries of their senior staff on an annual basis.
The Home Office does not hold information on the annual cost of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioners. The appointment, pay and other arrangements for Deputy Police and Crime Commissioners is a matter for each Police and Crime Commissioner. As the locally elected representative for policing, they are ultimately responsible for balancing their budget and making decisions about the size and composition of their offices.
Police and Crime Commissioners are required to seek the views of their local Police and Crime Panel before appointing a Deputy, and other senior staff, as set out in Schedule 1 to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Government plans to take steps to increase police pay by (a) three, (b) four, (c) five, (d) six and (e) seven per cent.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) considers and makes recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The Government values its independent and expert advice.
The Home Secretary’s remit letter, issued on 29 November 2022, asks the PRRB to make recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award and to submit its report in May. The Government will give very careful consideration to the Review Body’s recommendations.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the Police Remuneration Review Body’s recommendations for the pay and allowances of police officers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) considers and makes recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The Government values its independent and expert advice.
The Home Secretary’s remit letter, issued on 29 November 2022, asks the PRRB to make recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award and to submit its report in May. The Government will give very careful consideration to the Review Body’s recommendations.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help build the confidence of people serving community pay back and prevent reoffending.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Community Payback is the key punitive requirement available to sentencers when handing down court-ordered community sentences. These requirements are managed by the Probation Service and are delivered separately to police-monitored unpaid work schemes which provide restorative justice for people undertaking out of court disposals.
Community Payback is an important way for offenders serving their sentence in the community to give back to the communities they have harmed, by undertaking demanding work that is valuable to their local area. It can also be an important rehabilitative tool by equipping offenders with back to work skills, such as learning new vocational trades and building pro-social skills with placement beneficiaries (often charities) and Community Payback teams.
Certain eligible offenders, namely those who are unemployed or ‘at risk’ of unemployment, may be required to undertake formal education, training and employment (ETE) activity and programmes. This is limited to up to 30% of their imposed hours.
Improving educational, training and employment outcomes is part of our relaunch of Community Payback, which this Government is delivering with up to £93million additional funding This includes an online learning portal for offenders to access educational and vocational courses, enabling offenders to gain skills relevant to industries as where they will receive certification on completion of a course that can be shown to employers. Currently, there are three mandatory courses which are designed to help offenders with employment opportunities and develop skills for work. In the future, the online courses will be tailored to industries where there are significant labour shortages.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has approved a 2 per cent pay award for the Independent Office of Police Conduct staff.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Yes, Ministers have agreed the 2022-23 pay award for staff of the Independent Office of Police Conduct.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a comparative assessment of the potential merits of providing (a) single-year and (b) multi-year financial settlements for police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Spending Review 2021 provided certainty on budgets for all forces across England and Wales, with total funding increases confirmed for 3 years. In June 2022, the government also provided additional funding of £350m over 3 years to support forces in meeting the costs of the 2022 pay award. This has enabled forces to plan ahead and ensure they are delivering efficiency savings to generate the best value for money for the tax payer.
On 31 January, the Government confirmed a total police funding settlement of up to £17.2 billion in 2023/24, an increase of up to £287 million when compared to 2022/23. This settlement honours the commitments made at Spending Review 2021, giving forces the certainty to plan, complete and maintain their work to recruit additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of public sector pay restraint on the economy.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pay for most frontline workforces – including nurses, teachers, armed forces and police officers – is set through an independent Pay Review Body (PRBs) process. The PRBs consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the government’s policies for improving public services; and the government’s inflation target. They consider the whole remuneration package of those working in the public sector when forming their recommendations, including the substantially more generous pensions available, on average, for public sector workers.
As part of the PRB process, HM Treasury publishes economic evidence to PRBs. HM Treasury published its economic evidence to PRBs for the 2023/24 pay round in January. This set out the economic, labour market and fiscal context within which we ask the independent PRBs to consider their recommendations for 2023-24 pay awards. Please see the evidence HMT has published.
Economic_Evidence_January_2023_-_final_version_PUBLISHED.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
More generally, the OBR will include any impact of government policy on the economy in their economic forecasts.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of pay for police service staff.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is the role of the independent Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) to consider and make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The PRRB gathers and invites parties to submit evidence to inform its decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations.
The Government has no statutory role in determining the pay and conditions for police staff, which are agreed locally by Chief Constables in consultation with trade unions.