Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to ensure the effectiveness of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders; and how this will be monitored.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) are currently live in Greater Manchester, three London boroughs (Croydon, Bromley and Sutton), Cleveland, North Wales, and with the British Transport Police. These orders combine the strongest elements of the existing protective order regime into a single comprehensive, flexible tool. DAPOs can impose notification requirements, electronic monitoring and attendance to a behaviour change programme. Breach of a DAPO is a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment.
To assess their effectiveness, we have commissioned an independent evaluation of DAPOs to assess how they are working in practice. During this pilot phase, we are closely monitoring the police and courts’ performance as part of the ongoing evaluation. We will use the evaluation findings to help inform the wider rollout of DAPOs and help ensure DAPOs provide effective protection for victims.
Since their launch, more than 1,000 DAPOs have been issued across England and Wales, strengthening protections for victims of all forms of domestic abuse. As set out in the government’s new VAWG Strategy, we are committed to rolling out DAPOs nationally across England and Wales.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the (a) Mayor of London and (b) British Transport Police on reducing the theft of mobile phone thefts on the London Underground.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary and Policing Minister are determined to take the strongest possible action to reduce the number of phone thefts in London and elsewhere across the country.
This is a crime that causes significant distress to victims and fuels wider criminality. That’s why we are driving greater collaboration between policing leaders, the Metropolitan Police, National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, British Transport Police, leading tech companies and others to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.
All stakeholders must play their part in designing out and disincentivising theft, disrupting the resale of stolen phones, exploring technological solutions to make devices harder to re-register or resell, and helping the public protect themselves and the data and personal information on their devices.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times spit hoods have been used on members of the public in each of the English territorial police forces in each of the last three full years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information annually on the number of times a spit hood was used on members of the public by police force area in the statistical publication on the police use of force. The latest available data is for the year ending 31 March 2024 and can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-use-of-force-statistics-april-2023-to-march-2024
The number of times a spit hood tactic (referred to as a spit and bite guard in the statistical publication) was used on members of the public, broken down by police force area, and by financial year for each of the last three years, can be found in data table 14 and is copied below.
From Table 14 of the Police use of force, England and Wales April 2023 to March 2024 statistical publication. The number of times spit and bite guard tactics were used by police force area for the last 3 years are included below. Data for 2024/25 will be published in November/December 2025.
Year | Police force | Tactic | Total number of tactics |
2021/22 | Total England and Wales | Spit and bite guard | 8,281 |
2021/22 | Avon & Somerset | Spit and bite guard | 416 |
2021/22 | Bedfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 77 |
2021/22 | Cambridgeshire | Spit and bite guard | 87 |
2021/22 | Cheshire | Spit and bite guard | 113 |
2021/22 | City of London | Spit and bite guard | 17 |
2021/22 | Cleveland | Spit and bite guard | 12 |
2021/22 | Cumbria | Spit and bite guard | 46 |
2021/22 | Derbyshire | Spit and bite guard | 98 |
2021/22 | Devon & Cornwall | Spit and bite guard | 345 |
2021/22 | Dorset | Spit and bite guard | 145 |
2021/22 | Durham | Spit and bite guard | 46 |
2021/22 | Dyfed-Powys | Spit and bite guard | 32 |
2021/22 | Essex | Spit and bite guard | 333 |
2021/22 | Gloucestershire | Spit and bite guard | 45 |
2021/22 | Greater Manchester | Spit and bite guard | 636 |
2021/22 | Gwent | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2021/22 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | Spit and bite guard | 117 |
2021/22 | Hertfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 158 |
2021/22 | Humberside | Spit and bite guard | 115 |
2021/22 | Kent | Spit and bite guard | 225 |
2021/22 | Lancashire | Spit and bite guard | 92 |
2021/22 | Leicestershire | Spit and bite guard | 113 |
2021/22 | Lincolnshire | Spit and bite guard | 55 |
2021/22 | Merseyside | Spit and bite guard | 310 |
2021/22 | Metropolitan | Spit and bite guard | 1,557 |
2021/22 | Norfolk | Spit and bite guard | 115 |
2021/22 | North Wales | Spit and bite guard | 4 |
2021/22 | North Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 61 |
2021/22 | Northamptonshire | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2021/22 | Northumbria | Spit and bite guard | 403 |
2021/22 | Nottinghamshire | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2021/22 | South Wales | Spit and bite guard | 159 |
2021/22 | South Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 127 |
2021/22 | Staffordshire | Spit and bite guard | 79 |
2021/22 | Suffolk | Spit and bite guard | 68 |
2021/22 | Surrey | Spit and bite guard | 167 |
2021/22 | Sussex | Spit and bite guard | 222 |
2021/22 | Thames Valley | Spit and bite guard | 269 |
2021/22 | Warwickshire | Spit and bite guard | 43 |
2021/22 | West Mercia | Spit and bite guard | 163 |
2021/22 | West Midlands | Spit and bite guard | 502 |
2021/22 | West Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 399 |
2021/22 | Wiltshire | Spit and bite guard | 61 |
2022/23 | Total England and Wales | Spit and bite guard | 8,275 |
2022/23 | Avon & Somerset | Spit and bite guard | 379 |
2022/23 | Bedfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 86 |
2022/23 | Cambridgeshire | Spit and bite guard | 114 |
2022/23 | Cheshire | Spit and bite guard | 91 |
2022/23 | City of London | Spit and bite guard | 15 |
2022/23 | Cleveland | Spit and bite guard | 151 |
2022/23 | Cumbria | Spit and bite guard | 80 |
2022/23 | Derbyshire | Spit and bite guard | 101 |
2022/23 | Devon & Cornwall | Spit and bite guard | 309 |
2022/23 | Dorset | Spit and bite guard | 150 |
2022/23 | Durham | Spit and bite guard | 35 |
2022/23 | Dyfed-Powys | Spit and bite guard | 19 |
2022/23 | Essex | Spit and bite guard | 398 |
2022/23 | Gloucestershire | Spit and bite guard | 46 |
2022/23 | Greater Manchester | Spit and bite guard | 688 |
2022/23 | Gwent | Spit and bite guard | 103 |
2022/23 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | Spit and bite guard | 104 |
2022/23 | Hertfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 146 |
2022/23 | Humberside | Spit and bite guard | 75 |
2022/23 | Kent | Spit and bite guard | 173 |
2022/23 | Lancashire | Spit and bite guard | 116 |
2022/23 | Leicestershire | Spit and bite guard | 107 |
2022/23 | Lincolnshire | Spit and bite guard | 52 |
2022/23 | Merseyside | Spit and bite guard | 278 |
2022/23 | Metropolitan | Spit and bite guard | 1,421 |
2022/23 | Norfolk | Spit and bite guard | 91 |
2022/23 | North Wales | Spit and bite guard | 32 |
2022/23 | North Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 66 |
2022/23 | Northamptonshire | Spit and bite guard | 88 |
2022/23 | Northumbria | Spit and bite guard | 423 |
2022/23 | Nottinghamshire | Spit and bite guard | 137 |
2022/23 | South Wales | Spit and bite guard | 150 |
2022/23 | South Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 104 |
2022/23 | Staffordshire | Spit and bite guard | 60 |
2022/23 | Suffolk | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2022/23 | Surrey | Spit and bite guard | 134 |
2022/23 | Sussex | Spit and bite guard | 227 |
2022/23 | Thames Valley | Spit and bite guard | 276 |
2022/23 | Warwickshire | Spit and bite guard | 39 |
2022/23 | West Mercia | Spit and bite guard | 80 |
2022/23 | West Midlands | Spit and bite guard | 619 |
2022/23 | West Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 395 |
2022/23 | Wiltshire | Spit and bite guard | 34 |
2023/24 | Total England and Wales | Spit and bite guard | 9,844 |
2023/24 | Avon & Somerset | Spit and bite guard | 410 |
2023/24 | Bedfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 64 |
2023/24 | British Transport Police | Spit and bite guard | 359 |
2023/24 | Cambridgeshire | Spit and bite guard | 109 |
2023/24 | Cheshire | Spit and bite guard | 84 |
2023/24 | City of London | Spit and bite guard | 1 |
2023/24 | Cleveland | Spit and bite guard | 233 |
2023/24 | Cumbria | Spit and bite guard | 113 |
2023/24 | Derbyshire | Spit and bite guard | 91 |
2023/24 | Devon & Cornwall | Spit and bite guard | 260 |
2023/24 | Dorset | Spit and bite guard | 149 |
2023/24 | Durham | Spit and bite guard | 49 |
2023/24 | Dyfed-Powys | Spit and bite guard | 22 |
2023/24 | Essex | Spit and bite guard | 486 |
2023/24 | Gloucestershire | Spit and bite guard | 77 |
2023/24 | Greater Manchester | Spit and bite guard | 627 |
2023/24 | Gwent | Spit and bite guard | 124 |
2023/24 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | Spit and bite guard | 153 |
2023/24 | Hertfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 170 |
2023/24 | Humberside | Spit and bite guard | 99 |
2023/24 | Kent | Spit and bite guard | 230 |
2023/24 | Lancashire | Spit and bite guard | 119 |
2023/24 | Leicestershire | Spit and bite guard | 118 |
2023/24 | Lincolnshire | Spit and bite guard | 36 |
2023/24 | Merseyside | Spit and bite guard | 361 |
2023/24 | Metropolitan | Spit and bite guard | 1,525 |
2023/24 | Norfolk | Spit and bite guard | 121 |
2023/24 | North Wales | Spit and bite guard | 36 |
2023/24 | North Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 103 |
2023/24 | Northamptonshire | Spit and bite guard | 142 |
2023/24 | Northumbria | Spit and bite guard | 521 |
2023/24 | Nottinghamshire | Spit and bite guard | 135 |
2023/24 | South Wales | Spit and bite guard | 165 |
2023/24 | South Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 133 |
2023/24 | Staffordshire | Spit and bite guard | 114 |
2023/24 | Suffolk | Spit and bite guard | 69 |
2023/24 | Surrey | Spit and bite guard | 179 |
2023/24 | Sussex | Spit and bite guard | 237 |
2023/24 | Thames Valley | Spit and bite guard | 422 |
2023/24 | Warwickshire | Spit and bite guard | 25 |
2023/24 | West Mercia | Spit and bite guard | 89 |
2023/24 | West Midlands | Spit and bite guard | 754 |
2023/24 | West Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 476 |
2023/24 | Wiltshire | Spit and bite guard | 54 |
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions there have been in each police authority area for drunken or drug influenced driving in each of the past three years; and how many of these prosecutions led to convictions.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
A number of driving offences created by the Road Traffic Act 1988 relate to driving when under the influence of drink or drugs. These are as follows:
Section 3A(a) causing death by driving without due care and attention / reasonable consideration while unfit through drink or drugs.
Section 3A(b) causing death by due care while over prescribed limit.
Section 3A(ba) causing death by driving without due care / consideration while over specified limit - specified controlled drug.
Section 3A(c) causing death by due care and fail to provide specimen.
Section 3A(d) fail to give permission for a laboratory test on a blood specimen having caused a death.
Section 4(1) driving a motor vehicle when under the influence of drink or drugs.
Section 5(1)(a) driving a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit.
Section 5A(1)(a) and (2) driving a motor vehicle with a concentration of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted of the above offences and to establish whether defendants charged with these offences were convicted would require a manual review of case files and this would be at disproportionate cost.
The figures in the table below relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence. No data are held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.
Management information is available which shows the number of offences of charged by way of the above list of Road Traffic Act 1988 offences in which a prosecution commenced. The table below shows the number of these offences in each police force area from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2024.
Offences of attempt, in charge, aid and abet have been excluded but failure to provide specimen following drunken or drug influenced driving have been included to produce a list of offences that meet the criteria of ‘drunken or drug influenced driving’ prosecutions.
Drunken or Drug Influenced Driving Offence Volumes | |||
|
|
| |
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Avon & Somerset | 1,761 | 1,562 | 1,753 |
Bedfordshire | 432 | 400 | 373 |
British Transport Police | 19 | 23 | 17 |
Cambridgeshire | 758 | 720 | 640 |
Cheshire | 1,814 | 1,623 | 2,134 |
City of London Police | 230 | 244 | 220 |
Cleveland | 1,351 | 959 | 1,273 |
Cumbria | 840 | 976 | 949 |
Derbyshire | 950 | 973 | 978 |
Devon & Cornwall | 1,989 | 2,401 | 2,246 |
Dorset | 710 | 661 | 682 |
Durham | 1,062 | 921 | 920 |
Dyfed-Powys | 961 | 1,076 | 653 |
Essex | 1,929 | 1,743 | 1,780 |
Gloucestershire | 949 | 836 | 786 |
Greater Manchester | 2,075 | 3,086 | 3,421 |
Gwent | 1,073 | 1,075 | 856 |
Hampshire | 2,469 | 2,287 | 2,204 |
Hertfordshire | 761 | 723 | 657 |
Humberside | 1,106 | 838 | 1,084 |
Kent | 2,281 | 2,140 | 2,141 |
Lancashire | 2,138 | 1,643 | 2,219 |
Leicestershire | 1,024 | 884 | 757 |
Lincolnshire | 1,063 | 1,064 | 982 |
Merseyside | 3,024 | 2,990 | 2,896 |
Metropolitan Police | 5,286 | 3,561 | 3,971 |
Norfolk | 1,120 | 1,120 | 976 |
Northamptonshire | 910 | 995 | 970 |
Northumbria | 1,460 | 1,330 | 1,429 |
North Wales | 1,263 | 1,507 | 1,372 |
North Yorkshire | 1,196 | 889 | 1,010 |
Nottinghamshire | 1,557 | 1,628 | 1,156 |
South Wales | 1,716 | 1,761 | 1,619 |
South Yorkshire | 1,305 | 1,227 | 1,309 |
Staffordshire | 1,235 | 1,065 | 1,125 |
Suffolk | 835 | 985 | 960 |
Surrey | 1,287 | 1,217 | 1,412 |
Sussex | 2,036 | 1,836 | 1,696 |
Thames Valley | 2,798 | 2,806 | 3,303 |
Warwickshire | 569 | 468 | 444 |
West Mercia | 1,526 | 1,483 | 1,583 |
West Midlands | 1,656 | 1,376 | 1,356 |
West Yorkshire | 2,623 | 2,400 | 2,362 |
Wiltshire | 852 | 846 | 746 |
44 Police Force Areas Total | 63,999 | 60,348 | 61,420 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the pilot rollout of (a) Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and (b) Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in Sutton will be reviewed to assess their effectiveness.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 27 November 2024 we launched new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders (DAPNs/DAPOs) in select areas - specifically Greater Manchester, three London boroughs (Croydon, Bromley and Sutton) and with the British Transport Police. We will soon be going further by onboarding two additional sites in early 2025 to give the greatest possible number of victims access.
The Home Office has commissioned an independent evaluation of DAPNs and DAPOs. The evaluation aims to understand how the new order works in practice and its effectiveness.
For the first time, these orders provide protection for all forms of domestic abuse including coercive or controlling behaviour; have no maximum duration; and can impose electronic monitoring or require attendance to a behaviour change programme.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new policies to help improve protection for people at risk of domestic homicide in all regions.
Answered by Laura Farris
In the 2022 Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan the government outlined a package of measures to reduce domestic homicides and reform the Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) process.
DHRs are reviews into deaths related to domestic abuse which seek to identify what lessons can be learnt and implemented to prevent future deaths.
In June 2023, we launched the online DHR Library to help ensure police and partners have easy access to material to learn from previous homicides and prevent future deaths linked to domestic abuse.
The implementation of reforms to DHRs will improve our understanding and drive down the frequency of domestic homicides.
The Home Office also funds the collection of data on deaths related to domestic abuse through the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Domestic Homicide Project. The project brings together data and information on prior agency knowledge of victims and risk factors to improve the evidence base and subsequent policy responses for preventing domestic homicides.
To gain protection from domestic abuse a protective order can be applied for. Police can apply for a Domestic Violence Protection Order, victims can apply for a Non-Molestation Order and criminal courts can impose a Restraining Order on acquittal or conviction of a criminal offence. The introduction of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, will help simplify and strengthen the protection for victims avaliable, introducing new features like mandatory notification requirements and electronic monitoring (“tagging”). The new order will be piloted in Greater Manchester, the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley, and with the British Transport Police.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the problem of criminal gangs intentionally crossing police force borders to exploit weaknesses in policing methods.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
We know serious and organised crime (SOC) does not respect police force borders which is why all police forces in England and Wales collaborate and share resources, funding and specialist capabilities to deliver Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) to lead complex cross-border SOC investigations. There are nine ROCUs in England and Wales with equivalent capability in London.
Alongside approximately £70m in direct funding from the Home Office in 2023/24, Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions have recently provided significant resource to the ROCU network by allocating 725 extra officers to ROCUs between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. Those officers are working in partnership now to tackle drugs supply and enablers, including firearms and criminal finances.
County lines is a major cross-cutting issue involving a range of criminality including drugs, violence, criminal gangs and child criminal exploitation, and involves the police, a wide range of Government departments, local government agencies and voluntary and community sector organisations. County lines gangs often export drugs across county borders from one police force area to another.
This Government is determined to crack down on county lines gangs which is why we are investing up to £145m over three years in our County Lines Programme to tackle the most violent and exploitative drug supply model yet seen. Through the County Lines Programme, we have established dedicated county lines taskforces in the four force areas exporting the majority of lines (MPS, Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester Police) as well as the British Transport Police to tackle the national rail network. We are also funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The NCLCC has been vital in strengthening the law enforcement response, promoting best practice, and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.
Since the County Lines Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 5,600 line closures, over 16,500 arrests and over 8,800 safeguarding referrals. This includes over 2,500 line closures since April 2022, surpassing the Drugs Strategy commitment of over 2,000 line closures by April 2025. Having met this target in half the time, we have now committed to close a further 1,000 lines by August 2024, bringing the total since the Drugs Strategy was launched in April 2022 to over 3,000.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police forces are taking to monitor breaches of exclusion zones relating to (a) domestic abuse and (b) other violent crimes.
Answered by Sarah Dines
This Government is committed to protecting all victims and tackling domestic abuse and violent crime.
To gain protection from domestic abuse, police can apply for a Domestic Violence Protection Order, victims can apply for a Non-Molestation Order and criminal courts can impose a Restraining Order on acquittal or conviction of a criminal offence. In cases of violent crime, police forces can apply to the court for a Criminal Behaviour Order, Gang Injunction, or Knife Crime Prevention Order which can also impose exclusion zones. Additionally, in community sentences, the court can impose electronically monitored exclusion zones. Responding to breaches is an operational matter for the police to decide upon.
The introduction of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, will help to strengthen the evidence base for pursuing and prosecuting breach of an exclusion zone in cases of domestic abuse. The new order will be piloted from next year in Gwent, Greater Manchester, the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley, and the British Transport Police (Domestic abusers face crackdown in raft of new measures - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
For offenders on licence, breach of exclusion zones could result in recall by probation and arrest and return to custody by the police. Later this year, the Ministry of Justice will begin a project to test the effectiveness of electronic monitoring of additional licence conditions, including exclusion zones, for domestic abuse perpetrators released on licence.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the national governance arrangements for Single Online Home.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
27 forces are currently live on the Single Online Home (SOH):
England
Wales
24. Dyfed Powys
25. Gwent
26. North Wales
27. South Wales
Additionally, British Transport Police is also on the Single Online Home.
The Programme is regularly assessed by the Home Office for performance and assurance purposes. Through the 27 forces currently on Single Online Home, online services are available to 61% of the population in England and Wales. The platform has recorded just under 2.9 million visitors and 175,450 online reports in January 2021. In the same month, just under 418,000 visitors were redirected to relevant third-party services, providing a better service for the public to support their queries and reducing non-police demand on police forces. In a survey of users, the Single Online Home was shown to be a preferred way of contacting the police (76%) as a more relevant and convenient mean to meet the needs of the public.
All 43 forces in England and Wales have committed to onboarding the Single Online Home. Up to 10 forces will join in 2021/22 and it is expected that all forces will be on the platform by the end of March 2023.
Forces are not mandated to join the Single Online Home, but as an NPCC national programme the expectation is that all 43 forces in England and Wales will join the platform. The onboarding schedule was developed between the Digital Public Contact (DPC) Programme and forces via Statements of Intent where forces provided their commitment to join and what dates worked for them. This enabled forces to factor in other local change initiatives and resource constraints and the Programme to plan for working with different force infrastructures and developing technical fixes to ensure connectivity.
The Single Online Home already provides services to support victims in reporting crime incidents online. This includes a Domestic Abuse online reporting pilot which was launched in October last year. Designed in consultation with forces, ACC Louisa Rolfe, the NPCC Domestic Abuse Lead, and external charities, the service is victim focused and provides victims with a discrete reporting mechanism to access the support they need at a time when Covid-19 presents heightened risk. Following its success, it will now be rolled out nationally from May 2021. A pilot service of Sarah’s Law (child sex offender disclosure scheme) also went live with 6 forces on 23 February 2021 ahead of national rollout while other services due to be developed and piloted in 2021/22 include reporting of Anti-Social Behaviour, rape and sexual assaults, and bribery and corruption.
Governance is overseen by the Home Office’s Strategic Change and Investment Board (SCIB) and reporting is provided by the Digital Public Contact Programme.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the scope of Single Online Home websites to provide easy access to available support for victims of crime.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
27 forces are currently live on the Single Online Home (SOH):
England
Wales
24. Dyfed Powys
25. Gwent
26. North Wales
27. South Wales
Additionally, British Transport Police is also on the Single Online Home.
The Programme is regularly assessed by the Home Office for performance and assurance purposes. Through the 27 forces currently on Single Online Home, online services are available to 61% of the population in England and Wales. The platform has recorded just under 2.9 million visitors and 175,450 online reports in January 2021. In the same month, just under 418,000 visitors were redirected to relevant third-party services, providing a better service for the public to support their queries and reducing non-police demand on police forces. In a survey of users, the Single Online Home was shown to be a preferred way of contacting the police (76%) as a more relevant and convenient mean to meet the needs of the public.
All 43 forces in England and Wales have committed to onboarding the Single Online Home. Up to 10 forces will join in 2021/22 and it is expected that all forces will be on the platform by the end of March 2023.
Forces are not mandated to join the Single Online Home, but as an NPCC national programme the expectation is that all 43 forces in England and Wales will join the platform. The onboarding schedule was developed between the Digital Public Contact (DPC) Programme and forces via Statements of Intent where forces provided their commitment to join and what dates worked for them. This enabled forces to factor in other local change initiatives and resource constraints and the Programme to plan for working with different force infrastructures and developing technical fixes to ensure connectivity.
The Single Online Home already provides services to support victims in reporting crime incidents online. This includes a Domestic Abuse online reporting pilot which was launched in October last year. Designed in consultation with forces, ACC Louisa Rolfe, the NPCC Domestic Abuse Lead, and external charities, the service is victim focused and provides victims with a discrete reporting mechanism to access the support they need at a time when Covid-19 presents heightened risk. Following its success, it will now be rolled out nationally from May 2021. A pilot service of Sarah’s Law (child sex offender disclosure scheme) also went live with 6 forces on 23 February 2021 ahead of national rollout while other services due to be developed and piloted in 2021/22 include reporting of Anti-Social Behaviour, rape and sexual assaults, and bribery and corruption.
Governance is overseen by the Home Office’s Strategic Change and Investment Board (SCIB) and reporting is provided by the Digital Public Contact Programme.