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1712721

	registered interest
	date	22/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Home Office: Ipsos
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract agreed by his Department with IPSOS-MORI Ltd. on 18 April 2024, reference 412008/1329297, if he will publish the order specification set out in Schedule 20 of that agreement.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	22921
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>We can confirm that the statement of requirements document has been added to the contract finder notice and can be viewed here: <a href="https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4db6abbf-a570-42b8-aade-2ccfac00c20f" target="_blank">ASB Hot Spot Survey - Contracts Finder</a></p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 25/04/2024 15:24:11 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

1702394

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Amnesties
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a knife amnesty.
	tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
	tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
	uin	22701
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>Many police forces provide amnesty bins all year round to provide the public with a facility to safely dispose of unwanted knives and other offensive weapons. It is for Chief Constables, directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions including how to allocate resources based on their local knowledge and experience.</p><p>The Government continues to encourage police forces to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. The operation includes targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps of hotspot areas, surrender of knives, including through amnesty bins, test purchases of knives from retailers, and educational events. The latest phase of the operation took place between 13 to 19 November 2023 and saw 12,149 knives surrendered or recovered.</p><p>On 25 January we laid the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) Order 2024 in Parliament. Subject to parliamentary approval, this will prohibit the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes in England and Wales from 24 September 2024. From 26 August 2024 to 23 September 2024 we will be running a surrender and compensation scheme so that those who own zombie-style knives and machetes which will be banned, can surrender them and receive compensation.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 16:25:18 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1702136

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Home Office: Vivastreet
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 1 November 2022 to Question 72950 on Home Office: Vivastreet, how many times officials from her Department met representatives of Vivastreet (a) online and (b) in person in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Dame Diana Johnson
	uin	22532
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>Home Office officials and law enforcement partners maintain a collaborative working relationship with many online companies, including adult service websites, to identify and put in place initiatives to reduce harms on their sites.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2023, Home Office officials have met with representatives of Vivastreet online, on the following occasions during each calendar year:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Meetings</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2024</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>5</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>We committed to working with adult service websites to explore a set of voluntary principles to counter exploitation on their sites, in the Violence Against Woman and Girls Strategy published in July 2021. The principles will encourage adult service websites to take reasonable and practical steps to prevent modern slavery and exploitation on their platforms and work collaboratively with law enforcement.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 09:05:23 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1701805

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Policing Productivity Review: Shoplifting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Policing Productivity review on levels of theft from shops.
	tabling member constituency	East Antrim
	tabling member printed	Sammy Wilson
	uin	22285
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government recognises the impact shoplifting has on businesses and communities. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows neighbourhood crime is down 48% compared to findings from 2010; however, Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months to September 2023. Statistics also show the number of people charged with shoplifting has risen by 34%, showing the police are acting.</p><p> </p><p>We have recently taken significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime, including shoplifting. In October 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. All forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify offenders. This builds on the NPCC commitment that police will follow up on all reasonable lines of enquiry.</p><p> </p><p>The Government published an enhanced Action Plan, &quot;Fighting Retail Crime: More action&quot; on 10 April. This Plan highlights key areas of work to tackle retail crime, including introduction of a new standalone office for assaults on retail workers; additional electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters; and increasing use of facial recognition technology.</p><p> </p><p>The Policing Productivity Review was published on 20 November 2023, which concludes there is the potential to free up around 38 million hours of police time per year within five years. This equates to over 20,000 police officers. The Government is working with policing to consider its recommendations, freeing up police officers’ time which can be reprioritised to enable officers to spend more time fighting crime on the front line, in line with local priorities set by Police and Crime Commissioners. This additional police time could be used to support delivery of the Retail Crime Action Plan. Evaluation on the impact of the Policing Productivity Review will be part of the remit of the new Centre for Police Productivity which was announced at the Spring Budget 2024.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to work closely with the retail sector, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which meets on a quarterly basis, to ensure the response to retail crime, including shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 25/04/2024 15:22:33 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	1593 label Biography information for Sammy Wilson

1701823

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Crime Prevention: Birmingham
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to (a) reduce crime and (b) improve community safety in Birmingham.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
	tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
	uin	22397
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>This Government is committed to cutting crime, keeping our streets safe, and restoring confidence in the criminal justice system.</p><p>Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), as the locally elected and democratically accountable individual, are responsible for the totality of policing in their area. They set local policing and crime objectives in partnership with their communities and key stakeholders and hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of efficient and effective policing.</p><p>The Government is funding a range of initiatives in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands police force area to reduce crime. Through the Safer Streets Fund, the West Midlands has received just over £3.7m of investment through five rounds of the Fund. As part of the current Round Five, the West Midlands PCC has been allocated £819k to deliver interventions aimed at targeting neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls.</p><p>To tackle the drivers of serious violence, the Home Office has invested over £20m since 2019 to develop the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), including funding of over £4.38m in 2023/2024. The West Midlands VRU delivers a range of preventative interventions, cognitive behavioural therapy programmes, and sports-based diversionary programmes.</p><p>During the Police Uplift, West Midlands recruited 1,376 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 1,218 officers. As at 30 September 2023, there were 7,982 police officers in West Midlands, a total growth of 1,291 additional officers against the baseline (6,691) at the start of the Police Uplift.</p><p>Overall, the West Midlands will receive up to £790.4 million in 2024/2025 from the police funding settlement, an increase of up to £51.1 million when compared to 2023/2024.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 16:27:11 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1701462

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Fire and Rescue Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are an adequate number of firefighters with (a) adequate and (b) reliable equipment to tackle fires in cities in England.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
	tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
	uin	22159
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall, Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. Standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4m in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.</p><p>Decisions on how FRSs are run, and how their resources are allocated, including crewing numbers and the procurement of equipment, are for the local Chief Fire Officers and their democratically elected FRA. They are responsible for ensuring the needs and demands of their local community are met and are able to direct their resources where they are needed most.</p><p>All FRAs have a statutory duty to produce a Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) in which they set out the key challenges and risks facing their communities and how they intend to meet and reduce them. This is in line with the Fire and Rescue National Framework, which is the document by which the Home Office sets strategic requirements for the FRA.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 16:30:02 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1701518

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Abortion: Demonstrations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 359 on Abortion: Demonstrations, what progress his Department has made on implementing safe access zones.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	22094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government recently ran a public consultation on non-statutory guidance to support the introduction of the offence of interference with access to or provision of abortion services, which closed on 22 January. We are now considering the responses received and will publish the final guidance in due course.</p><p>We anticipate commencing Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023 no later than Spring 2024.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 16:28:40 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1701524

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Home Office: ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.
	tabling member constituency	Torfaen
	tabling member printed	Nick Thomas-Symonds
	uin	22075
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the Home Department’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 09:09:11 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4479 label Biography information for Nick Thomas-Symonds

1701586

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Police: Vacancies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vacancies there are in frontline police roles, including Police Community Support Officers, as of 16 April 2024.
	tabling member constituency	Tamworth
	tabling member printed	Sarah Edwards
	uin	22210
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office does not hold data on vacancies in frontline policing roles.</p><p>The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the function of police workers (officers, staff, designated officers (S.38) and Police Community Support Officers) as at 31 March each year in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.</a></p><p>This includes information on the number and proportion of police workers in frontline policing roles. Data from 31 March 2021 to 31 March 2023, by worker type, can be found in the ‘Functions Open Data Table’ here:<br> <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba635306f78d000d7426aa/open-data-table-police-workforce-functions-260723.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba635306f78d000d7426aa/open-data-table-police-workforce-functions-260723.ods</a>. Data for previous years, can be found in Tables F1 to F3 of the data tables accompanying each publication.</p><p>Data for the ‘as at 31 March 2024’ publication will be published in July 2024 as part of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 09:06:58 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	5001 label Biography information for Sarah Edwards

1701589

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Shoplifting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to introduce legislation protecting shopworkers from serial or abusive shoplifters.
	tabling member constituency	Tamworth
	tabling member printed	Sarah Edwards
	uin	22211
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government’s plan – <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fighting-retail-crime-more-action" target="_blank">&quot;Fighting retail crime: more action&quot;</a> was launched on 10 April, and includes a new standalone offence for assaults on retail workers and electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters. This builds on the police-led <a href="https://news.npcc.police.uk/resources/e6e5n-gfsgg-qru39-qjnkc-dbait" target="_blank">Retail Crime Action Plan</a>, launched in October 2023.</p><p>We will legislate through the Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament, to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops.</p><p>The new bespoke offence of assaulting a retail worker will also be introduced via the Criminal Justice Bill. The offence will have a maximum penalty of six months in prison, or an unlimited fine – and upon conviction, it is expected that courts will make a Criminal Behaviour Order, which could bar offenders from visiting affected shops or premises. Breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order is a criminal offence and carries a five-year maximum prison sentence.</p><p>Those who repeatedly assault retail workers will be electronically monitored after their third offence, to crack down on reoffending and ensure those continuing down a path of violent behaviour will be met with further consequences. For the most serious violent offenders of assault, custodial sentences of up to five years in prison are already available.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 15:00:20 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	5001 label Biography information for Sarah Edwards