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1471350

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Spiking: Music Festivals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent spiking incidents at music festivals over summer 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Bournemouth East
	tabling member printed	Mr Tobias Ellwood
	uin	20227
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>Government is clear. Spiking is a heinous crime and we must stamp it out. We have been working with the Festivals and Outdoor Events sector and the National Police Chief’s Council to ensure that they, alongside event organisers, local authorities, law enforcement, and hired security staff are taking appropriate action to protect potential victims and deter would be offenders. This includes opportunities for joint communications, updated guidance for audiences and staff and a shared understanding of the emergency service response to spiking incidents.</p><p>A letter will be sent to colleagues across the House shortly setting out further detail.</p><p>More broadly, the Government is taking a number of actions to address Spiking, including:</p><ul><ul><li>Working across government to ensure that we have a joined-up and effective response to this issue from education and awareness through to support for victims in healthcare settings.</li><li>Will publish a report in Spring 2023 on the prevalence and nature of spiking and the action that the Government is, and will take, to tackle it.</li><li>Considering the case for a specific offence of spiking.</li><li>Through the Safety of Women at Night Fund, and Round 3 of the Safer Streets Fund, supporting the rollout of pilot initiatives to improve the safety of women in public spaces, including in the night-time economy (NTE).</li><li>Reclassifying GHB and related substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. These are so-called “date rape” drugs, which have been used in drug-facilitated crime (though there is little evidence to link these drugs to needle-spiking specifically)</li><li>Deputy Chief Constable, Maggie Blyth, who is leading the national policing response to spiking has also: improved coordination amongst forces; police crime recording; work with local health providers; and provided consistent guidance around support for victims.</li></ul></ul> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 12/07/2022 15:47:03 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway previous answer version 9332 answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean answering member 4668
	tabling member	1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood

1484400

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Rape: Prosecutions
	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 oral contribution of the Minister of State in response to the Urgent Question of 28 June 2022 on prosecution of incidences of rape, what steps he is taking to help ensure that evidence submitted to rape cases passes CPS thresholds.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	26794
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2022 answer text <p>Taking rape and sexual violence is a key priority for this Government.</p><p>Through the Rape Review, we took a hard and honest look at how the entire criminal justice system deals with rape and in too many instances it simply has not been good enough. Our accompanying Action Plan set out a robust programme of work to drive the necessary improvements in the criminal justice system’s handling of adult rape cases.</p><p>Our action includes investing £6.65 million in Operation Soteria (2021-23) which will inform the development of a national operating model for the investigation of rape by the police which will be available to all forces in June 2023. This includes work to raise the quality of police case files. For example, enhanced scrutiny panels with representatives from both the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have been in established in Operation Soteria areas to scrutinise casework and check whether quality decisions on individual cases are being made. The CPS will over the next 6 months be developing a file quality metric which will measure the quality of file cases and will provide insight on where issues need to be addressed.</p><p>The most recent figures show that police recorded offences of rape increased by 21% across the whole year ending December 2021 and now stands as the highest ever recorded annual figure to date (67,125 offences). We welcome the fact that more victims of sexual offences, which are all too often hidden crimes, are coming forward and reporting these crimes to the police.</p><p>In addition, we have started to see some increases in the number of referrals of adult rape cases from the police to the CPS (from 2,513 in the year to September 2021 to 2,736 in the year to December 2021), and in the number of charges (from 1,160 in the year to September 2021 to 1,243 in the year to December 2021).</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 14/07/2022 12:00:51 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1484407

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Rape
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle incidences of rape; and how she is monitoring and measuring the impact of her Department's policies and interventions.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	26798
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2022 answer text <p>Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes that can have an impact on victims for the rest of their life. The most recent published annual data shows that in the year to December 2021, the volume of police recorded rape offences rose to the highest ever recorded figure at 67,125. We welcome the fact that victims of sexual offences, which are all too often hidden crimes, are bravely coming forward to report to the police.</p><p>In June 2021, the Government published its End-to-End Rape Review Findings and Action Plan. The Action Plan set out a robust programme of work to drive improvements in the criminal justice system’s (CJS) handling of adult rape cases. A year on, we have started to see increases in the number of referrals of adult rape cases from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service and in the number of charges.</p><p>On June 16, we published our second six-monthly Rape Review Progress Update which sets out the important progress that we have made, including:</p><p>o The Home Office is providing £5m in 2022/3 to support the expansion into a further 14 police forces of Operation Soteria, which will develop a new national operating model for police forces to adopt by June 2023;</p><p>o Running a public consultation on the police requests for third-party material, which can sometimes be unnecessary and disproportionate; and</p><p>o Continuing to make progress towards the target of recruiting 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023. As of March 2022, the Home Office had supported the recruitment of 13,578 police officers, and in 2022/3 we have allocated £550m to achieve the target of 20,000 officers by March 2023.</p><p>Accountability and transparency are key to ensuring we achieve our ambition of doubling the volume of adult rape cases reaching court over the Parliament. We developed a CJS delivery dashboard for recorded adult rape offences which brings together data from across the criminal justice system. This is published quarterly, and the most recent national and local dashboards were published on 16 June. By closely monitoring this data we will be able to understand the ongoing impact of our work, drive improvements and share best practice.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 11/07/2022 15:50:35 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1484408

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Sexual Offences: Crime Prevention
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will (a) adopt a public health approach to the prevention of sexual violence and (b) take steps to reduce such criminal behaviour.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	26799
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2022 answer text <p>Tackling and preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG), including sexual violence, is a key priority for this Government. As set out in our Tackling VAWG Strategy, our approach is focused on prioritising prevention, ensuring victims receive the support they deserve, seeing perpetrators brought to justice, and making sure agencies work together effectively.</p><p>We welcome the fact that more victims of sexual offences, which are all too often hidden crimes, are coming forward and reporting to the police, however, we know there is much more to do.</p><p>In June 2021 we published the End-to-End Rape Review Report and Action Plan which outlined a robust programme of work to achieve a significant improvement in the way the criminal justice system responds to rape. As set out in the update we published on 16 June, progress to date includes:</p><ul><li>confirming the 14 further police forces we are expanding Operation Soteria into. This work is developing a new national operating model for the investigation of rape which will be available to all police forces to from June 2023;</li><li>launching a consultation on police requests for third-party material, which can sometimes be unnecessary and disproportionate;</li><li>working with the Police Digital Service and technology sector, to identify, test, and deploy new technological capability that address invasive requests for data and reduce time delays;</li><li>providing an additional £550 million to fund the final 8,000 officers in the third year of the Police Uplift Programme to reach the target of 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023;</li><li>confirming an investment of over £460 million in victim support over the next three years, which includes funding more than 1,000 Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors a new 24/7 helpline for rape victims, and local support services nationwide; and</li><li>confirming a pilot of enhanced specialist sexual violence support at three major courts.</li></ul><p>More broadly, through the VAWG Strategy we have:</p><ul><li>supported the introduction of a new full-time National Policing Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls – with DCC Maggie Blyth now in post;</li><li>launched a new national communications campaign, Enough<strong>,</strong> with a focus on targeting perpetrators and harmful misogynistic attitudes, educating young people about healthy relationships and ensuring victims can access support; and made available £30 million for local areas through the ‘Safety of Women at Night Fund and the Safer Streets Fund to prevent VAWG in public spaces, including in the night-time economy.</li></ul> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 11/07/2022 15:46:13 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1485996

	registered interest
	date	04/07/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to help tackle domestic (a) abuse and (b) violence.
	tabling member constituency	Bournemouth East
	tabling member printed	Mr Tobias Ellwood
	uin	29933
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>Tackling all forms of domestic abuse, whether or not they involve physical violence, is a priority for this Government.</p><p>That is why we introduced our landmark Domestic Abuse Act in 2021. The Act strengthens our protection to victims and ensures perpetrators feel the full force of the law. It includes the first legal definition of domestic abuse, improved support for victims in the courts, a new offence of non-fatal strangulation and an extension of the controlling or coercive behaviour offence.</p><p>More recently, in March 2022, we went even further and published our Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan which seeks to transform the whole of society’s response in order to prevent offending, support victims and pursue perpetrators, as well as to strengthen the systems processes in place needed to deliver these goals.</p><p>This Plan, backed by over £230 million, commits to exploring options for a register to manage the most harmful domestic abusers, to providing support services with multi-year funding, with £47 million ringfenced for community-based support services, and funding for police training and development of a ground-breaking algorithm to help police better target the most harmful serial domestic abusers.</p><p>We are now in the process of delivering these commitments.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 12/07/2022 15:04:36 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood

1486068

	registered interest
	date	04/07/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Victim Support Schemes
	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 (a) provide support for groups for victims of domestic abuse and (b) increase the availability of those groups.
	tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
	tabling member printed	Stuart Anderson
	uin	30148
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>Tackling domestic abuse and ensuring victims receive the support they need is a priority for this Government. Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 will strengthen our protection to victims and ensure perpetrators feel the full force of the law. It includes the first legal definition of domestic abuse, improved support for victims in the courts, new offences, including on non-fatal strangulation, and strengthened legislation around cruel acts of controlling or coercive behaviour.</p><p>The Act also places a duty on local authorities in England to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children in refuges and other safe accommodation, backed by £125 million of Government funding to ensure that these vital services are available to anyone who needs them, wherever they live. This will be supported by a new £6 million Domestic Abuse Capacity Building Fund to help Local Authorities prepare for the upcoming duty.</p><p>In March 2022, we published the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan which will seek to transform the whole of society’s response in order to prevent offending, support victims and pursue perpetrators, as well as to strengthen the systems processes in place needed to deliver these goals.</p><p>The Plan invests over £230 million into tackling domestic abuse. This includes over £140 million to support victims, much of which is multi-year funding, part over £47 million of which is ringfenced for community-based support services.</p><p>As committed to in the cross-Government Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy published on 21 July last year, the Home Office has also provided an additional £1.5 million funding this year for ‘by and for’ service provision and to further increase funding for valuable specialist services for victims of violence against women and girls.</p><p>The Home Office is also planning to double funding for survivors of sexual violence and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline by 2024-25, and further increase funding for all the national helplines it supports.</p><p>The VAWG National Statement of Expectations, and Commissioning Toolkit, which we have published alongside the Plan, will also provide support to commissioners to help them increase provision of ‘by and for’ and specialist services.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 12/07/2022 15:10:41 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	4742 label Biography information for Stuart Anderson

1486919

	registered interest
	date	06/07/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Home Office: Legal Costs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much their Department and its associated agencies spent on legal disputes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
	tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
	uin	31735
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2022 answer text <p>The Department has interpreted a “legal dispute” to be a claim brought in a tribunal or court, either against or by the department. Spending on legal disputes can include a range of costs, including fees for external representation before a court or supporting the preparation of the litigation.</p><p>The Department does not keep a central record of all of its spend on legal disputes and neither does it keep a record of such spending by its associated agencies. Accordingly, the Department considers the disproportionate cost threshold applies for the collection of this additional information.</p><p>However, where the Department is represented by the Government Legal Department in legal proceedings before most Courts and Tribunals in England and Wales, it does have a record of the charges levied on it for those costs. These figures take into account:</p><p>(a) that they are charges levied by the Government Legal Department for representing the Department in legal disputes during the relevant periods whenever the legal dispute may have arisen;</p><p>(b) That the charges can be subject to retrospective changes;</p><p>(c) The figures are inclusive of Value Added Tax where this is payable;</p><p>(d) The figures do not include sums awarded in costs against the Department or sums awarded to the Department as a result of legal disputes.</p><p>2020 - £35,616,827</p><p>2021 - £37,286,712</p><p>2022 (for the period 1 January – 30 June) - £18,634,689</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 04/08/2022 15:35:51 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway previous answer version 13292 answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove answering member 4369
	tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1487010

	registered interest
	date	06/07/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Spiking
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will create a specific criminal offence for (a) drink and (b) needle spiking.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	31815
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>Spiking is an issue that the government takes very seriously. Perpetrators of such attacks need to be brought to justice, and the Government are committed to achieving that. Everybody has the right to enjoy a night out without fear.</p><p>Spiking is already illegal, and there are a range of offences which the police can use to prosecute this behaviour depending on the circumstances of individual cases.</p><p>I recognise the concerns that have been expressed that the lack of a specific spiking offence makes it more difficult to identify trends, and my department is considering the case for a criminal offence.</p><p>We will not hesitate to legislate if necessary and will inform parliament on the outcome of this consideration in October.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 12/07/2022 09:55:47 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway previous answer version 11901 answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1487293

	registered interest
	date	07/07/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Slavery
	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 8 March 2022 to Question 133959 on Slavery, when she plans to introduce financial penalties for organisations that fail to meet their statutory obligations with regards to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
	tabling member constituency	Neath
	tabling member printed	Christina Rees
	uin	32601
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2022 answer text <p>The landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 made the UK the first country in the world to require businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.</p><p>To enhance the impact of transparency and accelerate action to prevent modern slavery, the Government committed to strengthening the reporting requirements contained in section 54 and introduce new measures including financial penalties for organisations that fail to meet their statutory obligation to publish modern slavery statements.</p><p>These measures require primary legislation and we intend to legislate in the forthcoming Modern Slavery Bill.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 14/07/2022 14:41:03 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	4525 label Biography information for Christina Rees

1487294

	registered interest
	date	07/07/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Slavery
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the requirements of section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to public sector organisations.
	tabling member constituency	Neath
	tabling member printed	Christina Rees
	uin	32602
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>The Government is committed to continuously strengthening our approach to modern slavery and building on the world-leading legislation introduced in the Modern Slavery Act 2015. In 2018, the Home Office commissioned an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act to understand where the Act has worked well and where it could be more effective.</p><p>As part of its response, the Home Office conducted a public consultation on potential changes to the Modern Slavery Act’s transparency legislation which included a question on extending requirements to public sector organisations; 98% of respondents responded positively to this question, including 100% of public sector respondents.</p><p>The government response to the Transparency in Supply Chains consultation announced that we will introduce legislation to require public sector organisations with a budget of £36 million or more to report on how they prevent and address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chain. As announced in the Queens Speech, we intend to bring this measure forward in the forthcoming Modern Slavery Bill.</p><p>Many public sector organisations are already publishing modern slavery statements voluntarily, but this new duty will ensure parity between private and public sector organisations.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 19/07/2022 11:28:12 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway previous answer version 13285 answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
	tabling member	4525 label Biography information for Christina Rees