Stop and search is a vital policing tool when used correctly and officers have the Government's full support to use these powers in a way that is fair, lawful and effective.<\/p>
Under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the police in England and Wales have the power to stop and search someone if they have reasonable grounds to suspect they are in possession of an offensive weapon, including a bladed article - such as a knife.<\/p>
Under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, the police in England and Wales have the power to put in place temporary \u201cno-suspicion\u201d stop and search zones \u2013 if they reasonably believe that incidents involving serious violence may take place in that locality during that time period. When this power is authorised, police can search anyone within that area without requiring reasonable grounds to search each person.<\/p>
In March 2019, the Government announced that it would roll back additional controls on the use of Section 60 powers to make it easier for officers in seven forces, including Merseyside Police, to authorise this power \u2013 to help forces further target the recent increases in serious violence.<\/p>
Whilst it is important for the police to have the right powers, they also need the resources to use them. This is why we are also supporting police with additional funding. On 13 March 2019 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £100 million fund to tackle serious violence. £63.4 million of this funding has already been allocated to 18 police forces, including Merseyside Police which received £4.2 million, to support surge operational activity, such as increased patrols.<\/p>
This money is already being put to good use. The BBC recently reported that Merseyside had recovered 14 knives in a single week following stop and searches.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1561", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Nick Hurd"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Nick Hurd"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-09-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-09-09T14:02:01.173Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Stop and Search: Merseyside"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the stop and search powers available to Merseyside Police officers who suspect an individual of carrying a knife.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/478", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Birkenhead"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Frank Field"} ], "uin" : "277650"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139298", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139298/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Customers making immigration applications can no longer use Post Office branches to enrol their biometrics in the majority of cases. Most customers now enrol their biometrics at a UK Visas & Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) centre.<\/p>
The previous service offered by the Post Office was biometric enrolment only, whereas the new UKVCAS service brings together multiple services to make the application process more streamlined.<\/p>
The UKVCAS service is run by our commercial partner, Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL), who undertook market research to identify service locations; their research included the impact on customer travel time, cost and accessibility. The results of this were that 62% of customers will, on average, have to travel less than 25 miles to visit a core service point, with 78% travelling less than 50 miles.<\/p>
SSL can also cater for customers who wish to have more flexible, on-demand, mobile application services, for example at university campuses, employers\u2019 offices or individual customers\u2019 homes.<\/p>
As part of this contract SSL continuously captures and analyses customer feedback and reviews customer demand to ensure there is sufficient capacity. During May and June SSL opened six additional sites: Manchester, Cardiff, Exeter, Leeds, Sheffield and Edinburgh, with the view to open more.<\/p>