Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Metropolitan Police (1) officers, and (2) staff, are currently on the sex offenders register, broken down by rank.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of police officers or staff who are registered sex offenders
The statutory Vetting Code of Practice 2017 stipulates that all applications for a position of police officer or member of police staff must be rejected, where the applicant is a registered sex offender
The Government has asked the College of Policing to strengthen the statutory code of practice for vetting, making the obligations all forces must legally follow stricter and clearer
The Home Secretary has also now launched a review into the process of police officer dismissals, ensuring that the system is fair and effective at removing those officers who are not fit to serve their communities. The Terms of Reference for this review have now been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-officer-dismissals-review-terms-of-reference.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have conducted a review of the effectiveness of the UK Border Agency's training manual "Gender Identity Issues in the Asylum Claim" which is primarily used to educate UK Border Agency case officers in trans-related issues and in evaluating testimonies.
Answered by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The document referred to is guidance to asylum decision makers rather than a training manual. The guidance was last reviewed and revised in June 2011.
Separately, training for new asylum caseworkers is provided through the Foundation Training Programme, which has been developed in consultation with stakeholders including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and A:gender, the cross-civil service staff support network for transgender staff.