Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and Henry Smith

Monday 7th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T2. Will my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary say what steps she and her Department are taking to ensure the police use technology to a greater extent to improve their effectiveness?

[The Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (Damian Green)]

We are taking a number of steps, because my hon. Friend is right that digital technology makes the police more effective, not just by giving them access to information out on the street so they can make better decisions, but by enabling them to stay out on the streets and not have to return to the station. I mentioned the innovation fund earlier. Over £11 million of its first £20 million was allocated to IT projects that give police precisely the sort of technology they need to keep crime coming down.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and Henry Smith

Monday 25th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

8. What support her Department is providing to police and crime commissioners and local authorities to tackle illegal Traveller sites.

[The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Damian Green)]

Both police and local authorities have powers to tackle unauthorised encampments. I understand that the police and crime commissioner in my hon. Friend’s constituency, Katy Bourne, is working with the community to understand and respond to its concerns about unauthorised Traveller encampments. This is an example of the value that police and crime commissioners can bring to local policing, getting to the heart of the issues affecting communities on a day-to-day basis.

[Henry Smith]

I join the Minister in paying tribute to the Sussex police and crime commissioner, Katy Bourne, for getting to grips with the illegal Traveller problem in just four short months. Does my right hon. Friend think that the Human Rights Act is a problem for law-abiding residents in dealing with this issue?

[Damian Green]

I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to Katy Bourne’s work. I am not an unqualified admirer of the effect of the Human Rights Act 1998, but the clue to what he said was when he talked about illegal Traveller incursions. There is no legal right to trespass: landowners, local authorities and the police have a range of powers available to remove trespassers and regain possession of land, and I would encourage them all to use them as strongly as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and Henry Smith

Monday 6th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

I commend the hon. Gentleman’s ingenuity in putting that question. As he will recognise, the vast majority of trafficking comes from outside the European Union, so his question, though ingenious, is not strictly relevant.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

What specific support can be given to local authorities with children’s services responsibilities that have major ports, such as Gatwick airport in West Sussex, within their boundaries, particularly with respect to supporting 16 to 18-year-olds who are so often those who go missing?

[Damian Green]

My hon. Friend makes a good point in that local authorities that have major ports within them tend, obviously, to face bigger problems with trafficked children but also tend to develop greater expertise as well. That is why bodies like CEOP and the United Kingdom Border Agency do their best to spread best practice around the country so that every local authority can know that it is performing as well as possible in this important area—

Border Control Scheme

Debate between Damian Green and Henry Smith

Tuesday 15th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

Well, that is not what the hon. Gentleman’s constituent has told him.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

For years there has been contamination of people arriving at entry points on domestic and international flights. Can the Minister assure us that such contamination will come to an end, and that there will be segregation of incoming passengers?

[Damian Green]

I am indeed aware of that, particularly at Stansted and Gatwick, and it is one of the priorities at the moment.

Counter-terrorism

Debate between Damian Green and Henry Smith

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

The Order Paper for Wednesday is yet to be produced, so I am not entirely sure about the force of my hon. Friend’s statement. As he says, those who are eager to question the Home Secretary will have the chance to do so on Monday anyway, so I am sure that we can return to the issue.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Recently, the Leader of the Opposition defended many of the decisions made by the previous Government, of which he was a member, and now we hear from the shadow Home Secretary that he questions the decision about 28-day detention. Does the Minister agree that there are some worrying splits in Her Majesty’s official Opposition on the vital issues of civil liberties and national security?

[Damian Green]

That may well be true, but I genuinely hope that the Opposition can bring themselves to a position in which they can balance security and civil liberties appropriately. The Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Home Secretary have admitted that Labour got the balance between security and civil liberties wrong. I look forward to the day when they can turn those fine words into some sort of concrete action and support the Government when we take measured and sensible steps, such as those we are taking today.