Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 14 January that they will introduce legislation to give the Home Secretary powers to force the retirement, resignation, or suspension of chief constables on performance grounds, whether any chief constable removed using such powers would still be entitled to a settlement agreement.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

As the Home Secretary said to the House on 14 January and published in the white paper “From Local to National: A New Model for Policing” published on 26 January, when a Chief Constable is responsible for a damaging failure of leadership, the public rightly expect the Home Secretary to act. This Government intends to restore their ability to do so and will soon reintroduce the Home Secretary’s power to dismiss Chief Constables.

There is no statutory entitlement to any settlement beyond the normal pay and pension entitlement that an individual has accrued. Any further settlement would be a matter for the Local Policing Body to determine.

The detail of the measures to give effect to the White paper commitments will be contained in legislation which we intend to bring forward when Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 14 January that they will introduce legislation to give the Home Secretary powers to force the retirement, resignation, or suspension of chief constables on performance grounds, what measures they will implement to prevent the abuse of such powers.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

As the Home Secretary said to the House on 14 January and published in the white paper “From Local to National: A New Model for Policing” published on 26 January, when a Chief Constable is responsible for a damaging failure of leadership, the public rightly expect the Home Secretary to act. This Government intends to restore their ability to do so and will soon reintroduce the Home Secretary’s power to dismiss Chief Constables.

There is no statutory entitlement to any settlement beyond the normal pay and pension entitlement that an individual has accrued. Any further settlement would be a matter for the Local Policing Body to determine.

The detail of the measures to give effect to the White paper commitments will be contained in legislation which we intend to bring forward when Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 9 February (HL13910), whether they will provide an annual breakdown of how many of the 950 small boats and engines related to Channel crossings were seized by the National Crime Agency and the Border Security Command in each year since 2023.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Border Security Command oversees a system-wide, comprehensive strategy aimed at disrupting all elements of the business model that makes small boats crossings possible. Seizing small boats equipment, which is often conducted in collaboration with international partners, forms one strand of this approach.

Due to the operational nature of this data and the frequency of revision as a result of ongoing reporting, we cannot provide an accurate breakdown of this data on an annual basis.

This data includes information provided by international partners, working with the NCA and the Border Security Command, which may be revised as on-going reporting is received. Accordingly, seizures are reported over a longer time period to ensure accuracy.