Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman’s relations with the League Against Cruel Sports and their implications for his role as national police lead on hunting.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
National portfolio leads are a matter for the NPCC.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks of Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman, the national police lead on hunting, that he is "very happy" with claims of two-tier policing of hunts in favour of saboteurs, and how they intend to respond.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
National portfolio leads are a matter for the NPCC.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly about the leadership of the Devon and Cornwall Police.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is for locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to make decisions around appointing, suspending, and removing chief constables. The Office of the PCC for Devon and Cornwall have kept the Home Office updated on the decisions taken by the PCC about the leadership of the force. I welcome the recent appointment of James Vaughan QPM as interim Chief Constable for Devon & Cornwall Police
It is vital that all forces have strong leadership that instils the right culture across the workforce. That is why the College of Policing are working to embed consistent leadership standards across all forces and ranks.
In her Written Ministerial Statement of 19 November 2024 (HCWS232), the Home Secretary announced her intention to present a White Paper to Parliament next year on reforms to deliver more effective and efficient policing, to rebuild public confidence and to deliver the Government’s Safer Streets mission. This reform programme will be a collaborative endeavour with policing, and will include exploring how to strengthen police workforce, leadership, and culture.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to placing the Devon and Cornwall Police under special measures.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Where serious failings or concerns are identified, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services may choose to escalate a police force to ‘Engage’, also known as ‘special measures’, which is a form of enhanced monitoring. These decisions are made by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMCIC), independently of Government.
Devon & Cornwall Police was escalated to Engage by the Inspectorate in October 2022 over concerns surrounding their crime data integrity, their call handling (which has since been addressed) and their management of sexual and violent offenders. The force has been subject to enhanced monitoring since.
HMCIC, Andy Cooke, chairs the Police Performance and Oversight Group (PPOG), where forces in Engage present their progress against HMICFRS’ concerns and recommendations and are able to receive support from the sector. The Home Office attends these meetings to monitor what progress is being made, and to consider what further support may be required.
When HMICFRS is satisfied that ‘sustained and sustainable’ improvements have been made by a force against concerns identified, the Inspectorate may release it from its Engaged status.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they keep records of perpetrators of knife crime by (1) gender, (2) ethnicity, and (3) age.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police forces maintain details of perpetrators of knife crime on local record management systems and this will usually include key demographic data. However, when a suspect has not been arrested this may be based on the perception of the victim or witness rather than their actual characteristics.
The Home Office only collects detailed records from forces on the sex, age and ethnicity of suspects of homicides committed by a knife or sharp instrument.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress of the Independent Office of Police Conduct in pursuing gross misconduct charges arising from Operation Midland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Disciplinary proceedings concerning Operation Midland remain ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate for the Government to comment while that remains the case.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there are any plans to revisit or otherwise further investigate the operational conduct of Operation Midland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police forces and the Independent Office for Police Conduct are independent of government and decisions concerning investigations are operational ones for them to make.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have given any consideration to the use of ID cards.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is not considering ID cards at this time.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional resources they have provided to police forces to combat the increase in organised crime in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office ensures that the police have the resources they need. Ultimately, it is for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), and Mayors with PCC functions, to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. This includes how to allocate resources to reduce levels of organised crime.
Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions have provided significant resource to the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network by allocating 725 extra officers to ROCUs between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. Those officers are tackling the range of SOC threats, helping to reduce crime and keep communities safe.
The Government also recognises that there can be particular challenges in responding to rural crime and welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022.
Additionally, the Home Office provided £200,000 for the National Rural Crime Unit to tackle rural crime including the theft of farming or construction machinery, livestock theft, rural fly tipping, rural fuel theft and equine crime.
The Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). It has recently published a new SOC strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the College of Policing about updating their THRIVE guidance with regard to reporting and combating rural crime.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidelines on the use of THRIVE are published by the College of Policing here: https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/vulnerability-related-risks/introduction-vulnerability-related-risk.
The Home Office has not had conversations recently with College of Policing about updating their THRIVE guidance with regard to reporting and combating rural crime.
We are committed to driving down rural crime and the Home Office continues to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.