Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Amber Rudd

Monday 9th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

As Home Secretaries and Policing Ministers through the years have discovered, there are forces that benefit from damping and forces that do not. We committed to look at the damping mechanism in the last two years of the spending review period, but my right hon. Friend the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice has initiated that work already and is currently looking at the issue.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

In a year of unprecedented operational demand, with the Olympics following Euro 2012 events, recorded crime in East Sussex is at its lowest in five years. Will the Home Secretary join me in congratulating East Sussex police force on its excellent work in reducing crime in the county and in my constituency?

[Mrs May]

Yes, I am very happy to join my hon. Friend in doing so. There has been a fall in crime of 14.5% in Hastings borough, and that is a big tribute to the work of police officers in that part of East Sussex—and long may it continue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Amber Rudd

Monday 19th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

Victims of domestic violence seeking residential support in a refuge currently fall into the Government’s exception category and have their housing benefit paid directly to the refuge. That is important for the victims, and important for securing finance for the refuges. May I urge the Home Secretary to have discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that that arrangement can continue under universal credit?

[Mrs May]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important point. I can assure her that we are already discussing matters relating to benefits and the victims of domestic violence with the DWP, and we will continue to do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Amber Rudd

Monday 6th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

Today is international day of zero tolerance against female genital mutilation. What assessment has the Home Secretary made of progress against this violent and dreadful crime?

[Mrs May]

Sadly, we see too many examples of this terrible crime continuing to take place. Most people would be shocked to know how many young girls in the UK are subjected to female genital mutilation. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure that we educate young girls about the prospect of being taken abroad and having this done to them, but we also need to ensure that we educate others so that they do not wish to do this terrible act.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Amber Rudd

Monday 7th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

Residents of Hastings and Rye warmly welcome the additional information from the crime and policing website, but is the Home Secretary aware of the additional service it provides to women who may be coming home late at night and might feel vulnerable? That is particularly important ahead of international women’s day tomorrow.

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely valid point. I am pleased to tell her that I was able to join the Prime Minister in meeting a group of readers from Company magazine recently who were raising exactly the problems of women walking home at night. I was able to point them to the crime maps as a useful tool.

Policing in the 21st Century

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Amber Rudd

Monday 26th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that I would not want to comment on the ongoing investigations into the recent work of Northumbria police in relation to Raoul Moat. I would say, however, that that was a good example of how a police force can bring in resources from elsewhere. It brought in resources from across the country, including from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Met and other local forces, in response to a very difficult situation involving a callous murderer, Raoul Moat. I would say to the hon. Lady that we are not imposing a top-down reorganisation; we are talking about restoring democratic accountability, which will enable the link between the police and the public to be restored.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

What effect does my right hon. Friend expect the national crime agency’s border police force to have on the number of illegal immigrants, which the previous Government estimated to be around 700,000?

[Mrs May]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. It has been a long-standing concern of ours that we need to strengthen our border protection through the introduction of a border police force. We will do that within the national crime agency, which will enable the work of border police force, bringing together the work of the UK Border Agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and other agencies, to link in with the work of the serious organised crime command. That will not only strengthen our ability to protect our borders in the way that she suggests, but will enable us to protect this country against serious organised crime.