Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional police officers have been recruited to Sussex Police since December 2019.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023.
Police Uplift data is published quarterly and the latest release covers recruitment data from the start of the Programme in October 2019 to September 2020.
At 30 September 2020, Sussex Police had recruited 129 additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme and has therefore met its year one uplift allocation. The force also recruited 40 additional officers through other means during this period.
I am extremely grateful to those brave men and women who have signed up to join the police and keep our communities safe.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce knife crime in Sussex.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime in all areas, wherever it occurs. Across England and Wales, we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years and increasing sentences for violent criminals. We have made it easier for the police to use enhanced stop and search powers and we will introduce a new court order, Serious Violence Reduction Orders, to make it easier for the police to stop and search those who have been convicted of knife crime. In addition, we have legislated through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 to give the police more powers and to ensure knives are less likely to make their way on to the streets and we will introduce new Knife Crime Prevention Orders, a preventative order which will provide an additional tool for police to help steer those most at risk away from serious violence. We will also be introducing new legislation to place a duty on the police, councils and health authorities to work together to prevent and tackle serious violence.
Over the last 12 months, we have increased police funding, by £1 billion this year and announced that the amount of funding available to the policing system in 2020 to 2021 will increase by more than £1.1 billion. Sussex Police have received £309.9 Million in 2020-21, an increase of 7.6% from 2019-20 and have recruited 114 additional officers under uplift (as at end of June 2020).
We have also announced a targeted £25 million to tackle county lines drug gangs, given the links between drugs, county lines and serious violence.
This government has committed £76.5 million in 2020/21 to address the drivers of serious violence at the local level and significantly bolster the police response in the 18 Police Force areas most affected by serious violence across England and Wales. This builds on the £100 million invested in the previous year. Of this, Sussex Police has been allocated £2.2 million over two years to pay for a surge in police operational activity, such as increased patrols in greater numbers for longer periods of times, as well as new equipment and technology, improved intelligence and targeting, and an enhanced investigative response. A further £1.8m from the Fund was invested in developing Sussex Police’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).
VRUs will be distributing a further £2.9 million to hundreds of frontline charities working on violence prevention projects which support vulnerable children and young people. More than 300 charities will share in the financial assistance, which is part of the £750 million package of support for charities announced by the Chancellor in April. Sussex VRU received £74,720 and is also supporting 9 charities.
In addition to the Serious Violence Fund, in 2018 we invested £200 million in early intervention and prevention support initiatives over 10 years to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). In Sussex, one project has been offered funding for £93,500 under the Covid grant round.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle county lines drug trafficking in Sussex.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government is determined to crack down on the county lines gangs who are exploiting our children and have a devastating impact on our communities.
That is why we are delivering a £25m programme of investment to help put a stop to these ruthless gangs. Our overall package launched in October last year and includes: expanding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre; increased disruption on the rail networks by the British Transport Police County Lines Taskforce; operational activity against high harm lines in the three major exporting force areas (the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside, West Midlands); investment in new technology; and increased support for victims. Our funding has supported joint operations across England and Wales, including with Sussex Police.
Our investment is already delivering results. Following the £5m we invested in 2019-2020, pilot police forces and British Transport Police have closed nearly 140 deal lines, seized cash and drugs with a total value of over £3 million, and made over 100 weapons seizures between November 2019 and March 2020.
In addition, between 2019 and 2021 we are investing £1.76m for the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner to develop a multi-agency Violence Reduction Unit which brings together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and others to identify the drivers of serious violence, including county lines, and put in place a multi-agency response.
We have also invested £2.2million over 2019 and 2021 to ‘surge’ the operational police response to serious violence in Sussex - this has included collaborative work between Sussex Police and British Transport Police to target county lines activity on the rail network, leading to weapons seizures and arrests of key offenders.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences there have been of non-compliance with section 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 in (a) Sussex and (b) England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The offences covered by sections 42, 43 and 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are not notifiable offences and therefore do not require the police to inform the Home Office for statistical purposes.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences there have been for non-compliance with section 43 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 in (a) Sussex and (b) England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The offences covered by sections 42, 43 and 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are not notifiable offences and therefore do not require the police to inform the Home Office for statistical purposes.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences have been committed of non-compliance with section 42 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 in (a) Sussex and (b) England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The offences covered by sections 42, 43 and 59 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 are not notifiable offences and therefore do not require the police to inform the Home Office for statistical purposes.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences under Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for non-compliance with Regulation 97 of the Road Vehicles Regulations 1986, have been recorded in (a) Sussex and (b) England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of recorded Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued for vehicular noise offences, including a breakdown by Police Force Area. The latest available data are here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/841256/fixed-penalty-notices-police-powers-procedures-mar19-hosb2519-tables.ods
The data that the Home Office holds will not cover all offences under Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for non-compliance with Regulation 97 of the Road Vehicles Regulations 1986. Offences may be dealt with in ways other than FPNs, such as by issuing a vehicle rectification notice or through seizure of the vehicle if it has other serious defects.