Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether officials of her Department engaged with their US counterparts on the FBI’s policy expressly limiting the crimes which its covert human intelligence sources may commit when preparing the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill.
Answered by James Brokenshire
A covert human intelligence source (CHIS) will never be given authority to commit any and all crime. All authorisations must be necessary and proportionate to the criminality they are seeking to prevent and the Authorising Officer must ensure that the level of criminality authorised must be at the lowest level of intrusion possible to achieve the aims of the operation.
There are limits to the activity that can be authorised under this Bill and these are contained in the Human Rights Act. This includes the right to life, and prohibition of torture or subjecting someone to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The Bill does not list specific crimes which may be authorised, or prohibited, as to do so would place into the hands of criminals, terrorists and hostile states a means of creating a checklist for suspected CHIS to be tested against. This would threaten the future of the CHIS capability, and result in an increased threat to the public.
With regards to international comparisons, different countries have different legal systems, threat pictures and operational practices which means that simply comparing respective legislation gives only a very partial picture. In the course of developing this Bill, officials have engaged with a variety of stakeholders, including US counterparts.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce youth-related violence in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government is determined to reduce youth-related violence. This includes giving the police the resources and tools they need to keep families, communities and our country safe. The Government has recently launched a national campaign to begin to recruit 20,000 new police officers over the next three years, and we are making it easier for the police to use stop and search powers. Police funding is increasing by more than £1 billion this year, including council tax and additional funding through the £100 million Serious Violence Fund. This Fund covers 18 areas worst affected by serious violence and includes £63.4 million for surge operational activity, £35 million to support Violence Reduction Units, and £1.6 million to help improve the quality of data on serious violence. West Midlands PCC is receiving £7,620,000 for surge operational activity and up to £3,370,000 to support the development of their Violence Reduction Unit.
The Government is also investing over £220 million into early intervention projects to steer young people away from crime. The West Midlands PCC was awarded over £2m from the Early Intervention Youth Fund to target resources and interventions at the young people most at risk and we recently awarded over £170k from the anti-knife crime Community Fund to projects in the West Midlands. Additionally, projects in Birmingham will benefit from investment from the first allocations from the Youth Endowment Fund.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of vehicle theft in the West Midlands.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
To support the fight against crime, West Midlands Police are receiving £568.8m in funding in 2019/20, an increase of £34.4m on 2018/19.
The previous Policing Minister chaired a Vehicle Theft Taskforce which brought together the police, the motor industry and others. The Government continues to work with partners to ensure that the response to this crime is as robust as it can be.