Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce pickpocketing in London.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the last year of the previous government, we saw a 40% increase in snatch theft. As part of our Safer Streets mission, this government is determined to crack down on pickpocketing, snatch theft, robbery, and other crimes that make people feel unsafe in our communities.
This government is determined to tackle the scourge of the street crime. That starts with strengthening neighbourhood policing, and we will introduce a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to provide a more visible presence in town centres, recruiting thousands of additional neighbourhood police officers, police community support officers and Special Constables, and giving every community a named local officer.
One way of preventing these crimes is to tackle the market for stolen goods, making items such as mobile phones less attractive to steal in the first place. This is why we have announced that we will be be working with tech companies and law enforcement to see what more can be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the threat of pro-Iranian front groups operating in (a) Parliament and (b) Westminster.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
While we do not routinely comment on the detail of specific threats, it is an absolute priority for this Government to protect our democratic and electoral processes from interference by any foreign state, including Iran.
The National Security Act 2023 provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with tools to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats, including foreign interference. Alongside this, the Defending Democracy Taskforce is working to safeguard our democracy from threats we face.
The Government's top priority is our national security, and we will use all the tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and its people, from state threats.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the increase in shoplifting.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Shoplifting has increased to an unacceptable level in recent years, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.
This Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200. We will also introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
We welcome operational commitments made by the police in its October 2023 Retail Crime Action Plan. NPCC Retail Crime Action Plan
The plan contains a commitment for police across England and Wales to prioritise attendance where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured by police personnel.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has met her Swiss counterpart to discuss facilitated mobility for Swiss and British professionals to travel to the UK and Switzerland.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department has had no meetings to date with her Swiss counterpart. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has met his Swiss counterpart, but it would not be appropriate to comment on the detail of those discussions.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce dangerous driving in Romford constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Any form of dangerous driving behaviour is a serious matter of concern The maximum sentence for dangerous driving is an unlimited fine, disqualification and up to 14 years in prison.
How the police enforce road traffic legislation and investigate road traffic offences in Romford and other areas of London is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, in conjunction with the Mayor of London and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where asylum seekers resident on the Bibby Stockholm barge will be relocated to.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The contract to use the Bibby Stockholm ends in January 2025 and it will remain operational until that time.
Decisions on alternative accommodation for asylum seekers will be made on a case-by-case basis, working closely with local authorities and in compliance with published policy.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to tackle dangerous driving in (a) Romford constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Any form of dangerous driving behaviour is a serious road safety issue. The maximum sentence for dangerous driving is an unlimited fine, disqualification and up to 14 years in prison.
How the police enforce road traffic legislation and investigate road traffic offences is an operational matter for the local chief officer, in conjunction with the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to take steps to help local authorities in Greater London tackle the illegal use of e-scooters.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Enforcement of road traffic law, including in relation to the illegal use of e-scooters, is an operational matter for the Mayor of London, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to decide how to deploy available resources, taking into account any specific local problems and demands.
The Government will continue to support the police to ensure they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation, including those relating to offences involving e-scooters.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is taking steps to help the London Fire Brigade tackle electrical vehicle fires.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
To help reduce the fire risks associated with lithium-ion batteries in personal light electric vehicles (PLEVs), such as e-bikes and e-scooters, the Home Office has convened a working group of Government departments, the National fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and London Fire Brigade. As part of this group, the Home Office working to raise awareness of safe use, storage and charging of PLEVs within residential buildings. With London Fire Brigade’s permission and cooperation, we have adapted the #ChargeSafe campaign materials for national use and made these available to fire and rescue services to support local engagement activity.
In addition, the Home Office is collaborating with the NFCC, on behalf of all fire and rescue services, to undertake electric vehicle fire safety research to gather scientific evidence on electric vehicle battery fires and associated firefighting tactics.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with his US counterpart on training for police officers in (a) Turks and Caicos Islands, (b) Bermuda and (c) Cayman Islands.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
While the UK works closely with US partners on a number of areas of cooperation, the Secretary of State has not had any conversations with his US counterpart relating to the training of police officers within the Turks and Caicos, Bermuda or Cayman Islands.
The Home Office, through the International Police Assistance Service (IPAS), are currently delivering training to Overseas Territories’ Police in line with identified requirements and funded by the International Security Fund (ISF).