Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to improve neighbourhood policing in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of our Safer Streets Mission we will restore neighbourhood policing, with 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales. Every part of the country needs to benefit from this pledge, and of course that includes Knowsley.
The Home Office is working closely with policing to implement this Commitment and will announce its plans for the delivery of neighbourhood officers shortly.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of knife crime in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving national levels of knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s mission to ensure the safety of our streets.
We will continue to support police forces, agencies and those who share our ambition to halve knife crime, to take actions that work most effectively in their local communities. As we do so, the Government will continue to draw on the best available evidence on both prevention and enforcement and will closely monitor trends in national and local levels of knife crime.
We have also created a new Young Futures programme which will include the setting up of Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales – to help areas intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most.
Under the previous Government, Merseyside has received over £20m to develop its Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) since 2019, with an additional £4.34m available this financial year. The Merseyside VRP works closely with a range of partners to deliver targeted preventative interventions. These include Hospital Navigators (youth workers based in A&E settings who engage young people at critical ‘teachable moments’ to steer them away from violence), whole family cognitive behavioural therapy programmes, social skills training, broader mentoring initiatives, and sports-based diversionary activities. This work includes targeted delivery in areas within Knowsley.
We recognise the valuable work and significant progress VRUs have made in understanding and preventing serious violence. The proposed Police Funding Settlement for 2025-26 includes £49.7m to ensure continuation of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) programme.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of antisocial behaviour in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
The Government recently announced Respect Orders, which will be introduced in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill. Respect Orders can be applied for by police and local councils and are issued by the courts. They will enable courts to place wide-ranging restrictions on the behaviour of the most persistent and disruptive ASB offenders.
Breach will be a criminal offence meaning officers can arrest and take action quickly to disrupt ongoing ASB. Breaches will be heard in the criminal courts who will have a wide range of sentencing options, including community orders, unlimited fines and, for the most severe cases, up to two years’ imprisonment.
We will also put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle antisocial behaviour in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
The Government recently announced Respect Orders, which will be introduced in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill. Respect Orders can be applied for by police and local councils and are issued by the courts. They will enable courts to place wide-ranging restrictions on the behaviour of the most persistent and disruptive ASB offenders.
Breach will be a criminal offence meaning officers can arrest and take action quickly to disrupt ongoing ASB. Breaches will be heard in the criminal courts who will have a wide range of sentencing options, including community orders, unlimited fines and, for the most severe cases, up to two years’ imprisonment.
We will also put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she hold discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of providing multi-year funding to (a) The First Step in Knowsley and (b) other organisations that seek to protect the safety of women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have set out to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
This will be achieved by drastically improving the police and wider criminal justice response, including a relentless pursuit of dangerous perpetrators and sustained support for victims.
The Ministry of Justice provides core funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.
All decisions on funding after March 2025 will be subject to the next spending review.