Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a single point of contact within local police forces for victims of stalking.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Stalking is a terrible crime that can have a devastating impact on victims’ lives. This Government is committed to protecting and supporting victims and is determined to do everything we can to stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity.
Each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales has at least one named single point of contact for stalking and harassment, who can advise officers on stalking cases. The role includes acting as the force link to specialist support services dealing with victims of stalking and offering support to ensure an investigation is being carried out appropriately.
Stalking Protection Orders were introduced in January 2020 to provide enable intervention to address stalking behaviours before they become deep-rooted or escalate. Upon their introduction the Government published statutory guidance for the police, developed in consultation with the police and others, about the orders, which includes material on identifying the need for and appropriately implementing them.
The Home Office-led a multi-agency project for the implementation of SPOs before their introduction – this included the development of operational guidance materials and standard forms and documents for the police, as developed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing.
My officials have since been continuing to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s stalking lead to ensure that these orders are being used appropriately. This has included establishing actions in response to points raised by the police and others, such as the establishment of a process for the sharing of best practice between forces. In October 2021 I also wrote to all Chief Constables whose forces applied for fewer SPOs than might have been expected, to encourage them to always consider applying for a Stalking Protection Order in stalking cases.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that all police forces in England are adequately able to (a) identify the need for and (b) appropriately implement stalking protection orders.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Stalking is a terrible crime that can have a devastating impact on victims’ lives. This Government is committed to protecting and supporting victims and is determined to do everything we can to stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity.
Each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales has at least one named single point of contact for stalking and harassment, who can advise officers on stalking cases. The role includes acting as the force link to specialist support services dealing with victims of stalking and offering support to ensure an investigation is being carried out appropriately.
Stalking Protection Orders were introduced in January 2020 to provide enable intervention to address stalking behaviours before they become deep-rooted or escalate. Upon their introduction the Government published statutory guidance for the police, developed in consultation with the police and others, about the orders, which includes material on identifying the need for and appropriately implementing them.
The Home Office-led a multi-agency project for the implementation of SPOs before their introduction – this included the development of operational guidance materials and standard forms and documents for the police, as developed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing.
My officials have since been continuing to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s stalking lead to ensure that these orders are being used appropriately. This has included establishing actions in response to points raised by the police and others, such as the establishment of a process for the sharing of best practice between forces. In October 2021 I also wrote to all Chief Constables whose forces applied for fewer SPOs than might have been expected, to encourage them to always consider applying for a Stalking Protection Order in stalking cases.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to undertake an equalities impact assessment on the implementation of serious violence reduction orders.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We published a policy equality statement for the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in September 2021. This document includes a policy equality assessment on SVROs. The full assessment can be found at:
We will pilot and evaluate SVROs in four police force areas before a decision is made on national roll out. Ministers will be required to have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty in taking decisions in relation to implementation and the pilot in due course. We will, therefore, ensure that the equalities assessment is kept up to date.
The Government is working with the pilot police forces to agree the parameters of the pilot evaluation and what data will need to be collected and monitored to inform the evaluation.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to (a) collect and (b) publish data on the (a) age, (b) gender and (c) ethnicity of people subject to serious violence reduction orders.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We published a policy equality statement for the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in September 2021. This document includes a policy equality assessment on SVROs. The full assessment can be found at:
We will pilot and evaluate SVROs in four police force areas before a decision is made on national roll out. Ministers will be required to have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty in taking decisions in relation to implementation and the pilot in due course. We will, therefore, ensure that the equalities assessment is kept up to date.
The Government is working with the pilot police forces to agree the parameters of the pilot evaluation and what data will need to be collected and monitored to inform the evaluation.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make additional funding available for (a) local authorities, (b) educational institutions and (c) health services to implement serious violence partnerships.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government recognises that tackling serious violence is not only a law enforcement issue, it needs a multi-agency approach involving a range of partners with a focus on prevention and early intervention. That is why we continue to take a whole system approach to violence prevention, exemplified by our £105.5m investment to date in Violence Reduction Units that co-ordinate the partnership response to violence in their areas, and by implementing the Serious Violence Duty that will ensure that serious violence is made a focus within existing multi-agency arrangements across England and Wales, allowing for greater collaboration between a wider set of partners.
Following the recent outcome of the Spending Review, we have committed to investing £150 million a year to continue and expand programmes that prevent crime and keep our communities safe. We will provide greater detail on the funding allocations later this year.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether education institutions, local authorities and health services will be required to share information with the police about people deemed at risk of serious violence under serious violence partnerships.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Tackling serious violence is not only an issue for law enforcement, it needs a multi-agency approach involving a range of partners and agencies such as education, health, social services, housing, youth and victim services with a focus on prevention and early intervention.
Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill we are creating a new duty on a range of specified agencies, to work collaboratively, share data and information and put in place plans to prevent and reduce serious violence within their local communities.
The legislation does not specify particular types of data or cohorts of individuals whose data must be shared as part of this process. This will be for local partnerships to determine based on local circumstances.
The Bill also specifies that authorities will need to comply with relevant data protection legislation when sharing data, personal or otherwise, under the Serious Violence Duty.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department plans to use to identify people whose information will be shared at serious violence partnerships.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Tackling serious violence is not only an issue for law enforcement, it needs a multi-agency approach involving a range of partners and agencies such as education, health, social services, housing, youth and victim services with a focus on prevention and early intervention.
Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill we are creating a new duty on a range of specified agencies, to work collaboratively, share data and information and put in place plans to prevent and reduce serious violence within their local communities.
The legislation does not specify particular types of data or cohorts of individuals whose data must be shared as part of this process. This will be for local partnerships to determine based on local circumstances.
The Bill also specifies that authorities will need to comply with relevant data protection legislation when sharing data, personal or otherwise, under the Serious Violence Duty.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to introduce a mobile application to simplify the process for EU citizens proving their status when travelling into the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Individuals who have been granted digital status are not required to provide evidence of this to cross the border. Provided the individual travels using a document they either used to apply or have added to their UKVI account, their status will be automatically recognised at the border.
Where an individual travels using a document not known to the Home Office, they may be asked further questions or further manual systems checks may be conducted at the primary control point in order to verify their status.
Beyond this, and as part of our efforts towards becoming a world-leading immigration system beyond 2022 we will aim to deliver a fully end-to-end digital experience for those arriving at the UK border. We will also ensure support is available for those unable to use online services or who may otherwise be digitally excluded