Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what harm reduction policies they are implementing in relation to illicit drug use.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Drug Strategy sets out our commitment that the government and our public services will continue to work together and share responsibility for creating a safer, healthier and more productive society. It is backed by increased funding across the system, including nearly £900 million of additional investment over 2022-2025, of which the largest amount, £780 million, is dedicated additional funding for the treatment and recovery system.
Delivering a world-class treatment and recovery system is one of the three key strategic priorities in the Drug Strategy.
As part of this priority, the Government continues to support a range of evidence-based approaches to reduce the health-related harms of drug misuse, such as maintaining the availability of needle and syringe programmes to prevent blood borne infections, widening the availability of naloxone to prevent overdose deaths and the rollout of the opioid treatment, depot buprenorphine.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase access to (1) drug testing, and (2) overdose prevention centres, to reduce drug related deaths.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Those wishing to offer drug testing or checking services can do so provided that any possession and supply of controlled drugs is licensed by the Home Office or, exceptionally, relevant exemptions under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 apply.
Ministers are clear that any type of drug checking service must not condone drug use and should only be delivered where licensed and operated responsibly in line with Government policy to ensure that they discourage drug use and signpost potential users to treatment and support. We welcome potential applicants who wish to apply for a licence and who share these principles.
The UK Government does not support drug consumption rooms, sometimes referred to as overdose prevention centres. We have been clear that we have concerns about the potential for these facilities to appear to condone drug use and to encourage the continued illicit supply of drugs and they will not be introduced in England and Wales.
I am aware of the Lord Advocate’s statement that in her view it would not be in the public interest to prosecute users for simple drug possession offences in relation to a pilot drug consumption room in Glasgow. While our concerns remain, the UK Government will not interfere with, or seek to impede, the lawfully exercised prosecutorial independence of the Lord Advocate.
Increased drug testing in custody is a further way in which testing is being supported. The Drug Testing on Arrest (DToA) expansion project is a key deliverable in the 10-year Drug Strategy to help tackle drug-related offending. The primary aim of this project is expansion, both in the number of police forces delivering DToA and the overall increase in volume of tests carried out.
Year 1 of the DToA project (FY22-23) saw an increase in the number of police forces accepting Home Office funding to set-up or expand DToA operations, and an increase in the number of forces reporting data to the Home Office, with recent programme data published on GOV.UK. Year 2 of the programme is underway, and the Home Office has appointed an external evaluator to consider the impacts of the project.
The legislative expansion of DToA is also progressing well, following the publication of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan in March 2023. In August, police were given the power to test for all Class A drugs. Further legislation will enable specified Class B and C drugs to be tested for and will extend the list of ‘trigger’ offences that make drug testing more accessible to officers to deploy. These changes will also enable the police to refer more individuals to treatment and support services.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Metropolitan Police Service adopted the Selection Entrance Assessment for Recruiting Candidates Holistically (SEARCH) vetting process; if not, why not; and if so, (1) when the application started, and (2) whether it is still in use; and if it is not still in use, when its use ceased.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Decisions about police recruitment, including how recruitment and selection processes are run, are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, in the case of the Metropolitan Police the Mayor of London, and are therefore managed locally by forces. This is done within a national application, assessment and selection framework, in line with national guidance maintained by the College of Policing.
The SEARCH assessment centre was introduced as the national assessment centre for police officer candidates in 2002. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) used SEARCH as its assessment until April 2018 when a new assessment centre pilot was introduced in the MPS called Day One.
In May 2020 the College of Policing introduced the Online Assessment Process (OAP) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was adopted by all forces who now use the OAP for assessing candidates.
Vetting of police officer candidates is a separate post assessment stage carried out by forces as part of mandatory pre-employment checks.
Police forces carry out their vetting in line with the College of Policing’s statutory code of practice on vetting and vetting authorised professional practice (APP) guidance which were introduced in 2017. The Home Secretary has recently asked the College of Policing to strengthen the statutory code of practice on vetting to make the obligations all forces must legally follow stricter and clearer.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the list of 1,192 affiliated and organisational groups mentioned in Special Demonstration Squad documentation, which was collated by the Metropolitan Police Service Inquiry and Review Support Command and sent to the Undercover Policing Inquiry on 10 August 2017, is released by November 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Inquiry is independent of the Home Office, and its independence is crucial to its effectiveness. It would not, therefore, be appropriate for the Government to comment on or intervene in the Inquiry’s decision-making.
The Inquiry is responsible for deciding how best to structure its investigations to deliver its terms of reference and disclosure is a matter for the Inquiry. It is also a matter for the Metropolitan Police Service to make decisions independently of the Home Office on the management and disclosure of its records.
More information on the Inquiry’s evidence and disclosure process can be found on the Inquiry’s website.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the report of the Independent Review of Prevent will provide a breakdown of the number and religious affiliation of individuals and organisations that gave evidence to the Review, including how many were funded by, or affiliated with, the Prevent Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Independent Review of Prevent is currently ongoing. The Reviewer, William Shawcross, is independent, so we cannot provide any specific details of his engagement activities to date, nor can we predetermine the findings of the Review. However, he published details of his methodology for the Review on 23 March 2021. His Ways of Working can be found here: Independent Review of Prevent: ways of working -
The Independent Review of Prevent, led by William Shawcross, will gather and analyse a range of information to underpin robust, evidence-based findings and recommendations on the government’s strategy for supporting people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.
William Shawcross will submit his report to the Home Secretary on 30 September 2021. His report, with the Government’s response to his recommendations, will be laid in the Houses of Parliament by 31 December 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) individuals identifying as Muslim, and (2) organisations representing Muslims, have engaged in consultations or submitted evidence for the Independent Review of Prevent.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Independent Review of Prevent is currently ongoing. The Reviewer, William Shawcross, is independent, so we cannot provide any specific details of his engagement activities to date, nor can we predetermine the findings of the Review. However, he published details of his methodology for the Review on 23 March 2021. His Ways of Working can be found here: Independent Review of Prevent: ways of working -
The Independent Review of Prevent, led by William Shawcross, will gather and analyse a range of information to underpin robust, evidence-based findings and recommendations on the government’s strategy for supporting people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.
William Shawcross will submit his report to the Home Secretary on 30 September 2021. His report, with the Government’s response to his recommendations, will be laid in the Houses of Parliament by 31 December 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to update the College of Policing’s body worn camera guidance (1) to reduce officers’ discretion about its use, and (2) to discourage the practice of turning away from an incident to avoid recording wrongdoing by a fellow officer.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The vast majority of police officers act with integrity at all times and Body Worn Video is a vital tool which helps protect them and the public. The College of Policing has improved its guidance on BWV use with Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidance published in July 2020. These standards will continue to be periodically updated by the College to keep pace with any issues that arise.
In addition, the Government will consider how to increase the value of BWV in protecting officers and the public.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the responsibilities are of (1) MI5, and (2) Counter Terrorism Policing, in relation to the surveillance and monitoring of political campaigns and campaigners.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
All MI5 activity is conducted in relation to its statutory functions as set out in Section 1 of the Security Service Act 1989.
The Director General MI5 has a statutory responsibility to ensure that MI5 remains apolitical, the government of the day cannot instruct MI5 to perform any task for party political reasons. MI5 only investigates those individuals it considers may be a threat.
Similarly, CT policing’s remit is to protect the UK from terrorism and associated threats such as espionage. Responsibility for public-order policing – including in relation to protest groups and the facilitation of lawful protest – sits with individual forces, supported by the National Police Coordination Centre.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the definition of Left, Anarchist and Single-Issue Terrorism, as referred to on the MI5 website.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Our definition of terrorism is set out in section one of the Terrorism Act 2000. It defines terrorism as: the use or threat of action; which is designed to influence the government or an international governmental organisation, or to intimidate the public or a section of the public; and which is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
The action used or threatened must involve serious violence against a person, serious damage to property, endangering a person’s life, creating a serious risk to public health or safety, or the intention to interfere with or seriously disrupt an electronic system. This definition is threat agnostic and kept under regular review to ensure it remains fit for purpose, including by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.
It is a matter for the intelligence agencies and police to determine how the definition is applied in counter-terrorism investigations.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Extinction Rebellion is categorised as a Left, Anarchist and Single-Issue Terrorism organisation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
HMG do not currently categorise Extinction Rebellion as a terrorist organisation.