Metropolitan Police: Casey Review

Debate between Catherine West and Suella Braverman

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Suella Braverman]

Thanks to this Government, the Met now has a record number of police officers—the highest it has ever known in its history. That increase in meaningful resource on the frontline will make a difference to how it effectively polices and safeguards Londoners. We have also seen a cash increase in Met funding since 2010, and that is being put into increased resources. It is vital that we now work with Sir Mark and his team to ensure that there is a proper turnaround.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

It is clear that some basic policies and procedures have gone seriously wrong. When an individual is raped, the advice is to keep the specimens in a refrigerator, so how can it be that during a hot spell last summer the refrigerator broke down and there was no back-up plan? How can that be? What is the Home Secretary going to do for every victim whose evidence was in that refrigerator? What is the plan? Is it to go back to those victims, apologise and explain what happens next?

[Suella Braverman]

The particular incident to which the hon. Lady refers is shocking and unacceptable. It must not happen again. It is absolutely clear that that is true.

Progress has been made. I have emphasised the importance that I attach to VAWG and the investigation and prosecution of rape. It is clear that police forces all around the country need to do better. We are seeing progress on the timeliness of investigations and the number of cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for charge; there is an increase in the number of independent sexual violence advisers and independent domestic violence advisers, who significantly increase the chances of a successful prosecution; and we have introduced special measures so that victims of rape and serious sexual offences can give evidence in a better way. There are many measures, but I am clear that I am not going to rest until we really succeed on this problem.

Illegal Migration Bill

Debate between Catherine West and Suella Braverman

2nd reading
Monday 13th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Suella Braverman]

This is what the British people want to see: they want to stop people dying in the channel. That is what this is about. It is naive to suggest that it is lawful and appropriate to make this journey. People are dying, and we need to stop it. Since 2018, some 85,000 people have illegally entered the United Kingdom in small boats, 45,000 of them last year alone. They have overwhelmed our asylum system. Local authorities simply do not have the housing or the public service capacity to support everyone.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

I thank the Home Secretary for giving way so early in her speech. Is she personally satisfied that there is enough provision for vulnerable children in the proposals that she is presenting tonight?

[Suella Braverman]

I will go into this in detail, but yes, vulnerable people will be receiving appropriate safeguarding and welfare support.

The British taxpayer cannot continue to fork out £6 million a day on hotels to house illegal arrivals. Let us be honest, the vast majority of arrivals—74% in 2021—were adult males under the age of 40. The vast majority were not pregnant women or young children. All travelled through safe countries such as France in which they could and should have first claimed asylum. Many came directly from safe countries such as Albania. When we try to remove them, they turn our generous asylum laws against us to thwart removal.

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

Debate between Catherine West and Suella Braverman

2nd reading
Thursday 13th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Suella Braverman]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. I am very happy to build further and closer engagement with Northern Ireland on this particular issue. In the case of anti-money laundering and other investigations, and prosecutions in relation to standalone money laundering cases or where money laundering is the principal offence, the agencies have recovered considerable amounts. £1.3 billion has been recovered in those cases since 2015-16 using the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 powers. That is good progress, but of course there is further to go and, as I said, I am very keen to engage more closely.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

On the agencies, does the Home Secretary accept that it has taken an awfully long for the Government to get around to reforming Companies House, which is very open to abuse and which the Royal United Services Institute has been mentioning for years now as a danger to our national security?

[Suella Braverman]

I am very pleased that we are taking this action now. I take on board the point that this has been a long-standing matter that Members and Administrations have been talking about for some time. There has been progress over several years. We have the National Economic Crime Centre and new legislation, so there are greater powers, but I am focused on ensuring that the reforms in the Bill are implemented as quickly as possible. On reforms to Companies House, we seek to ensure that the level of change is balanced to avoid causing any confusion for legitimate customers and to ensure effective implementation. So yes, speed is essential, but not at the expense of undue disruption.

Some of the action we have already undertaken includes being the first G20 country to establish, in 2016, a public register of domestic company beneficial ownership; the publication of the economic crime plan in 2019 and the progress made against it; and establishing, as I said to the hon. Lady, the National Economic Crime Centre and the combating kleptocracy cell in the National Crime Agency. The Bill is just one component of a wider Government approach to tackling economic crime, including fraud. It sits alongside the National Security Bill and the Online Safety Bill, and the forthcoming second economic crime plan and fraud strategy.

--- Later in debate ---

[Suella Braverman]

Last year’s spending review settlement set out that the economic crime levy would provide funding totalling approximately £400 million over the spending review period. Law enforcement activity on economic crime is conducted by a number of agencies, including the National Crime Agency, as the right hon. Lady says. I want to ensure that those agencies have the proper resources, personnel and tools to be at the forefront of fighting crime effectively.

[Catherine West]

Will the Home Secretary give way?

[Suella Braverman]

I will make some progress. As hon. Members have said, I have been very generous, but I am struggling to get through my speech. I know that everybody wants to speak, so I will take no more interventions for now.

We will introduce identity verification for new and existing directors, beneficial owners and those who file information with Companies House. That will improve the accuracy of Companies House data and will ensure that we know who is really acting for and benefiting from companies.

[Suella Braverman]

I am sorry, but I will not.

The powers of the registrar of companies will be broadened, making the registrar a more active gatekeeper for company creation and a custodian of more reliable data. The registrar will receive new powers to check, remove or decline information that is submitted to or already on the company register. The Bill will improve the financial information on the register so that it is more reliable, complete and accurate, and enables better business decisions. Companies House will be given more effective investigation and enforcement powers, including by enabling it proactively to share information with law enforcement bodies about higher-risk corporate bodies, or where there is evidence of anomalous filings or other suspicious behaviour. To protect individuals from fraud and other harm, we will also enhance the protection of personal information and addresses provided to Companies House.

We will introduce broader reforms to clamp down on the misuse of corporate entities. These reforms will support enterprise by enabling Companies House to deliver a better service for more than 4 million UK companies. They will help us to maintain our swift and low-cost routes for company creation. They will also improve the collection of data to inform business transactions and lending decisions across our economy.

[Catherine West]

The Witanhurst property, a 500-room mansion in Highgate, is the second largest property in the UK after Buckingham Palace. Its ownership is contested, so it has not been seized. Will the Bill cover such difficult and anomalous situations? Local residents feel that people should be brought to account. Considering the links with the regime in Russia, there is no way that that house was bought in an honest way.

[Suella Braverman]

Without knowing the details of that case, what is clear is that the reforms to Companies House will ensure not only that more investigation and enforcement powers are afforded to it, but that there will be new powers for checking, removing and declining information submitted to the company register if there are grounds for concern.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Catherine West and Suella Braverman

Thursday 10th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Attorney General]

As I have already mentioned, the £51 million of additional funding through the criminal legal aid review has been allocated specifically for those publicly funded barristers and lawyers of whom the hon. Gentleman speaks. The next phase of CLAR will involve an independently led review that will ensure the market meets demands, provides value for money for the taxpayer and provides for defendants to continue to receive high-quality advice from a diverse range of practitioners, protecting access to justice now and into the future.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of CPS resources to tackle domestic abuse prosecutions arising from the covid-19 lockdown.