Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and Jane Ellison

Monday 10th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman and his constituents welcome the fact that crime in Hammersmith and Fulham has gone down by more than 4.5% in the past year. I am glad that he brought up the Shepherd’s Bush front counter because the latest data show that the number of visitors each day to that counter was fewer than six. If he thinks that that is a good use of police resources, frankly, he is not fit to run the proverbial whelk stall.

[Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)]

Wandsworth came pretty much the lowest in a reform think tank league table of visits to London front desks, with only 1.2 visitors an hour. My local police inspector has confirmed that as a result of shutting a front desk, he can put more resources on the front line. Does the Minister agree that that is a good use of the police’s time?

[Damian Green]

I do agree. My hon. Friend makes exactly the right point. The way to cut crime is to have police officers deployed correctly, not to have buildings open that in many cases very few people ever visited.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and Jane Ellison

Monday 7th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

Deputy PCCs are accountable to their PCC as a member of staff. They may have delegated functions and powers that other staff may not, for instance that of appearing before the police and crime panel. They are the only members of staff who are not politically restricted, and they may support the PCC politically. All other employees are politically restricted.

[Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)]

15. What recent steps she has taken to reduce gang-related and youth violence.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and Jane Ellison

Monday 1st November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

My hon. Friend points up one of the many problems with the immigration system. I point him particularly to student visas issued at below-degree level. We often think of student visas as being about the brightest and the best from around the world coming to our universities. Everyone in the House will welcome that, and they will want it to continue and our university sector to flourish. The problems have often come at sub-degree level with bogus students who do not have the appropriate qualifications, or with bogus colleges. Both of those routes need to be stamped out, which is why, along with proposing a limit on work routes, we are working hard to bring forward proposals on the student route, precisely to stamp out the abuse that my hon. Friend is rightly worried about.

[Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.