Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of police-support staffing levels in England and Wales; and whether her Department has been made aware of instances where police officers have been required to carry out the duties of support staff.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government expects that police officers will be used in tackling crime and protecting the public.
It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience, including how best to allocate resources.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing international cooperation to tackle organised immigration crime.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Mr Speaker, the criminal smuggling gangs are international operations and it will require international cooperation from governments and law enforcement agencies to dismantle their networks, and disrupt their supply chains.
Our new Border Security Command is already building and strengthening partnerships across the world to tackle this evil trade in human lives, signing new agreements from Germany to Iraq, and using every opportunity we have on the global stage to put this issue on the agenda, and drive collective action.