Diane Abbott

The Government is focused on raising education standards for all pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Department does not design education policy to exclusively target certain groups of pupils based on ethnicity.

The Department recognises that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has been felt most heavily by disadvantaged children and young people.

In June 2020, the Department announced a £1 billion catch up package, which includes £350 million for the National Tutoring Programme to increase the availability of high quality tuition for the most disadvantaged children and young people, helping to accelerate their education and tackle the attainment gap.

In February 2021, the Department committed to funding of £700 million for summer schools, expansion of our tutoring programmes and a Recovery Premium for the next academic year. The £302 million Recovery Premium for state funded primary and secondary schools, builds on the Pupil Premium, to further support pupils who need it most.

The Department is also considering the education recommendations from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.

Apply for Teacher Training is a new application service for initial teacher training (ITT). To support recruitment, Apply has been designed to be as simple and user friendly as possible and it has been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants. Currently, Apply is in public beta, running alongside the existing application service for teacher training. As we roll the service out further, we will continue to develop and test interventions to support people from diverse backgrounds to become teachers.

The Department’s ‘Teaching – Every Lesson Shapes A Life’ recruitment campaign is targeted at audiences of students/recent graduates and potential career changers of all races and backgrounds, and we take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use.

Alongside a focus on recruitment, it is important we retain people from diverse backgrounds. From September 2021, all new trainee teachers will be entitled to at least three years of evidence-based professional development and support. This starts with ITT, based on the new ITT Core Content Framework, which sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees, describing the fundamental knowledge and skills that ITT providers must draw upon when designing and delivering their programmes.

Following on from their training, all new teachers will be entitled to two years of funded high quality professional development, including the support of a dedicated mentor, through the Early Career Framework reforms. Schools will receive additional funding so new teachers can spend time away from the classroom for this extra training and mentoring. Together, these reforms will ensure that all new teachers will develop the expertise and confidence they need to thrive in the classroom.

Our new suite of National Professional Qualifications, available from September 2021, will make sure that we continue to develop our best teaching and leadership talent, whatever their background.

Apply for Teacher Training is a new application service for initial teacher training (ITT). To support recruitment, Apply has been designed to be as simple and user friendly as possible and it has been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants. Currently, Apply is in public beta, running alongside the existing application service for teacher training. As we roll the service out further, we will continue to develop and test interventions to support people from diverse backgrounds to become teachers.

The Department’s ‘Teaching – Every Lesson Shapes A Life’ recruitment campaign is targeted at audiences of students/recent graduates and potential career changers of all races and backgrounds, and we take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use.

Alongside a focus on recruitment, it is important we retain people from diverse backgrounds. From September 2021, all new trainee teachers will be entitled to at least three years of evidence-based professional development and support. This starts with ITT, based on the new ITT Core Content Framework, which sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees, describing the fundamental knowledge and skills that ITT providers must draw upon when designing and delivering their programmes.

Following on from their training, all new teachers will be entitled to two years of funded high quality professional development, including the support of a dedicated mentor, through the Early Career Framework reforms. Schools will receive additional funding so new teachers can spend time away from the classroom for this extra training and mentoring. Together, these reforms will ensure that all new teachers will develop the expertise and confidence they need to thrive in the classroom.

Our new suite of National Professional Qualifications, available from September 2021, will make sure that we continue to develop our best teaching and leadership talent, whatever their background.

The Department is confident that the system of teacher assessed grades, underpinned by clear guidance published by the Joint Council for Qualifications, will ensure the grades students receive are as fair and consistent as possible. In addition to this guidance, exam boards have provided grade descriptors and exemplar materials to support teachers. The grade descriptors and materials exemplify the established performance standard that is maintained each year by awarding organisations. To ensure that there is a common basis to all teacher assessed grades, teachers are being asked to apply the performance standards described in the grade descriptors to the evidence of students’ work this year.

Students should have confidence in their grades this year and it is vital that teachers are supported to avoid any unconscious bias. Awarding organisations will provide assessment materials, guidance, and training to support centres to make fair, consistent, and evidence-based decisions which are without bias. Ofqual have also published information for centres about making objective judgements this year, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-for-centres-about-making-objective-judgements.

Centres will be encouraged to allow students to see the evidence used to determine their grade in advance of that grade being submitted. This transparency should enable any errors or circumstances relating to particular pieces of evidence to be taken into account in advance of the grade submission. Students’ grades will also go through internal and external quality assurance processes to ensure errors are identified and that judgements are as consistent as possible. Internal standardisation will help mitigate the risk of unconscious bias in judgements of students’ grades. Centres will set out how they will ensure objectivity in their centre policies, which will be reviewed by exam boards.

There will also be an appeals system as a safety net to resolve any errors not identified during the earlier parts of the process. The Department has made clear that every student will have the right to appeal their grade.

Since 2010, this Government has been committed to raising educational standards for all pupils to ensure that all young people leave school with the knowledge, skills and qualifications they need to succeed in life. The proportion of schools now rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding has risen from 68% in 2010 to 86% in 2020. The Department does not design education policy that exclusively targets certain groups of pupils based on ethnicity, but we are focused on tackling the attainment gap that exists between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers.

We know that the COVID-19 outbreak poses great challenges to the education system. In June 2020, the Department announced a £1 billion catch-up package, which includes £350 million for a National Tutoring Programme to increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged children and young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and directly tackling the attainment gap.

More recently, in February 2021, we committed a further £700 million of funding for the 2021/22 academic year. This package includes a new one off £302 million Recovery Premium for state-funded primary and secondary schools, building on the Pupil Premium, to further support pupils who need it most.

As part of the Government’s commitment to develop a longer-term education recovery plan, Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as Education Recovery Commissioner and is working with teachers, school and college leaders, educational charities, and families to review how evidence-based interventions can be used to address the impact of education lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Parental involvement in their child’s education has always been important, and this has been further underlined during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Department realises this is a challenging time for parents, carers and children, and remote education has brought new demands for them and changed how they engage with schools. Parents played a crucial role in their child’s education whilst schools were closed for most pupils.

School attendance is now mandatory for all pupils and the usual rules on school attendance have applied again since 8 March 2021. This includes parents’ duty to secure their child’s regular attendance at school. It is vital that pupils attend school to minimise the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on their education, wellbeing and wider development, and that is why education has been prioritised as we begin to relax restrictions.

Evidence tells us that the early years are crucial for a child’s development, and what happens at home plays a vital role. This is why the Department launched Hungry Little Minds, a campaign to encourage parents to engage in activities that support their child’s early education. The campaign aims to communicate that there are simple, everyday things parents can do to help their children’s language and literacy. The campaign is part of our wider work to support parents and families. We provided £5.3 million of grant funding in the 2020-21 financial year to voluntary and community sector organisations to support disadvantaged and vulnerable children in the early years, including support with the home education environment.

The teaching workforce is more racially diverse than ever before, with recruitment into Initial Teacher Training (ITT) becoming more representative of the wider population. The Department recognises, however, that we must go further to attract and retain the diverse range of talented teachers we need in our classrooms.

To support recruitment, the Department is building and rolling out a new application service for teacher training. The Apply for teacher training service has been designed and extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure it helps remove barriers to teachers applying for ITT courses. Apply for teacher training is currently in public beta, running alongside the existing application service for teacher training. As the Department rolls out the service, we will continue to develop and test interventions to support people from diverse backgrounds in becoming teachers.

Furthermore, the Department’s ‘Teaching – Every Lesson Shapes A Life’ recruitment campaign is targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers inclusive of all ethnicities, and we take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use.

Alongside a focus on recruitment, it is important the Department continues its work to retain more teachers from diverse backgrounds. This will be supported by our work to ensure that all new entrants to teacher training have the best possible start to the early stage of their career. From September 2020 onwards, new trainee teachers will undergo training based on the ITT Core Content Framework which sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees, describing the fundamental knowledge and skills that all new entrants to the profession need to effectively teach and support all children.

Following on from their training, from this September, all new teachers will be entitled to two years of funded high quality professional development including the support of a dedicated mentor, through the Early Career Framework reforms. Schools will receive additional funding so new teachers can spend time away from the classroom for this extra training and mentoring. Together, these reforms will ensure that all new teachers will develop the skills, expertise, and confidence they need to thrive in the classroom.

The Government is taking steps to close the educational attainment gap and improve the education of disadvantaged children and young people of all ethnic backgrounds. The Department recognises that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has been felt most heavily by disadvantaged children and young people, and so it is important that we target support towards these children.

On 24 February, the Department announced a £700 million Education Recovery package, building on the £1 billion provided in 2020. As well as a range of measures to support all pupils to recover lost education, the package includes significant funding aimed at addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils. This includes a one off £302 million Recovery Premium for the next academic year that will be allocated to schools based on disadvantage funding eligibility. Schools with more disadvantaged pupils will therefore receive larger allocations. Within this package is a £22 million accelerator fund to scale up evidence based approaches that support children and young people in disadvantaged areas.

In June 2020, as part of the £1 billion COVID-19 catch up package, the Department announced £350 million to fund the National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged students in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic year. The programme will provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who have been hardest hit from disruption to their education as a result of school closures. Teachers and school leaders should exercise professional judgement when identifying which pupils would benefit most from this additional support.

There is extensive evidence that tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate pupil progress, and the Department wants to extend this opportunity to disadvantaged and vulnerable learners. We are funding small group tuition for 16 to 19 year olds and early language skills in Reception classes. The Department is also providing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services. To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers.

£200 million will be made available to secondary schools to deliver face to face summer schools. Funding is allocated on the basis of schools’ existing year 7 pupils, but there is flexibility for schools to draw in other pupils should they identify a need. Schools will identify the pupils most in need of support and will be able to target provision based on pupils’ needs.

The ongoing provision of pupil premium funding, which is worth £2.5 billion this financial year, aims to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. It allows school leaders to tailor the support they provide, based on the needs of their disadvantaged pupils, with the aim of accelerating their progress and improving their educational attainment.

As part of a broad and balanced curriculum, pupils should be taught about different societies, and how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain.

The Department regularly engages with teachers and other stakeholders on the curriculum, including on diversity and inclusion. There is already a wide range of high-quality resources on teaching a culturally diverse curriculum content, including those produced by education publishers, voluntary organisations, subject associations, and remote education resources from the Oak National Academy.

The Government is considering the recommendations in the report by the Commission for Race and Ethnic Disparities, including on curriculum resources, and assessing the next steps for future policy. In recognition of the extensive scope of recommendations, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, has established a new Inter Ministerial Group. The group will be chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

The Government is providing over £400 million to support remote education and online social care services, including making 1.3 million laptops and tablets available for disadvantaged children and young people.

To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers. The Department has also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help over 30,000 disadvantaged children get online, as well as delivering over 75,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.

Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, trusts, local authorities or further education providers, who can lend these to children and young people who need them. Allocations of devices to schools and colleges are based on the number of pupils or students they have who are eligible for free school meals or free meals. This approach ensures that support provided by the Government reaches those families that need it most.

The proposed redevelopment of Whipps Cross does not involve the reconfiguration of services and envisages the new hospital providing the same core services as today, including the continued provision of high-quality specialist palliative and end of life care. A clinically led review of the model of care for the provision of specialist palliative care and end-of-life care in the new hospital is being undertaken by Barts Health NHS Trust, working closely with local partners and informed by engagement with patients and local interest groups.

The Whipps Cross redevelopment plans have continued to be tested with North East London Health and Care Partnership Integrated Care System as part of the development of the redevelopment’s outline business case, to ensure the demand and capacity assumptions are aligned with both the local and wider system assumptions.

The new development does not impact bed capacity at Homerton Hospital or other local hospitals. The number of beds in any hospital is not fixed and the way in which the hospital is designed will give greater flexibility to respond to changes in operational pressures, with an appropriate number of beds. The new hospital will have more clinical space than the current hospital, with new clinical departments, increased diagnostic and day case capacity and more single rooms, improving patient experience, privacy and dignity.

The Home Office has a number of arrangements in place to provide security, and custodial staff at the Port of Dover, and at its site in Manston.

These arrangements include the pre-existing Escorting and Related Services Contract with Mite Care and Custody, a contract with Management & Training Corporation (UK) Ltd, and a contract with Bloom Procurement Services who contracts with Definitive PSA Ltd (trading as Interforce) to deliver services for the Department.

Providing number of staff based at Dover and Manston, would reveal information on the security of our borders. It is not possible to provide the level of detail requested on volumes and patterns without impacting national security

The Home Office has a number of arrangements in place to provide security, and custodial staff at the Port of Dover, and at its site in Manston.

These arrangements include the pre-existing Escorting and Related Services Contract with Mite Care and Custody, a contract with Management & Training Corporation (UK) Ltd, and a contract with Bloom Procurement Services who contracts with Definitive PSA Ltd (trading as Interforce) to deliver services for the Department.

Providing number of staff based at Dover and Manston, would reveal information on the security of our borders. It is not possible to provide the level of detail requested on volumes and patterns without impacting national security.

Due diligence is an ongoing process carried out during a procurement exercise and varies depending upon the nature and size of the contract being procured. Typical areas considered as part of the selection and due diligence of a potential supplier could include:

• Financial standing
• Past performance
• Capability
• Experience
• Security/Cyber Security
• Whether there are grounds to exclude a supplier

Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Codes of Practice govern how the police should deploy this power. If the police judge it operationally necessary, then any strip search conducted on a child must be carried out by officers of the same sex, in private and with an appropriate adult present unless both the child and the appropriate adult agree otherwise and in line with safeguarding procedures.

Nobody should be stopped and searched because of their race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to ensure that this does not happen, including statutory codes of practice, use of body worn video to increase accountability and extensive data collection. It is critical that we maintain public confidence in policing and as part of this we will be looking carefully at strengthening the system of local community scrutiny and the value of body-worn video, because transparency is vital.

The MoJ are supporting a project with the National Police Chief’s Council with the aim of addressing the difference in experience of ethnic minority children and adults in police custody. A wide range of agencies and independent advisors have contributed to this work, which engages a number of police forces across the country and builds on existing initiatives in the workplace, including a dedicated Independent Strip Search Scrutiny Panel (ISSSP) in Norfolk & Suffolk Police.

From December 2022 we will be including more detailed custody data in the annual Police Powers and Procedures statistical bulletin which will include data on whether an appropriate adult was called out for a detained child and the number of strip searches & Intimate searches carried out, broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, and offence type.

Further work is underway for the collection of data during stop & searches on the use of strip search. Currently, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating this incident and it is vital we await their findings. However, we will consider all recommendations made for the Home Office as a result of these investigations very carefully.

Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Codes of Practice govern how the police should deploy this power. If the police judge it operationally necessary, then any strip search conducted on a child must be carried out by officers of the same sex, in private and with an appropriate adult present unless both the child and the appropriate adult agree otherwise and in line with safeguarding procedures.

Nobody should be stopped and searched because of their race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to ensure that this does not happen, including statutory codes of practice, use of body worn video to increase accountability and extensive data collection. It is critical that we maintain public confidence in policing and as part of this we will be looking carefully at strengthening the system of local community scrutiny and the value of body-worn video, because transparency is vital.

The MoJ are supporting a project with the National Police Chief’s Council with the aim of addressing the difference in experience of ethnic minority children and adults in police custody. A wide range of agencies and independent advisors have contributed to this work, which engages a number of police forces across the country and builds on existing initiatives in the workplace, including a dedicated Independent Strip Search Scrutiny Panel (ISSSP) in Norfolk & Suffolk Police.

From December 2022 we will be including more detailed custody data in the annual Police Powers and Procedures statistical bulletin which will include data on whether an appropriate adult was called out for a detained child and the number of strip searches & Intimate searches carried out, broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, and offence type.

Further work is underway for the collection of data during stop & searches on the use of strip search. Currently, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating this incident and it is vital we await their findings. However, we will consider all recommendations made for the Home Office as a result of these investigations very carefully.

Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Codes of Practice govern how the police should deploy this power. If the police judge it operationally necessary, then any strip search conducted on a child must be carried out by officers of the same sex, in private and with an appropriate adult present unless both the child and the appropriate adult agree otherwise and in line with safeguarding procedures.

Nobody should be stopped and searched because of their race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to ensure that this does not happen, including statutory codes of practice, use of body worn video to increase accountability and extensive data collection. It is critical that we maintain public confidence in policing and as part of this we will be looking carefully at strengthening the system of local community scrutiny and the value of body-worn video, because transparency is vital.

The MoJ are supporting a project with the National Police Chief’s Council with the aim of addressing the difference in experience of ethnic minority children and adults in police custody. A wide range of agencies and independent advisors have contributed to this work, which engages a number of police forces across the country and builds on existing initiatives in the workplace, including a dedicated Independent Strip Search Scrutiny Panel (ISSSP) in Norfolk & Suffolk Police.

From December 2022 we will be including more detailed custody data in the annual Police Powers and Procedures statistical bulletin which will include data on whether an appropriate adult was called out for a detained child and the number of strip searches & Intimate searches carried out, broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, and offence type.

Further work is underway for the collection of data during stop & searches on the use of strip search. Currently, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating this incident and it is vital we await their findings. However, we will consider all recommendations made for the Home Office as a result of these investigations very carefully.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice govern how the police should undertake a strip search. The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Stop and Search provides further guidance for the police on the use of strip search. We expect officers to follow the law and the best practice guidance set by the College of Policing in its APP.

Her Majesty’s inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspect police forces’ compliance with the legislation and APP through their programme of PEEL assessments, national thematic inspections and commissions from the Home Secretary and local policing bodies. We expect forces to respond to these recommendations and address failures of compliance with legislation and APP.

Searches involving exposure of intimate parts of the body must be conducted in accordance with the safeguards in paragraph 11 of Annex A of PACE Code C. If a child is strip searched, an appropriate adult must be present to support the child during this process. It is essential that the police and frontline professionals recognise vulnerability in children and young people, regardless of the circumstances around any interaction. To support this the Home Office have funded the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice programme, which shares the very best practice across forces. We also fund the College of Policing’s Public Protection and Safeguarding Leadership programme which ensures senior leaders in policing have a strong understanding of vulnerability.

Any concerns about the use of strip searches should be raised with the relevant force or the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC), who investigate serious matters involving the police. As part of its work, the IOPC is required to consider if there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing or if police officers have a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct.

The publication of investigation reports usually follows the conclusion of all relevant proceedings and the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s publication policy states that “reports and investigation summaries should normally be published as soon as possible following the conclusion of all related external proceedings.”

In 2020 the Home Office legislated for significant changes to the police disciplinary system, in part to facilitate quicker disciplinary proceedings. Later this year we will publish misconduct data collected since the introduction of the reforms, including on timeliness of proceedings following investigations.

In June 2021 the Home Secretary announced that she would bring forward the next periodic review of the efficiency and effectiveness of the IOPC. This work will begin shortly.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice govern how the police should undertake a strip search. The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Stop and Search provides further guidance for the police on the use of strip search. We expect officers to follow the law and the best practice guidance set by the College of Policing in its APP.

Her Majesty’s inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspect police forces’ compliance with the legislation and APP through their programme of PEEL assessments, national thematic inspections and commissions from the Home Secretary and local policing bodies. We expect forces to respond to these recommendations and address failures of compliance with legislation and APP.

Searches involving exposure of intimate parts of the body must be conducted in accordance with the safeguards in paragraph 11 of Annex A of PACE Code C. If a child is strip searched, an appropriate adult must be present to support the child during this process. It is essential that the police and frontline professionals recognise vulnerability in children and young people, regardless of the circumstances around any interaction. To support this the Home Office have funded the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice programme, which shares the very best practice across forces. We also fund the College of Policing’s Public Protection and Safeguarding Leadership programme which ensures senior leaders in policing have a strong understanding of vulnerability.

Any concerns about the use of strip searches should be raised with the relevant force or the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC), who investigate serious matters involving the police. As part of its work, the IOPC is required to consider if there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing or if police officers have a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice govern how the police should undertake a strip search. The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Stop and Search provides further guidance for the police on the use of strip search. We expect officers to follow the law and the best practice guidance set by the College of Policing in its APP.

Her Majesty’s inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspect police forces’ compliance with the legislation and APP through their programme of PEEL assessments, national thematic inspections and commissions from the Home Secretary and local policing bodies. We expect forces to respond to these recommendations and address failures of compliance with legislation and APP.

Searches involving exposure of intimate parts of the body must be conducted in accordance with the safeguards in paragraph 11 of Annex A of PACE Code C. If a child is strip searched, an appropriate adult must be present to support the child during this process. It is essential that the police and frontline professionals recognise vulnerability in children and young people, regardless of the circumstances around any interaction. To support this the Home Office have funded the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice programme, which shares the very best practice across forces. We also fund the College of Policing’s Public Protection and Safeguarding Leadership programme which ensures senior leaders in policing have a strong understanding of vulnerability.

Any concerns about the use of strip searches should be raised with the relevant force or the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC), who investigate serious matters involving the police. As part of its work, the IOPC is required to consider if there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing or if police officers have a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice govern how the police should undertake a strip search. The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Stop and Search provides further guidance for the police on the use of strip search. We expect officers to follow the law and the best practice guidance set by the College of Policing in its APP.

Her Majesty’s inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspect police forces’ compliance with the legislation and APP through their programme of PEEL assessments, national thematic inspections and commissions from the Home Secretary and local policing bodies. We expect forces to respond to these recommendations and address failures of compliance with legislation and APP.

Searches involving exposure of intimate parts of the body must be conducted in accordance with the safeguards in paragraph 11 of Annex A of PACE Code C. If a child is strip searched, an appropriate adult must be present to support the child during this process. It is essential that the police and frontline professionals recognise vulnerability in children and young people, regardless of the circumstances around any interaction. To support this the Home Office have funded the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice programme, which shares the very best practice across forces. We also fund the College of Policing’s Public Protection and Safeguarding Leadership programme which ensures senior leaders in policing have a strong understanding of vulnerability.

Any concerns about the use of strip searches should be raised with the relevant force or the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC), who investigate serious matters involving the police. As part of its work, the IOPC is required to consider if there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing or if police officers have a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct.

In the year ending March 2021, there were 1,920 referrals to Prevent for individuals under the age of 18. Of these referrals, 347 (18%) were adopted as a Channel case. It should be noted that there were 32 referrals to Prevent in the year ending March 2021 where the individuals age was unknown.

Please note that we do not collect information on the number of individuals referred into and adopted by the Channel programme, only the number of referrals and adoptions. This is because one person can be referred into Prevent, and adopted onto Channel, multiple times.

The Channel process is entirely voluntary and those that are under-18 must have the consent of their parent/guardian to be adopted as a Channel case.

You can access more information on referrals and adopted cases on the 2020-21 Channel Statistics Publication:

Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, England and Wales, April 2020 to March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Since 2012, 2,897 people have been adopted to Prevent’s voluntary and confidential multi-agency Channel programme, which supports people who are vulnerable to exploitation from terrorist influences.

Below is data on the gender and age of those under the age of 18 who were referred to Prevent and adopted to Channel. Please note the ‘-‘ symbol has been used where the number of individuals in a category is less than 10.

The Channel process is entirely voluntary and those under-18 must have the consent of their parent/guardian to be adopted as a Channel case.

Recording the ethnicity and religion of individuals who have been considered as a Channel case is not mandatory on the Home Office Case Management Information System. We therefore only hold partial data on the ethnicity or religion of Prevent referrals and Channel cases. This partial data cannot be released as it would create a misleading and inaccurate picture of the ethnic/religious make-up of Channel referrals aged under 18.

Since 2012, 2,897 people have been adopted to Prevent’s voluntary and confidential multi-agency Channel programme, which supports people who are vulnerable to exploitation from terrorist influences.

Below is data on the gender and age of those under the age of 18 who were referred to Prevent and adopted to Channel. Please note the ‘-‘ symbol has been used where the number of individuals in a category is less than 10.

The Channel process is entirely voluntary and those under-18 must have the consent of their parent/guardian to be adopted as a Channel case.

Recording the ethnicity and religion of individuals who have been considered as a Channel case is not mandatory on the Home Office Case Management Information System. We therefore only hold partial data on the ethnicity or religion of Prevent referrals and Channel cases. This partial data cannot be released as it would create a misleading and inaccurate picture of the ethnic/religious make-up of Channel referrals aged under 18.

The immigration removal estate is kept under ongoing review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient capacity, in the right places and that it provides value for money.

The Home Office has acquired the former Hassockfield Secure Training Centre in County Durham and will open it as an immigration removal centre (IRC) for around 80 women by the autumn. Initial discussions with the planning authority have taken place and work has commenced at the site. An Equality Impact Assessment will be completed as part of this programme of work.

The immigration detention capacity for women is not being expanded. We plan to supplement the new Hassockfield IRC by continuing to provide some detention capacity for women at Colnbrook, Dungavel and Yarl’s Wood IRCs, in order to provide flexibility in placement and shorter escorting journeys for those in detention, including women.