Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 24 June 2020 to Questions 59676, 59675 and 59674 on Police: Dismissal and Disciplinary Proceedings, if she will provide hyperlinks to where the information requested is located on www.gov.uk.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The information requested is not publicly available on www.gov.uk
Police dismissals (59676)
The Home Office collects and publishes information annually on the outcome of misconduct proceedings and criminal investigations involving officers, including the number of officers that have been dismissed following proceedings. However, information on the circumstances that led to a case being brought is not collected centrally by the Home Office
The latest data on the outcomes following misconduct proceedings, which covers cases in the year ending March 2019, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2019.
The College of Policing publish data annually relating to those who have been dismissed from policing and placed on the Police Barred List. The most recent data shows that, in the period ending 31 March 2019, 11 officers were dismissed under the category ‘excess force’. This data is available here:
https://www.college.police.uk/News/College-news/Documents/Barred_List_2019.pdf.
Domestic Violence (59675 and 59674)
The Home Office also collects and publishes statistics on the number of arrests for notifiable offences, conducted by each police force in England and Wales, on an annual basis.
Data is held at the offence group level only (for example ‘Violence against the person’ offences). Information on the number of arrests there have been specifically as a result of domestic violence in the last five years is not held centrally.
Data is published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, the latest of which can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2019
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the primary function of police officers, as part of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales .
This data includes officers whose primary function is “Protecting Vulnerable People”, and officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff have been dismissed for abusing detainees in immigration detention centres in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government expects the highest standards from those we entrust with the safety and welfare of those in detention.
Management information indicates that 20 detainee custody officers have been dismissed for either the inappropriate use of force or inappropriate behaviour towards a detained individual from 1 January 2015 to 18 July 2020. Of these 20 dismissals, 1 took place in 2015, 2 in 2016, 14 in 2017, 2 in 2018, 1 in 2019 and none in the year to date. These individuals have also had their certification revoked by the Home Office. This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.
All complaints made by individuals detained at an immigration removal centre (IRC) are investigated by the IRC supplier in accordance with Detention Services Order 03/2015. Any allegations of serious misconduct made against staff at an IRC are also referred to the Home Office Professional Standards Unit for investigation. Where a detained individual, or someone on their behalf, alleges that a member of staff has committed a sexual offence against them the police will automatically be notified, even if the detained individual does not wish the matter to be reported or to make a formal complaint.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of (a) self-harm and (b) suicide there have been in immigration detention centres in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Staff at all immigration removal centres are trained to identify those at risk of self-harm so that action can be taken to minimise the risk. All incidents of self-harm are treated very seriously, and every step is taken to prevent incidents of this nature. Formal risk assessments on initial detention and systems for raising concerns at any subsequent point feed into established self-harm procedures in every IRC, which are in turn underpinned by the Home Office Operating Standard on the prevention of self-harm and Detention Services Order 06/2008 Assessment Care in Detention Teamwork (ACDT).
Self-harm incidents requiring medical treatment in each immigration removal centre, for the last five years are shown in the table below. This is provisional management information that has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.
Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Number of self-harm incidents | 313 | 295 | 403 | 398 | 474 | 149 |
These are the number of incidents of self-harm requiring medical treatment; they do not necessarily equate to the number of individuals requiring medical treatment as one individual may have received treatment on more than one occasion.
Any death in immigration detention is subject to investigation by the police, the coroner (or Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) and the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
In the period 1 January 2015 to 8 July 2020 there have been three deaths of individuals detained in the immigration detention estate that have been determined by a coroner as a suicide on the balance of probabilities.
Since 2018, information on deaths in immigration detention has been included in published immigration statistics on an annual basis. Data on the number of deaths of people detained under immigration powers in each year from 2017, are published in table Det_05 of the Detention summary tables.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest amount of time is that a person has been detained in an immigration detention centre among those detainees currently being so detained.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on people in detention in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release). Data on the longest length of detention of a person in detention under immigration powers as at 31 March 2020 are published in Table Det_03d of the ‘Summary tables’ (attached). The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on detention.
A report on Statistics relating to Covid-19 and the immigration system, May 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-relating-to-covid-19-and-the-immigration-system-may-2020), released on 28 May 2020, provides further high-level information relating to detention and Covid-19.
Figures as at 30 June 2020 will be released on 27 August 2020. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ (https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=release-date-oldest).
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received from the police on the reopening of pubs on 4 July 2020 as part of the easing of covid-19 lockdown restrictions; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Secretary holds daily meetings with policing partners about a range of issues linked to the response to Covid-19. This includes the measures in place to ease restrictions on 4th July with the reopening of pubs and premises.
We continue to work closely with the police to ensure the COVID secure guidelines for pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars set out the steps they should take to make sure people understand what they need to do to maintain safety. We expect people however to do the right thing and follow the guidance that will help keep us all safe.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of victims of trafficking were referred to (a) legal and (b) housing support in each of the last five years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Tackling human trafficking and modern slavery remains a top priority for this government and we are committed to stamping out this abhorrent crime.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the system for identifying and providing support to victims of modern slavery.
Whilst in the NRM system, confirmed adult victims of modern slavery can access a minimum of 90 days specialist support including accommodation, subsistence, counselling, access to mental, physical and dental health services, and signposting to legal support. In England and Wales, this support is provided through the Victim Care Contract (VCC), which is currently operated by The Salvation Army.
Potential and confirmed victims receiving support through the VCC are provided with accommodation if this is needed and the victim has no access to alternative accommodation via other services. Victims requiring access to legal support are offered assistance and signposting by their support worker.
The Home Office does not record specific data on the proportion of victims signposted for legal support or referrals to housing support provided outside the VCC.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many phone taps have been authorised for the (a) police and (b) security services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Between 2014 – 2018, there were 15,970 targeted interception warrants (including phone taps) authorised by a Secretary of State, or for a small number of cases relating to serious crimes, by a Minister of the Scottish Government:
2014 – 2,795
2015 – 3,057
2016 – 3,007
2017 – 3,535
2018 – 3,576
Due to the method in which the data is collected, it is difficult to attribute specific numbers to the police and the security services, respectively. The figures above cover all warrant-requesting organisations across Government.
Figures for 2019 are not yet available. They will be published in the 2019 Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Annual Report.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many biometric records have been obtained by police forces using automatic facial recognition in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No information is centrally held on the number of biometric records obtained by police forces using live facial recognition systems. Facial images of passers by which do not match facial images of suspects on a watchlist are deleted immediately.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking in response to the Information Commissioner's report on police mobile phone data extraction; and if she will make statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The requirement for police and prosecutors to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry should be balanced with victims feeling confident that they will be treated fairly and with dignity. The Home Office welcomes the Information Commissioner’s recent report into current practice in relation to data taken from mobile phones.
The College of Policing, which leads on providing guidance to police forces on operational activity and standards, are already in the process of developing guidance for investigators who make decisions on the use of mobile data extraction.
The Home Office will support the College on this work and, with other policing partners and the Crown Prosecution Service, will consider the recommendations made by the Information Commissioner.
Further to this, as part of work under the Governments Rape Review, evidence is being gathered to enable us to better understand how handling and outcomes for rape cases could be improved.? This includes looking at the impact of the number of victims withdrawing their support for prosecution and will be published later this year.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has given to police forces on continuing rape investigations when victims refuse to hand over their mobile phones to the police because of privacy concerns; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The requirement for police and prosecutors to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry should be balanced with victims feeling confident that they will be treated fairly and with dignity. The Home Office welcomes the Information Commissioner’s recent report into current practice in relation to data taken from mobile phones.
The College of Policing, which leads on providing guidance to police forces on operational activity and standards, are already in the process of developing guidance for investigators who make decisions on the use of mobile data extraction.
The Home Office will support the College on this work and, with other policing partners and the Crown Prosecution Service, will consider the recommendations made by the Information Commissioner.
Further to this, as part of work under the Governments Rape Review, evidence is being gathered to enable us to better understand how handling and outcomes for rape cases could be improved.? This includes looking at the impact of the number of victims withdrawing their support for prosecution and will be published later this year.