Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police forces are taking to improve the recording of thefts of catalytic converters from motor vehicles.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises the distress and disruption that metal theft, including the theft of catalytic converters, can cause.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes police recorded crime data on metal theft offences annually which can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables. Whilst the ONS data does not separate out theft of catalytic converters, this would be recorded under non-infrastructure related incidents.
We continue to work closely with the police, industry and others to understand what more we can do to tackle vehicle-related theft.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has had discussions with Lancashire Constabulary on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It is the duty of any responsible Governmnet to prepare for every eventuality including the scenario that we leave the EU without agreeing a deal.
We are working closely with operational partners - including the police - on contigency planning so we can ensure the safety and security of our citizens in all scenarios.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to allocate additional funding to Lancashire constabulary to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It is important that the police and local agencies have the powers they need to tackle local issues quickly and effectively. That is why we reformed the tools and powers available to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
In 2019/20 Lancashire Police are receiving £285.1 million of funding, an increase of £18.4 million, on 2018/19. Funding for 2020-21 for individual forces will be announced as part of the provisional police settlement later this year. Decisions about the allocation of police resources are for Chief Constables and democratically accountable Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to meet the needs of their local community.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to review how Clare's Law is implemented by police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Domestic abuse is a devastating crime and the Government is committed to doing everything we can to tackle it.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS, also known as “Clare’s Law”) was rolled out across all 43 police forces in England and Wales in March 2014, and recent data shows that applications and disclosures made under the scheme are increasing.
In the year ending March 2018, there were a total of 5,649 disclosures made under the scheme, representing a 66% increase on the previous year. In the year ending March 2018, applications under the “Right to Know” element of the scheme increased by 47%, and “Right to Ask” applications increased by 111%.
We will continue to work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to ensure that the DVDS and the guidance underpinning it are being used consistently and effectively to prevent harm and to keep potential victims of domestic abuse and their families safe.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to allocate the funding for 20,000 extra police officers to local forces according to how many police officers each force has lost since 2010.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We recognise that demand on the police is changing and we are acting. We are committed to recruiting 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years to tackle the rise in crime. This is the start of a new relationship between the Government and the police, and we will work even more closely together to protect the public.
The National Policing Board has been set up to provide strong leadership and deliver on our commitment to recruit 20,000 more police officers. Following the first meeting, the government and police will move at pace to drive forward our plans to bolster the police’s ranks.
All force-level funding allocations will be set out in the usual way at the pro-visional police funding settlement in December. The Government is working with the sector through a number of important details, including on allocating officers between different functions and activities to ensure maximum value from this additional resource.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to re-establish the Metal Theft Taskforce with an extended remit to include stone theft.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We provided over £6 million of funding for the police-led Metal Theft Taskforce to help ensure the reforms to tackle metal theft introduced by the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 were embedded within the normal business of police forces and local authorities.
The Taskforce was not intended to be a long-term arrangement and disbanded in 2014 following the successful implementation of the 2013 Act.
The most recent statistics show that recorded levels of metal theft offences in March 2018 are still 73% lower compared with March 2013.
We continue to work with the police, industry, local authorities and others on this issue and on acquisitive crime more generally.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Serious Crime Act 2015 on prosecuting perpetrators of financial abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduced a new domestic abuse offence of coercive or controlling behaviour in intimate and familial relationships. The statutory guidance underpinning the offence is clear that financial abuse, such as controlling the victim’s finances, is a type of behaviour that can form part of a purposeful pattern of behaviour over time to exert power, control or coercion over another person.
In 2017-18 960 offences of coercive or controlling behaviour have been charged and reached a first hearing, more than three times the volume in the previous year. This shows that the offence is having an impact and sends a strong message that coercive or controlling behaviour will not be tolerated.
On 21 January we published our landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill and consultation response which will transform the cross-Government response to this devastating crime. The draft Bill includes provisions for a statutory definition of domestic abuse, including economic abuse. Replacing ‘financial’ with ‘economic’ acknowledges how broad this form of abuse is and how many aspects of a victim’s life it can affect, such as limiting their access to fundamental resources such as money, food, transport, employment and housing. This will raise awareness of the issue of economic abuse and also enable frontline professionals and the criminal justice system to better understand, recognise and tackle it, so that victims can be supported to achieve the economic stability that they need.
The draft Bill is underpinned by a comprehensive package of non-legislative action which we have set out in our consultation response, including a commitment to review the effectiveness of the coercive or controlling behaviour offence to ensure it is fit for purpose and that it adequately protects victims from abuse. In addition, we have committed to update the statutory guidance and CPS legal guidance on the offence to include economic abuse and provide guidance on how this form of abuse can manifest itself as part of a pattern of coercive control
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the National Retail Crime Steering Group has taken to tackle violence in the retail sector.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Any act of violence or abuse against retail staff is a serious matter which is why tackling it is the number one priority issue for the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which I co-chair with the British Retail Consortium.
Through this group, we have developed a Violence Reduction Strategy which includes activities to increase reporting of violence and abuse, develop a framework for effective preventative training for retail staff and private security, work with PCCs to raise the priority of this crime type in their policing plans and work with wider Criminal Justice stakeholders to ensure that sentencing guidelines and aggravating thresholds are appropriate.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many enforcement actions have been taken on unauthorised traveller settlements in each local authority area in each year since 2008.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not collect information on the enforcement actions taken by the police relating to unauthorised traveller settlements.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in what form his Department records incidents of (a) metal and (b) stone theft from heritage buildings; and how many of those incidents to place in each month of this year.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Office of National Statistics publishes statistics on metal thefts annually, based on information provided by police forces. The most recent statistics, for the year ending March 2017 were published in December 2017. Statistics relating to the year to March 2018 will be published later this year.
Thefts of stone are not recorded separately in the crime statistics published by the Office of National Statistics. Such thefts will be incorporated within the overall statistics relating to thefts.