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Written Question
Firearms: West Yorkshire
Wednesday 23rd June 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are in possession of a firearms licence registered in (a) Wakefield and (b) West Yorkshire.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

All persons acquiring, or in possession of, a firearm or shotgun must hold a certificate issued by the chief officer of the police force area in which they reside unless they are otherwise exempt.

The Home Office publishes annual figures for each police force in England and Wales on the number of firearm and/or shotgun certificate holders. The latest figures on the number of firearms certificate holders is available from table 13 of the Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2019/20publication.

Data for year ending March 2021 will be made available on 15 July 2021.


Written Question
Drugs: Organised Crime
Thursday 10th June 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle county line drug gangs in West Yorkshire.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

This Government is determined to crack down on the county lines gangs who are exploiting our children and have a devastating impact on our communities. That is why on 20 January the Government announced a further £40m dedicated investment for 2021/22 to tackle drugs supply and county lines and surge our activity against these ruthless gangs. This investment has allowed us to expand and build upon our successful County Lines Programme, established in November 2019.

Since it was launched, in November 2019, our County Lines Programme has already seen more than 780 lines closed, over 5,100 arrests, £2.9 million in cash and significant quantities of drugs seized, and more than 1,200 vulnerable people safeguarded.

The greatest number of lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, and Merseyside Police, yet we recognise county lines is a cross-border issue and are funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to co-ordinate the national law enforcement response and support local forces.

The most recent county lines ‘week of intensification’, which all police forces took part in also resulted in over 1,000 arrests, saw more than 250 weapons seized and over 1,000 individuals safeguarded. Last year forces across the UK also received support from the NCLCC, resulting in over 1100 arrests, 245 individuals safeguarded, and seizures of 154 weapons, £600k cash and significant quantities of drugs.

Between 2019 and 2022, £10.11 million has been invested into the West Yorkshire PCC to develop the West Yorkshire VRU. The VRU has brought together key partners to identify the local drivers of serious violence and agree a multi-agency response to them. Additionally, West Yorkshire Police have been allocated £8.22m, over three years, to support the police to take targeted action on serious violence. This investment supports West Yorkshire Police to work closely with the Regional Organised Crime Unit to monitor and map organised crime groups and urban street gangs who are involved in County Lines and Drug supply both within West Yorkshire and into other counties.


Written Question
Animals: Theft
Monday 24th May 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department are taking to tackle animal theft in (a) Wakefield, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) the UK.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

The Home Office collects information from police forces in England on Wales on offences covered by the notifiable offence list. Whilst animal thefts are covered by the notifiable offence list it is not possible to separately identify these crimes from others in the wider offence category of theft offences.

The Government is ensuring police forces have sufficient resources to respond to the challenges they face. We have committed to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers by March 2023, with nearly 9,000 already in place. Furthermore, we are also investing in situational crime prevention through the Safer Streets Fund, to stop these crimes happening in the first place.

The Government recognises the distress pet theft causes and will consider the evidence and what more could be done to prevent these cruel crimes. That is why we launched the Pet Theft Taskforce on 8 May. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/taskforce-launched-to-investigate-reported-rise-in-pet-thefts.


Written Question
Animals: Theft
Monday 24th May 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many animal thefts were reported to the Police in (a) Wakefield and (b) West Yorkshire in 2020.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

The Home Office collects information from police forces in England on Wales on offences covered by the notifiable offence list. Whilst animal thefts are covered by the notifiable offence list it is not possible to separately identify these crimes from others in the wider offence category of theft offences.

The Government is ensuring police forces have sufficient resources to respond to the challenges they face. We have committed to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers by March 2023, with nearly 9,000 already in place. Furthermore, we are also investing in situational crime prevention through the Safer Streets Fund, to stop these crimes happening in the first place.

The Government recognises the distress pet theft causes and will consider the evidence and what more could be done to prevent these cruel crimes. That is why we launched the Pet Theft Taskforce on 8 May. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/taskforce-launched-to-investigate-reported-rise-in-pet-thefts.


Written Question
Proscribed Organisations
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to proscribe extremist groups in the UK.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The Terrorism Act 2000 enables a group to be proscribed if it is concerned in terrorism. This means an organisation can be proscribed if it commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for terrorism, promotes or encourages terrorism (including the unlawful glorification of terrorism) or is otherwise concerned in terrorism. In addition, proscription must be a proportionate action to take. The Government continually keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review.

There is no separate regime for banning extremist groups unless they are also concerned in terrorism and satisfy the relevant criteria for proscription.

The Government keeps measures to protect our national security under constant review.


Written Question
Asylum
Friday 16th April 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans are in place to communicate immigration reforms to potential asylum seekers in the most commonly spoken native languages of those seeking asylum.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are finalising communication plans to ensure the proposed measures are appropriately communicated to the public, key stakeholders and those affected by the changes.

We are currently running an organised immigration crime deterrence campaign which directly speaks to migrants in their native languages. We are preparing the next phase of the campaign, including how it can reflect and support the New Plan for Immigration.


Written Question
Police: Coronavirus
Thursday 25th March 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many serving police officers have tested positive for covid-19 since March 2020.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

The Home Office do not hold this information. It would be for National Police Co-ordination Centre (NPoCC) or individual forces to provide this information if held.


Written Question
Radicalism: Internet
Wednesday 24th March 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle extremist propaganda online.

Answered by Kevin Foster

We know terrorists and extremists exploit a wide range of platforms to spread their views and to incite terrorist attacks. The Government has been clear there can be no safe spaces for terrorists to promote and share their extreme views online.

To tackle terrorism online, the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU), based in the Metropolitan Police, refers illegal terrorist content to tech companies for removal. Within the Home Office, we work closely with our international partners and engage with tech companies to discuss how platforms can best safeguard their users from terrorism, while also encouraging tech companies work together as one coordinated body through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), to reduce the availability of terrorist content online.

On the 15th December the Government published the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation. This sets out the new expectations on companies to keep their users safe, including that companies must tackle illegal content on their platforms and protect children from harmful content and activity online. The major platforms will need to tackle legal but harmful content accessed by adults, through their terms and conditions.

The Online Safety Bill, which will give effect to the regulatory framework outlined in the Full Government Response, will be ready this year.


Written Question
Police: Coronavirus
Tuesday 23rd March 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage police officers to take-up their covid-19 vaccinations when eligible.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

There are no plans to make the Covid-19 vaccine compulsory. The decision to do so is a personal one for each of us, including police officers. But we would encourage anyone offered a vaccine to accept it.

For Phase 1 of the vaccine roll-out, the Government has rightly prioritised the elderly, given the disproportionate impact of the virus by age range. The clinically vulnerable, and front-line Health and Social Care staff who care for them, are also being prioritised. Phase 1 also includes police officers and staff who fall into these categories.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice for Phase 2 of the vaccination programme sets out that the most effective way to minimise hospitalisations and deaths is to continue to prioritise people by age. This is because age is assessed to be the strongest factor linked to mortality, morbidity and hospitalisations, and because the speed of delivery is crucial, prioritising people by age enables us to operationally vaccinate more people, providing them with protection from Covid-19.


Written Question
Police: West Yorkshire
Tuesday 23rd March 2021

Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of police officers recruited in (a) Wakefield and (b) West Yorkshire.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

We are increasing the number of police officers in England and Wales by 20,000 by the end of March 2023.

West Yorkshire Police was allocated 256 additional officers in the first year of the police uplift which covers the period to the end of March 2021. In 2020/21 the force received funding of £485m. As at 31 December 2020, West Yorkshire Police had recruited 390 additional officers.

As announced in the Police Settlement 2021/22, West Yorkshire Police has been allocated 251 additional officers for year two of the Police Uplift Programme. West Yorkshire Police will receive funding of up to £512.3m in 2021/22, an increase of up to £27.3m since 2020/21.

The deployment of these officers is an operational decision for the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.