Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to police forces on the effective use of ICT.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Home Office works closely with police-led governance groups that guide the use of national police ICT. In addition, together with Police and Crime Commissioners, the department has supported the creation of the Police ICT Company, which will lead on the design, purchase and delivery of local, regional and national ICT. PCCs have now committed to making the Company operational.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to local authorities and police forces on the use of community protection notices to tackle shops that persistently (a) sell prohibited goods to underage persons and (b) sell smuggled or counterfeit tobacco.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The Government published statutory guidance on 21 July 2014 for police, local councils, social landlords and others on the use of new anti-social behaviour powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, including the
community protection notice and closure power, which both came into force on 20 October 2014. This is general guidance and does not specifically refer to using the powers to tackle shops that persistently sell prohibited goods to
underage persons or sell smuggled or counterfeit tobacco. However, the closure power can be used to close these premises for up to six months if they are causing nuisance or disorder. The statutory guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332839/StatutoryGuidanceFrontline.pdf.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to local authorities and police forces on the use of closure orders to tackle shops that persistently (a) sell prohibited goods to underage persons and (b) sell smuggled or counterfeit tobacco.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The Government published statutory guidance on 21 July 2014 for police, local councils, social landlords and others on the use of new anti-social behaviour powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, including the
community protection notice and closure power, which both came into force on 20 October 2014. This is general guidance and does not specifically refer to using the powers to tackle shops that persistently sell prohibited goods to
underage persons or sell smuggled or counterfeit tobacco. However, the closure power can be used to close these premises for up to six months if they are causing nuisance or disorder. The statutory guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332839/StatutoryGuidanceFrontline.pdf.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of links between tobacco smuggling and organised crime.
Answered by Karen Bradley
Tobacco smuggling is a global, highly-profitable business, dominated by organised crime groups with the resources to continually adapt their methods in an attempt to evade UK controls. Border Force and HMRC are working collaboratively across Government and with overseas partners to disrupt tobacco smuggling and implement civil penalties and sanctions against criminals.