Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to tackle the number of small boat crossings.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Dangerous small boat crossings are undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. The recent tragic incidents in the Channel underscore that danger and show why it is imperative to tackle the criminal gangs responsible for facilitating them.
The new Border Security Command (BSC) has been launched. It will be led by a new Border Security Commander, reporting directly to the Home Secretary, who will provide strategic direction to the National Crime Agency, police, intelligence agencies, Immigration Enforcement, and Border Force to relentlessly pursue and smash the criminal gangs.
Through the new BSC, work is already underway to recruit more investigators, experts and analysts, and new counter-terrorism style powers will equip law enforcement partners to pursue, disrupt and arrest those responsible for this vile trade.
We will continue to work closely with our French counterparts and seek closer cooperation with our European and International partners to prevent further dangerous crossings and reduce risk to life at sea.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a new modern slavery strategy.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Modern slavery is a scourge that traumatises and dehumanises its victims.
The Government is committed to tackling it, taking a holistic approach that puts victims first.
We will update on the future of Home Office policies in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle fraud in online travel bookings.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the issue of online fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime.
The Online Safety Act (OSA) will make tech companies responsible for blocking fraud and fraudulent adverts on their platforms. The OSA final Codes of Practice on illegal harms are expected by end of 2024 with tech firms liable a year after (2025), and fraudulent advertising duties set to follow in 2026.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of arrests for online harassment in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests as part of the annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical bulletin. The most recent data up to the year ending March 2023 is available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
However, the data is collected by broader offence group e.g. “violence against the person”, therefore data on more specific offences such as online harassment is not available.
The number of harassment and stalking offences reported to police which were flagged as online crime is available in table F11 of the ‘Crime in England and Wales: Other related tables’ dataset:
Crime in England and Wales: Other related tables - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to protect retailers from shoplifting.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Since 2010 our communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft from the person down 48% and overall violent crime down 44%, and more police officers on the streets than in 2010.
However, there has been a worrying rise in shoplifting and violence towards retail workers, which we are taking action to address. The Government’s plan – "Fighting Retail Crime: more action" was launched on 10 April. It includes a new standalone offence for assaults on retail workers, which will be introduced via the Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament.. We are working with police and businesses to roll out the latest facial recognition to catch these perpetrators; championing good practice to design out crime; and making it easier for retailers to report crime.
We will also legislate through the Criminal Justice Bill, to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops.
The Government’s action plan builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, launched in October 2023, which includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals. Early indications suggest that there has been improved police attendance at the retail crime incidents prioritised. This has been echoed by major retailers.
Police forces across England and Wales have also committed to pursuing any available evidence where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime and this includes shoplifting. These are substantial operational policing commitments, which I am overseeing delivery of through the National Retail Crime Steering Group.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on tackling underage drinking in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Crime and policing in Northern Ireland are devolved matters and fall within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many thefts from retail businesses there have been in each of the last three years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Since 2010 theft offences experienced by the general population has fallen by 48%, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, but shoplifting has been increasing in the last three years, as shown in the table.
Calendar Year | Number of Shoplifting offences |
2021 | 256,199 |
2022 | 315,040 |
2023 | 430,104 |
Source: ONS Crime in England and Wales: year ending December 2023, Appendix Table A4.
There must be a zero tolerance approach to such crime which is why, alongside key partners, this Government is taking concerted action to address the menace of retail crime. The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, and highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime:
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the number of convictions for class (a) A and (b) B drug possession in the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
No specific assessment on trends in convictions for drug offences as a result of policy changes has been made, but the Government takes the matter of harmful drugs very seriously. Our approach to them remains clear - we must prevent drug misuse in our communities and support people through treatment and recovery.
The police have a range of powers at their disposal to deal with drug-related offences, such as illegal possession, and how police choose to pursue investigations is an operational decision for Chief Constables, but we are clear that we expect them to enforce the law. We expect police to take a zero tolerance approach to drug possession, and this can include sanctions other than prosecution. This includes referrals to treatment, as well as sanctions to make offenders understand the impact of their actions and opportunities for them to change their behaviour. However, we are clear prosecution remains an option to deal with repeat offenders.
We keep the classification of drugs under review. Ministers are subject to a statutory obligation to consider advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), an independent scientific advisory body, before making legislation on the classification of drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Legislative changes are accompanied by a robust impact assessment where we set out the potential impacts of such changes.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the border between the UK and Republic of Ireland is secure against the passage malign foreign actors.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Security)
We continue a high level of cooperation on border security with Ireland; working closely together to identify and tackle those who seek to abuse arrangements from entering the Common Travel Area.
Schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 allows a Counter-Terrorism Police Officer to stop, question and, when necessary, detain and search, individuals and goods travelling through UK ports and the “border area” for the purpose of determining whether the person (or the goods) appears to be someone who is, or has been, engaged in hostile activity.
In Northern Ireland, a place is within the “border area” if it is no more than one mile from the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland or it is the first place at which a train travelling from the Republic of Ireland stops to let passengers off.
Individuals who seek to abuse the Common Travel Area arrangements are liable to be detained, and if unlawfully entering the UK, removed.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have retired due to ill health in the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers leaving the police service and their reasons for leaving, including medical retirements, as at 31 March each year, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Information on the number of police officers leaving the police service by reason for leaving, including medical retirements, between the years ending 31 March 2007 and 2023 can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba76662059dc000d5d27c0/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-260723.ods
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of police officers taking medical retirement in Scotland or Northern Ireland.