Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on monitoring the misuse of Motability vehicles identified by police forces.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Motability Foundation is a registered charity regulated by the Charity Commission so is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Motability Scheme. The Scheme is delivered by Motability Operations which is an independent commercial company under contract to the charity. Only those claimants in receipt of an eligible benefit can choose to join the Motability Scheme. Any misuse of a scheme vehicle is a matter for Motability, and they will take action as appropriate.
DWP and Motability work closely to ensure that Scheme vehicles are used to meet the needs of disabled people. Where misuse of a Scheme vehicle is identified, including for criminal activity, appropriate action is taken to inform the police and recover the vehicle
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help prevent the misuse of Motability vehicles in criminal activity.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not issued national guidance to police forces on the recording and investigation of criminal activity involving Motability vehicles.
Enforcement of the law, including road traffic legislation, is an operational matter for individual police forces to determine in line with resources and local policing plans.
The Government will continue to support the police to ensure that they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to police forces on (a) recording and (b) investigating criminal offences involving Motability vehicles.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not issued national guidance to police forces on the recording and investigation of criminal activity involving Motability vehicles.
Enforcement of the law, including road traffic legislation, is an operational matter for individual police forces to determine in line with resources and local policing plans.
The Government will continue to support the police to ensure that they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on the proportion of crimes involving Motability vehicles where the vehicle was used (a) by the registered Motability customer, (b) by another person with permission and (c) without the registered customer’s consent.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office holds data on the number of vehicle related incidents of crime recorded by the police in England and Wales. However, we do not hold data on whether a vehicle was used as part of the incident or the type of vehicle used.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of recorded crimes in which motability vehicles were identified as being involved, listed by each police force area.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office holds data on the number of vehicle related incidents of crime recorded by the police in England and Wales.
However, we do not hold data on whether a vehicle was used as part of the incident or the type of vehicle used.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of recorded criminal incidents involving vehicles registered under the Motability Scheme in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office holds data on the number of vehicle related incidents of crime recorded by the police in England and Wales.
However, we do not hold data on whether a vehicle was used as part of the incident or the type of vehicle used.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to (a) review and (b) update victim notification procedures.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims’ Code is statutory guidance that sets out the minimum level of service that victims of crime should receive from the criminal justice system. Under the Code, victims have the right to information when reporting the crime, during investigation and prosecution, during the trial, and at the outcome of the trial. We will be consulting on a new Code in due course to make sure we get the foundations for victims right.
Through the Victim and Courts Bill, we will be updating the legislative framework that establishes the Victim Contact Scheme to bring victims currently served by different post-conviction communication schemes into the Victim Contact Scheme and provide a new route for other victims to request information via a dedicated helpline. This will give victims confidence about the routes available to receive information about their offender’s release.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims have been notified of the early release of their offender in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is vital that information about an offender’s release is available to victims who need it most. Victims who are eligible for, and who have opted into, the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme or Victim Notification Scheme will be informed about any changes to an offender’s release date where it is appropriate to do so. Responsibility for informing victims about release through each of these schemes sits with HMPPS Victim Liaison Officers.
We have committed to improve the support and information for victims, which is why, through the Victim and Courts Bill, we are establishing a new route for all other victims to request information about an offender’s release, which will be delivered through a new, dedicated Helpline. This will give victims confidence about the routes available to receive information about their offender’s release.
With regards to how many victims have been notified of the early release of their offender in each of the last five years, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that victims are informed when offenders are released early from custody.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is vital that information about an offender’s release is available to victims who need it most. Victims who are eligible for, and who have opted into, the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme or Victim Notification Scheme will be informed about any changes to an offender’s release date where it is appropriate to do so. Responsibility for informing victims about release through each of these schemes sits with HMPPS Victim Liaison Officers.
We have committed to improve the support and information for victims, which is why, through the Victim and Courts Bill, we are establishing a new route for all other victims to request information about an offender’s release, which will be delivered through a new, dedicated Helpline. This will give victims confidence about the routes available to receive information about their offender’s release.
With regards to how many victims have been notified of the early release of their offender in each of the last five years, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance has been issued to police forces on informing victims about the early release of offenders.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is vital that information about an offender’s release is available to victims who need it most. Victims who are eligible for, and who have opted into, the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme or Victim Notification Scheme will be informed about any changes to an offender’s release date where it is appropriate to do so. Responsibility for informing victims about release through each of these schemes sits with HMPPS Victim Liaison Officers.
We have committed to improve the support and information for victims, which is why, through the Victim and Courts Bill, we are establishing a new route for all other victims to request information about an offender’s release, which will be delivered through a new, dedicated Helpline. This will give victims confidence about the routes available to receive information about their offender’s release.
With regards to how many victims have been notified of the early release of their offender in each of the last five years, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.