Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving custodial sentences were convicted based on evidence from the Gang Violence Matrix.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on offenders convicted and sentenced to immediate custody in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
However, data held centrally does not include information on whether defendants were sentenced based on information obtained from the Gang Violence Matrix.
This information may be held in court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people in the Metropolitan Police’s Gangs Violence Matrix who have been convicted under joint enterprise laws.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM) was an intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.
The police are operationally independent of the government, and the GVM was devised and operated by the Metropolitan Police, independently of the Home Office. The deletion of the data held on the GVM is a matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing.
Following an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Metropolitan Police made the decision to discontinue use of the GVM after 13 February 2024. The Metropolitan Police had already previously decided that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This decision was taken in order to satisfy both Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM and to ensure that any claims under Article 8 Human Rights Act could be answered. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.
Any form of discrimination in policing is unacceptable. The Government is supportive of the NPCC and College of Policing’s Police Race Action Plan which aims to improve policing’s engagement with Black communities. A number of forces have developed their own local plans to address specific needs from their communities, including the MPS.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of identifying an independent body to safeguard data relating to the Metropolitan Police’s Gangs Violence Matrix.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM) was an intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.
The police are operationally independent of the government, and the GVM was devised and operated by the Metropolitan Police, independently of the Home Office. The deletion of the data held on the GVM is a matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing.
Following an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Metropolitan Police made the decision to discontinue use of the GVM after 13 February 2024. The Metropolitan Police had already previously decided that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This decision was taken in order to satisfy both Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM and to ensure that any claims under Article 8 Human Rights Act could be answered. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.
Any form of discrimination in policing is unacceptable. The Government is supportive of the NPCC and College of Policing’s Police Race Action Plan which aims to improve policing’s engagement with Black communities. A number of forces have developed their own local plans to address specific needs from their communities, including the MPS.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will instruct the Metropolitan Police to delay the deletion of its Gangs Violence Matrix.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM) was an intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.
The police are operationally independent of the government, and the GVM was devised and operated by the Metropolitan Police, independently of the Home Office. The deletion of the data held on the GVM is a matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing.
Following an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Metropolitan Police made the decision to discontinue use of the GVM after 13 February 2024. The Metropolitan Police had already previously decided that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This decision was taken in order to satisfy both Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM and to ensure that any claims under Article 8 Human Rights Act could be answered. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.
Any form of discrimination in policing is unacceptable. The Government is supportive of the NPCC and College of Policing’s Police Race Action Plan which aims to improve policing’s engagement with Black communities. A number of forces have developed their own local plans to address specific needs from their communities, including the MPS.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed deletion of the Gang Violence Matrix on (a) legal risks and (b) access to justice for affected people.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The now decommissioned Gang Violence Matrix (GVM) was an operational risk assessment tool used by the Metropolitan Police. The Metropolitan Police is the controller of this data and is operationally independent of Government.
The Metropolitan Police has already extended the retention of the data for 12 months to enable persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM to exercise their Right of Access. Any individual who considers they may have been included on the GVM is entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025. The Metropolitan Police advises the public of this on its website.
As the GVM is a policing tool and matter, the Ministry of Justice has no input or remit in relation to its deletion.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been (a) charged, (b) prosecuted and (c) incarcerated based on information obtained from the Gang Violence Matrix since 2011.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on defendants prosecuted and sentenced to immediate custody in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
However, data held centrally does not include information on whether defendants were prosecuted or sentence to immediate custody based on information obtained from the Gang Violence Matrix.
This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Metropolitan Police on (a) the potential impact of its gang violence matrix on ethnic minority groups and (b) the steps it is taking to ensure that its policing practices are not discriminatory.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM) was an intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.
The police are operationally independent of the government, and the GVM was devised and operated by the Metropolitan Police, independently of the Home Office. The deletion of the data held on the GVM is a matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing.
Following an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Metropolitan Police made the decision to discontinue use of the GVM after 13 February 2024. The Metropolitan Police had already previously decided that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This decision was taken in order to satisfy both Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM and to ensure that any claims under Article 8 Human Rights Act could be answered. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.
Any form of discrimination in policing is unacceptable. The Government is supportive of the NPCC and College of Policing’s Police Race Action Plan which aims to improve policing’s engagement with Black communities. A number of forces have developed their own local plans to address specific needs from their communities, including the MPS.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Metropolitan Police on taking steps to allow people who have been wrongfully included on the gang violence matrix to challenge their inclusion before the deletion deadline.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM) was an intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.
The police are operationally independent of the government, and the GVM was devised and operated by the Metropolitan Police, independently of the Home Office. The deletion of the data held on the GVM is a matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing.
Following an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Metropolitan Police made the decision to discontinue use of the GVM after 13 February 2024. The Metropolitan Police had already previously decided that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This decision was taken in order to satisfy both Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM and to ensure that any claims under Article 8 Human Rights Act could be answered. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.
Any form of discrimination in policing is unacceptable. The Government is supportive of the NPCC and College of Policing’s Police Race Action Plan which aims to improve policing’s engagement with Black communities. A number of forces have developed their own local plans to address specific needs from their communities, including the MPS.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure people who were convicted using information from the Gang Violence Matrix can appeal their convictions after the database is deleted.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gang Violence Matrix (GVM) was an operational intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.
The deletion of the data held on the GVM is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing. The Metropolitan Police’s use of the GVM is subject to an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We understand that since the enforcement notice the names on the GVM have been under regular review, and since its inception in 2012 over 4,000 names have been removed.
Following the enforcement notice from the ICO, the Metropolitan Police made a decision that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This means that all data will permanently be destroyed on 13 February 2025. This decision was taken in order to satisfy Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.
Additionally, the ICO’s enforcement notice already requires that the Metropolitan Police review their sharing of information with third parties and, as the relevant supervisory authority, the ICO have the necessary powers to enforce compliance with said notice.
The Home Office does not hold any data on individuals being charged, prosecuted or incarcerated based on information held on the GVM.
In relation to the transparency of the process by which the Police collect retain and use data, the Police are subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing. However, as part of the Home Office’s police reform agenda we will explore how best to support policing in the collection, use and management of their data for a range of operational and analytical purposes.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to contact people who were included on the Gang Violence Matrix to enable them to access their information before its deletion on 13 February 2025.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Gang Violence Matrix (GVM) was an operational intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.
The deletion of the data held on the GVM is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing. The Metropolitan Police’s use of the GVM is subject to an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We understand that since the enforcement notice the names on the GVM have been under regular review, and since its inception in 2012 over 4,000 names have been removed.
Following the enforcement notice from the ICO, the Metropolitan Police made a decision that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This means that all data will permanently be destroyed on 13 February 2025. This decision was taken in order to satisfy Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.
Additionally, the ICO’s enforcement notice already requires that the Metropolitan Police review their sharing of information with third parties and, as the relevant supervisory authority, the ICO have the necessary powers to enforce compliance with said notice.
The Home Office does not hold any data on individuals being charged, prosecuted or incarcerated based on information held on the GVM.
In relation to the transparency of the process by which the Police collect retain and use data, the Police are subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing. However, as part of the Home Office’s police reform agenda we will explore how best to support policing in the collection, use and management of their data for a range of operational and analytical purposes.