Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the (a) accuracy and (b) reliability of personal immigration status information generated by the Government View and Prove system; and what safeguards her Department plans to introduce to avoid system failures.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The transition towards eVisas is already underway, with millions of people already receiving and using eVisas successfully, by logging into the View and Prove service using their UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account.
While most people are able to use the online services successfully without problems, where issues do occur, we have robust processes in place. Any person experiencing issues with their eVisa should contact the UKVI Resolution Centre which provides a full range of digital and telephone support. The Resolution Centre can assist users who are experiencing technical issues with their eVisa, and where necessary, enable a person’s status to be verified through alternative means.
As part of our move to an immigration system which is more digital and streamlined, we stopped issuing any new BRPs and BRCs on 31 October 2024. People with existing permission in the UK are encouraged to take action now to create a UKVI account if they have not already done so, to access their eVisa. Most people will be able to see their status right away. Anyone who cannot do so should be able to see their status shortly. Those who cannot see their status can use the existing Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Prove your right to rent in England: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) online services in the meantime, and, if they still have it, use their BRP to prove their rights for other purposes. Otherwise, they should contact the UKVI Resolution Centre.
We have designed our digital services to be highly resilient, with rigorous testing to build assurance, and deployed across multiple data centres. Our online services and their constituent parts are also proactively monitored for failures, which highlight any potential problems to allow support teams to triage and resolve them as quickly as possible. We are constantly improving the accuracy, reliability and accessibility of our digital status services, including the View and Prove service. This includes proactive work to enhance the service as well as resolving issues reported to us by customers. We also continue to engage with stakeholders to test whether any improvements to implementation or our communications need to be made. The View and Prove platform is rigorously tested for security and stability and proven to be reliable in terms of availability.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) recruitment and (b) retention in police forces.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest Home Office statistics for the overall Police Workforce show a 1.2% increase when compared to the previous year. The total paid police workforce in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales was 236,588 full-time equivalents (FTE) as at 31 March 2024; an increase of 2,752 FTE, compared to 233,836 FTE as at 31 March 2023. This includes 147,746 FTE police officers (up 0.2% on 147,434 in March 2023); and 81,303 FTE police staff and designated officers (up 3.4% on 78,596 in March 2023).
This Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to tackle crime effectively. As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This includes getting thousands of additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs back on the beat in communities across the country.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of police officers are currently classified as deployable; and what the primary reasons are for officers being deemed non-deployable.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not have an official measure of ‘deployable’.
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number and proportion of police officers available for duty as at 31 March each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Table H1 of the data tables accompanying the publication provides the number and proportion of police officers available for duty, by Police Force Area, as at 31 March 2024. The number of police officers available for duty is calculated by excluding those on long-term absence (that has lasted for more than 28 calendar days). Long-term absence includes career breaks, compassionate leave, maternity or paternity leave, sickness, special leave, study leave and suspension.
The number of police officers available for duty includes police officers that are on recuperative (duties falling short of full deployment, undertaken by a police officer following an injury, accident, illness or medical incident) or adjusted (duties falling short of full deployment, in respect of which workplace adjustments have been made to overcome barriers to working) duties. The Home Office does not collect data on the reason for recuperative or adjusted duties.
Table W5 and W6 of the data tables accompanying the publication provide the number and proportion of police officers on recuperative and adjusted duties, by Police Force Area, as at 31 March 2024.
The Home Office does not collect data on officers that are non-deployable due to management restricted duties.