Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the (a) theft of and (b) selling of stolen tools.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Crime Survey for England and Wales data shows that neighbourhood crime is down 48% when comparing findings from the Crime Survey to year ending September 2023 with the year ending March 2010.
The Government is tackling acquisitive crime as a priority and is committed to reducing the ability for criminals to profit from crime, making it less attractive for offenders to commit thefts of goods, including tools. The theft of tools can have a significant impact on victims, particularly those who rely on their tools to earn a living.
The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which will require certain specified equipment to be marked and registered before it is sold to the first owner. The Home Office consulted on extending the legislation to include tradespeople's power tools to help prevent theft and assist police forces with identifying and proving ownership of stolen property. The Government's response to the consultation will be published shortly.
The Government is working with the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) and the Combined Industries Theft Solutions to explore ways to prevent the theft of tools from tradespeople's vans. The NBCC and Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Secured By Design) have also published crime prevention guidance to help tradespeople prevent theft: https://nbcc.police.uk/crime-prevention/crime-prevention-guides and https://www.securedbydesign.com/guidance/crime-prevention-advice/vehicle-crime/vans-tool-theft.
We are also working with partners to make tradespeople's vans more secure. Following engagement with the Home Office and National Vehicle Crime Working Group, Thatcham Research has agreed to add to their New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA), locks and alarms on the back of vans (previously NVSA only covers the cab area of vans) and a motion sensor on the load area of the van.
In addition, through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on the affordability of black cabs for drivers.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DfT officials meet with Transport for London representatives to discuss the uptake of electric taxis, including the Plug in Taxi Grant and potential barriers to the adoption of these vehicles.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase prison capacity.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is currently delivering 10,000 new prison places by the end of 2025 and have a long-term commitment to build 20,00 places overall, which is the largest prison building programme in Britain since the Victorian era. We have already delivered c.5,900 of these, including through our two brand new modern and secure prisons. A third prison will open next year, and two more have planning permission; as a result, the total number of prison places is significantly higher than in 2010 and will rise further.
Meanwhile, with a new prisoner transfer agreement with Albania and expansion of the Early Removal Scheme, strong and decisive action is being taken to drive down the number of Foreign National Offenders in our prisons.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with the Metropolitan Police on publishing data on the number of (a) speeding fines and (b) notices of intended prosecution for speeding since 1 December 2023 in the section of the A20 eastbound near Sidcup with a temporary speed limit.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
No discussions are currently planned between the Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Police on this matter.
Enforcement of speed limits is an operational matter for local Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.
If there are problems with the issue of speeding tickets then the matter can initially be raised with the Metropolitan Police, MOPAC and TfL as the authority responsible for the road in question.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle illegal protests that block streets in London.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling the guerrilla tactics used by a selfish minority of protesters, which take up precious resource and disrupt the lives of others. That is why we introduced the Public Order Act 2023, which improves the police’s ability to manage highly disruptive protests and take a proactive approach to prevent such disruption happening in the first place. For example, the lock-on offence and the associated stop and search power will allow the police to pro-actively prevent protesters from causing serious disruption on our roads and save the taxpayer time and money.
Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the Government also raised the maximum penalty for wilful obstruction of the highway, ensuring offenders can receive proportionate sentences for the disruption they cause.
We have also recently amended the Public Order Act 1986 via statutory instrument to align the definition of “serious disruption” with the Public Order Act 2023. These changes give the police greater flexibility and clarity over when to intervene to stop disruptive tactics such as blocking roads and slow walks.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding the Greater London Authority received from the public purse in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
A breakdown of government grants and other sources of income for each of the seven constituent bodies of the Greater London Authority (GLA) Group can be found in the Mayor of London's annual budgets. Copies can be found here.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on requirements for the regulation for carbon monoxide alarms in owner-occupied properties.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
We have introduced legal obligations on both private and social landlords to provide carbon monoxide detectors in their properties and we have amended the statutory guidance (Approved Document J) supporting Part J of the Building Regulations to require that carbon monoxide alarms are fitted alongside the installation of fixed combustion appliances of any fuel type (excluding gas cookers) in all tenures.
We continue to advise homeowners to install carbon monoxide alarms and support the Health and Safety Executive when they recommend these alarms as one useful precaution to give advance warning of carbon monoxide in a property. We also commend the work of the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group and the Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society.
The latest report from the Cross-government Group on Gas Safety and Carbon Monoxide Awareness can be found at Cross government group on gas safety and carbon monoxide (CO) awareness (hse.gov.uk).
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on requirements for carbon monoxide alarms in owner-occupied properties.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
We have introduced legal obligations on both private and social landlords to provide carbon monoxide detectors in their properties and we have amended the statutory guidance (Approved Document J) supporting Part J of the Building Regulations to require that carbon monoxide alarms are fitted alongside the installation of fixed combustion appliances of any fuel type (excluding gas cookers) in all tenures.
We continue to advise homeowners to install carbon monoxide alarms and support the Health and Safety Executive when they recommend these alarms as one useful precaution to give advance warning of carbon monoxide in a property. We also commend the work of the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group and the Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society.
The latest report from the Cross-government Group on Gas Safety and Carbon Monoxide Awareness can be found at Cross government group on gas safety and carbon monoxide (CO) awareness (hse.gov.uk).
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has provided recent guidance on the amount of notice that should be provided to drivers before entering zones in which they may be liable to charges.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Guidance for local highway authorities on all matters relating to signage is set out in the Traffic Signs Manual, which is available on gov.uk. The Department has no plans to update this advice to cover this specific issue.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the impact of inner London local authorities placing their residents in temporary and permanent accommodation in outer London local authorities and neighbouring counties on those counties and local authorities.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The latest homelessness statistics, which includes data on temporary accommodation placements out of borough, can be found here.
Local authorities must ensure any temporary accommodation placement is suitable and should try to place individuals within their own area. If an authority places a household in temporary accommodation outside of the local area, this should be as a last resort and they should still try to place the household as near as possible to the original local authority.