Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to promote the wider adoption of drones by fire services.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Fire and Rescue Services have been early adopters of drones which can improve decision making, operational efficiency and reduce risk to firefighters. We work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council which co-ordinates the use of Fire & Rescue Service Drones, ensuring services are aware of new technology and the benefits available.
Fire and rescue authorities are operationally independent from government and decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions and keep their communities safe are a matter for each fire and rescue authority, based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances. Any consideration of equipment, including drones, will be part of this process.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to promote the wider adoption of drones by police forces.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The decision to use drones and in which circumstances are operational matters for police forces who are subject to the requirements of the Air Navigation Order and Data Protection legislation when operating drones.
Drone technology is developing at a rapid pace, and therefore, in FY24/25 the Home Office has allocated over £4m to support national police-led programmes of work to support police use of drones and explore the benefits that future drones’ capabilities may provide to police operations - including, standardising police operations, trialling innovative use of drones to improve police productivity, and supporting the progression of a future operating model for police aviation that considers both crewed and uncrewed aircraft.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police officers have confidence in their ability to (a) appropriately use force and (b) use other powers available to them for community policing.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police officers have the power to use force where it is reasonable, proportionate and necessary to do so.
Oversight of police use of force is provided by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and any death or serious injury during or following police contact must be referred to the Independent Office for Police Complaints.
The College of Policing sets training and guidance for use of force to which police are expected to operate.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with West Yorkshire police on the steps being taken to (a) provide support to and (b) respond to threats made against the suspended teacher from Batley Grammar school.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office was in close contact with West Yorkshire Police, who worked with local partners to take swift action at the time to protect the individual involved, in recognition of the significant interest both locally, nationally and across various media outlets. We expect the police to continue to take appropriate and proportionate action in relation to any threats made.
It would not be appropriate to provide further information or details in relation to a specific case. The government remains steadfast in our commitment to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and must always stand up to those who seek to undermine our fundamental values.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of assaults in fast-food outlets at (a) night and (b) other times.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Police forces across England and Wales have recently committed to pursuing any available evidence where there is a reasonable chance it could lead to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. For assaults in fast-food outlets, this could include reviewing CCTV evidence and using the Police National Database for facial searches to identify suspects where appropriate to do so.
The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any public-facing worker is never acceptable. We take this issue very seriously and recognise the implications these incidents can have on businesses as well as the victims.
The Government took a significant step and legislated to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker via section 156 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences.
We have record ever police numbers across England and Wales.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with police forces on preventing the use of flags of extremist organisations at protests.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The management of protests is an operational matter for the police, who are independent of government.
The Home Office remains in regular contact with the police to ensure that they are fully supported in tackling unlawful behaviour at protests.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help women who have experienced adult sexual exploitation.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is fully committed to protecting victims from, and tackling, the devastating harm associated with adult sexual exploitation.
Adult sexual exploitation can occur across a spectrum of offending, from intimate partner violence, including domestic abuse and rape and sexual violence to serious and organised crime, including human trafficking. These offences are covered under a range of legislation.
Due to the complex nature of adult sexual exploitation, victims can access tailored support across different services depending on the harm they have experienced.
The Home Office is providing £1.36 million over three years to Changing Lives for their Net-Reach project, providing early intervention and targeted support for women and girls at high-risk of commercial online exploitation and the risk on online sexual harm. We are also providing over £180,000 in 2023/24 to Trevi Women to provide support to women with complex and multiple needs, including women seeking to exit on-street prostitution in Plymouth.
The Government funded Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract also provides victims of modern slavery access to safehouse accommodation and a dedicated support worker who provides information on their rights and facilitates access to wider statutory support services, specifically related to the victim’s experience – this can be gender specific, such as assistance with accessing sexual health services as a result of sexual exploitation.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent criminal organisations committing sextortion offences.
Answered by Sarah Dines
“Sextortion”, or blackmail involving the use of indecent or intimate images, is a horrific crime which the government is determined to tackle.
The Home Office is providing £150k in 2022/23 to the Revenge Porn Hotline to support victims of non-consensual intimate image sharing, colloquially known as “revenge porn”, which includes victims of “sextortion”.
The Government remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse online, including cases involving “sextortion”. Our approach is underpinned by the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy which sets out firm commitments to drive action across the whole system. The Home Office invests in a number of capabilities to support law enforcement to tackle child sexual abuse.
The Home Office funds the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt the highest harm child sexual abuse offenders and safeguard children. Since 2017, the Home Office has invested in a network of Undercover Online Officers in Regional Organised Crime Units to disrupt high harm offenders, including those seeking to groom or otherwise manipulate children into sharing sexual images.
We remain committed to continuing close collaboration with international partners to share best practice and insights and build international capacity to tackle all forms of child exploitation and abuse, including “sextortion”.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislation to enable pubs to serve take away pints permanently.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
In order to continue to support the hospitality sector, the Government recently announced the extension of the temporary off-sales regulatory easement - set out in the Business and Planning Act 2020 - until 31 March 2025. This extension enables holders of licences that only cover ‘on sales’ to continue to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises, including ‘takeaway pints’, for a further 18 months.
The Government is considering next steps and continues to keep the Licensing Act 2003 under review.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to strengthen disciplinary procedures in police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
This Government is committed to providing the police with the powers they need to protect the public. On 31 August 2023, this Government announced a raft of changes to strengthen the police disciplinary system, which will see corrupt police officers swiftly identified and robustly dealt with.
That includes handing responsibility for chairing misconduct hearings back to senior police officers, introducing a presumption of dismissal for gross misconduct and clarifying a route to remove officers who are unable to maintain vetting. Details of these changes can be found here:
Government to make it easier to sack rogue police officers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The majority of these reforms will require changes to secondary legislation and the Government is committed to delivering these as soon as practicable