Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the safety of Hindu communities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion and we will not tolerate anti-Hindu hatred in any form. Government and police regularly review potential threats to ensure that measures are taken to protect communities from terrorism and hate crime.
Additionally, Hindu communities can apply to the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme. The scheme provides physical protective security measures (such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) to places of worship and associated faith community centres that are particularly vulnerable to religiously or racially motivated hate crime in England and Wales.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the safety of Jewish communities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Jewish Community Protective Security (JCPS) Grant provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV and alarm systems) at synagogues, Jewish educational establishments and community sites. The JCPS Grant is managed on behalf of the Home Office by the Community Security Trust.
The Community Security Trust will receive funding of £18 million per year through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant from 2024/25 to 2027/28.
We continue to work closely with CST on how best to respond to live incidents that affect the Jewish communities in the UK.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of how effectively her Department's agencies, the police and the NHS work together to support victims, patients and families with mental health issues.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government has worked with the police and their partners to improve the support to people with mental health needs.
Latest figures on the use of section 136 of the Mental Health Act indicate that police stations were used as a place of safety on 2,100 occasions in 2015/16, a 54% reduction on the previous year, and the Government has also allocated up to £30m in funding to local areas to improve places of safety provision and ensure that people in mental health crisis are not detained in police stations.
Liaison and Diversion (L&D) schemes have been rolled out in police custody suites and courts to ensure that those coming into contact with the criminal justice system who have mental health issues are identified and referred to appropriate assessment and support services. Such schemes currently cover over 68% of the population of England and are expected to reach 82% by April 2018. Street triage schemes, which involve collaborative working and information exchange between police officers and mental health professionals, are operating in over 30 forces. These have been found to provide a more appropriate response to those in mental health crisis.
Home Office and Department of Health Ministers chair the National Steering Group on the Crisis Care Concordat, comprising a wide range of national organisations and service users. This monitors work undertaken across the country by local Crisis Care Concordat Partnerships in responding to those in mental health crisis.
However, there remains more to do and the Government announced on 4 October an independent review of the Mental Health Act to ensure that people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need when they need it. people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need, when they need it. people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need, when they need it. people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need, when they need it.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training her Department provides to senior officers in the (a) Metropolitan Police and (b) Hertfordshire Constabulary to assist and support police officers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Answered by Nick Hurd
It is the responsibility of Chief Officers supported by the College of Policing to ensure the welfare of their employees which includes supporting officers with specific welfare needs by signposting to relevant services and additional support. This responsibility also includes ensuring that good management systems are in place to support officers in their work.
The Strategic Command Course (SCC), which prepares police officers and staff for promotion to the most senior ranks in the service, includes specific content on staff wellbeing and the importance of supporting staff as well as being a theme that runs throughout the course. The style of delivery includes practising techniques such as peer coaching.
The College of Policing have produced specific risk-management guidance to forces regarding how to assess and manage areas of policing where there is a higher level of exposure to psychological hazards known to be associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, primary and secondary trauma.
Specific sections of the National Policing Curriculum in the new degree apprenticeship, for police constables, also cover health and wellbeing in which post traumatic stress disorder is covered specifically.
In July 2017, the Home Secretary awarded £7.5million from the Police Transformation Fund over three years to pilot and, if it is successful, fund a dedicated national service to help provide enhanced welfare support. The new service will complement the support already delivered at force level to serving police officers and staff, covering mental health advice and welfare support.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to improve the (a) security and (b) funding for security at synagogues and Jewish schools.
Answered by Ben Wallace
During 1016-17 the Government provided a grant of £13.4m to support security measures for the Jewish Community. On 01 March I was pleased to announce a continuation of the grant at the same level for 2017-18.
The Jewish Community Protective Security Grant makes funding available to all Jewish free, state and independent schools, colleges and nurseries to employ security guards during operating hours. Grant funding is also used to improve security at many synagogues through the implementation of a range of solutions including guarding and physical measures. These funded security measures supplement existing site security arrangements and policing measures put in place following the increase in the national threat level in August 2014, and enhanced after the shocking events in Paris and Copenhagen, which has resulted in heightened police activity around Jewish sites.
The Government has also ensured locations such as synagogues and educational establishments have access to high-quality advice and guidance, provided by the police and others, so they know what further steps they can take to reduce vulnerability.
Public vigilance, the work of the police, and of the security and intelligence agencies all contribute to make our communities safer.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of human trafficking in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Hertsmere constituency.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The National Crime Agency regularly publishes statistics relating to the number of potential victims of modern slavery referred to the National Referral Mechanism, broken down by police force area. These can be found here: www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. The Home Office has not made an assessment of the prevalence of human trafficking and modern slavery in Hertfordshire or the Hertsmere constituency.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many local authorities have anti-trafficking programmes.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We do not hold data on how many local authorities have specific anti-trafficking programmes. All local authorities in England and Wales have a duty under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to notify the Home Office if they encounter a victim of modern slavery. They are also all ‘first responders’ under the National Referral Mechanism and so are able to refer victims for specialist support. Guidance on these referral processes is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure that public bodies implement section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We published guidance on the Modern Slavery Act on GOV.UK and a circular was sent to all bodies who are subject to the duty when section 52 was first introduced. In October 2016, we launched a communications campaign to raise awareness amongst public bodies and made communications materials available on GOV.UK. We will continue to promote the duty to notify in consultation with key partners.