Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the training of new police recruits can safely continue during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office has worked closely with policing partners to ensure the training of new police recruits can safety continue during the Covid-19 pandemic. This has included working with the College of Policing which is responsible for setting standards in policing, including those for officer training.
In response to Covid-19, in April 2020 the College of Policing issued emergency guidance to all forces on the safe deployment of newly recruited officers into accompanied frontline roles as quickly as possible to support operational resilience. These measures are currently in place until March 2021 when the College will review the ongoing Covid-19 situation.
In addition, on 7 January the Department for Education issued its latest guidance on Higher Education Institutes (HEI) and Covid. This confirms policing courses, that include an HEI component, are included in a list of courses that can continue to be delivered face to face, minimising disruption to initial training.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle criminals who attempt to defraud (a) the most vulnerable and (b) other citizens during the covid-19 vaccine roll-out.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is aware that fraudsters are exploiting the pandemic to commit opportunistic crimes such as fraud. We are regularly monitoring the number of cases being reported to the police and these – at present- remain very low.
The Government is working closely with local enforcement teams and urging the public to beware of fake text messages, claiming to be from NHS or instructing people to sign up for the #COVID19 vaccine.
Through our public communications, we are reminding the public that the NHS will never:
We are encouraging the public to forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and to forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (which is free of charge). This information is being used by law enforcement partners, alongside crime reports to identify, disrupt and stop fraudsters.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle county lines drug trafficking in Worcestershire.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government is determined to crack down on the county lines gangs who are exploiting our children and have a devastating impact on our communities.
That is why we are investing £25m to boost efforts to tackle county lines. Our overall package launched in October last year includes: expanding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre; increased disruption on the rail networks by the British Transport Police County Lines Taskforce; police intensification in three key exporting areas (including in the West Midlands region and Metropolitan and Merseyside Police areas); investment in new technology; and increased support for victims. Our funding has also supported operations across England and Wales, including with West Mercia Police.
Our investment is already delivering results. Following the £5m we invested in 2019-2020, the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside, West Midlands and British Transport Police closed nearly 140 deal lines, seized cash and drugs with a total value of over £3 million, and made over 100 weapons seizures between November 2019 and March 2020.
The most recent county lines ‘week of intensification’, which all police forces took part in and was co-ordinated by NCLCC, took place in September and resulted in over 1,000 arrests, drugs worth more than £1m seized and over 1,500 vulnerable individuals safeguarded.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle online fraud during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We are aware that criminals are attempting to exploit opportunities around the coronavirus. The Government and law enforcement colleagues are working tirelessly to identify and disrupt those seeking to commit these online crimes.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have launched a Suspicious Email Reporting Service. This allows members of the public to forward any suspicious emails to them which will be analysed and, if a site is found to be fraudulent or malicious, it will be removed immediately. Members of the public can forward suspicious emails to: report@phishing.gov.uk
We have worked closely with the National Crime Agency, the Financial Conduct Authority, UK Finance and others to amplify messages to the public setting out how they can protect themselves from fraud.
We have also launched a gov.uk page on coronavirus related fraud and cybercrime, including easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves, as well as signposting all relevant advice and tips.
This page can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-fraud-and-cyber-crime