Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of security of open spaces in cities against terrorist attacks using vehicles.

Following recent attacks in Europe and the UK, National Counter Terrorism Policing continues to review the security position of crowded places, open spaces and events.This has led to the deployment of appropriate security measures including hostile vehicle mitigation on a number of bridges and in some town centres, as well as a range of operational police deployments.

The police plan for events in open spaces, such as upcoming Christmas markets, is undertaken against the current threat level which is SEVERE - an attack is highly likely. Proportionate security measures are developed to protect the public in conjunction with the event operators and other responsible bodies.