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Found: It will now be a crime to knowingly promote something that has planned obsolescence as a feature.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure riders comply with e-scooter regulations.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Outside of Government rental trials, e-scooters are motor vehicles under section 185(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Using them on a public road is a criminal offence, which can carry significant penalties on prosecution, including potentially unlimited fines and disqualification from driving. It is a matter for Chief Police Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners how they conduct enforcement in their respective constabularies.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, when the Online Capability Centre became operational.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister of the new tech partnership to stop the boats on 6 August 2023, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) have strengthened the voluntary partnership with social media companies, Meta, YouTube, X/Twitter, to accelerate action to tackle people smuggling content online. We continue to explore further options, such as a ‘hackathon’ model to develop our innovative approach to break the business model of people smugglers advertising their services online.

To date we have successfully removed 98% of content flagged to social media companies, with over 9000 posts, pages and accounts removed since November 2021.

The Online Communications Centre (previously known as the Online Capability Centre) has been operational since October 2023 and with expertise in policy, investigations and intelligence and with access to a range of niche capabilities in tackling the online threat. We cannot comment on individual numbers of officers in classified roles.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving prisoners are subject to serious crime prevention orders in England and Wales.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Data on how many serving prisoners are subject to serious crime prevention orders is not currently held and would only be available at disproportionate costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department plans to spend on (a) assessments, (b) referrals and (c) support for (i) offenders and (ii) victims who are affected by harmful gambling in the 2024-25 financial year.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This information is not held centrally.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of persons arrested by the police. No national estimate has been made. Probation staff assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where appropriate. In custody, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.

HMPPS are also working with NHS and other partners to better understand the evidence around gambling addiction. This will inform a more joined up, cross system approach to effective support and recovery.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) prisoners and (b) offenders on probation affected by harmful gambling are receiving (i) treatment and (ii) other support during their sentence.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This information is not held centrally.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of persons arrested by the police. No national estimate has been made. Probation staff assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where appropriate. In custody, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.

HMPPS are also working with NHS and other partners to better understand the evidence around gambling addiction. This will inform a more joined up, cross system approach to effective support and recovery.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) persons arrested by the police (b) prisoners and (c) offenders on probation who are affected by harmful gambling.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This information is not held centrally.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of persons arrested by the police. No national estimate has been made. Probation staff assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where appropriate. In custody, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.

HMPPS are also working with NHS and other partners to better understand the evidence around gambling addiction. This will inform a more joined up, cross system approach to effective support and recovery.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, how many (a) posts, (b) pages and (c) accounts have been (i) removed and (ii) suspended as a result of the partnership with social media companies.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister of the new tech partnership to stop the boats on 6 August 2023, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) have strengthened the voluntary partnership with social media companies, Meta, YouTube, X/Twitter, to accelerate action to tackle people smuggling content online. We continue to explore further options, such as a ‘hackathon’ model to develop our innovative approach to break the business model of people smugglers advertising their services online.

To date we have successfully removed 98% of content flagged to social media companies, with over 9000 posts, pages and accounts removed since November 2021.

The Online Communications Centre (previously known as the Online Capability Centre) has been operational since October 2023 and with expertise in policy, investigations and intelligence and with access to a range of niche capabilities in tackling the online threat. We cannot comment on individual numbers of officers in classified roles.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, when the hackathon event took place.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister of the new tech partnership to stop the boats on 6 August 2023, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) have strengthened the voluntary partnership with social media companies, Meta, YouTube, X/Twitter, to accelerate action to tackle people smuggling content online. We continue to explore further options, such as a ‘hackathon’ model to develop our innovative approach to break the business model of people smugglers advertising their services online.

To date we have successfully removed 98% of content flagged to social media companies, with over 9000 posts, pages and accounts removed since November 2021.

The Online Communications Centre (previously known as the Online Capability Centre) has been operational since October 2023 and with expertise in policy, investigations and intelligence and with access to a range of niche capabilities in tackling the online threat. We cannot comment on individual numbers of officers in classified roles.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, with which social media companies his Department is in partnership.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister of the new tech partnership to stop the boats on 6 August 2023, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) have strengthened the voluntary partnership with social media companies, Meta, YouTube, X/Twitter, to accelerate action to tackle people smuggling content online. We continue to explore further options, such as a ‘hackathon’ model to develop our innovative approach to break the business model of people smugglers advertising their services online.

To date we have successfully removed 98% of content flagged to social media companies, with over 9000 posts, pages and accounts removed since November 2021.

The Online Communications Centre (previously known as the Online Capability Centre) has been operational since October 2023 and with expertise in policy, investigations and intelligence and with access to a range of niche capabilities in tackling the online threat. We cannot comment on individual numbers of officers in classified roles.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are currently employed at the Online Capability Centre.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister of the new tech partnership to stop the boats on 6 August 2023, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) have strengthened the voluntary partnership with social media companies, Meta, YouTube, X/Twitter, to accelerate action to tackle people smuggling content online. We continue to explore further options, such as a ‘hackathon’ model to develop our innovative approach to break the business model of people smugglers advertising their services online.

To date we have successfully removed 98% of content flagged to social media companies, with over 9000 posts, pages and accounts removed since November 2021.

The Online Communications Centre (previously known as the Online Capability Centre) has been operational since October 2023 and with expertise in policy, investigations and intelligence and with access to a range of niche capabilities in tackling the online threat. We cannot comment on individual numbers of officers in classified roles.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Written Statement of 11 March 2024 on Update on Foreign National Offenders, Prisons and Probation, HCWS332, whether the new 10,000 prison places include rapid deployment cells.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We are delivering 20,000 additional, modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. So far c.5,900 places have been delivered.

Of these places, we have so far delivered c.670 Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs) across 12 sites. By the end of 2025 we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total, this will include hundreds more RDCs. We are looking at all options to accelerate delivery of all types of places across the estate.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help prevent reoffending by people convicted of violent offences.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. Between 2010/11 and 2020/21, the overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.6% to 24.4%.

Rehabilitation is critical to reducing reoffending. It is the process by which we assist people either to change themselves or improve their life circumstances, addressing their drivers of reoffending and therefore cutting crime. Rehabilitation takes many forms, ranging from the delivery of a cognitive behaviour programme to enabling a person to access suitable accommodation and the means to earn a living.

HMPPS offers 5 Accredited Programmes specifically designed for those individuals convicted of general, domestic, intimate partner violent offending: Kaizen, Becoming New Me Plus (BNM+), Building Better Relationships (BBR), New Me Strengths (NMS), and Living as New Me (LNM). The Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) is a responsive and flexible Accredited Programme that may be suitable for those offenders who do not meet the eligibility criteria for more specific programmes, as well as the New Me MOT toolkit, offering continuity of support to those who have completed the Kaizen, BNM+, or NMS programmes.

In addition to our targeted work to prevent violent crime reoffending, we are also working hard to ensure that prison leavers across the estate have the right building blocks in place to ensure they are successful on release. For example, we are helping prison leavers to secure accommodation, employment, and substance misuse treatment, all of which are essential for rehabilitation and can significantly reduce the likelihood of reoffending. We are also delivering Commissioned Rehabilitative Services which provide offenders with tailored, community-based services to support rehabilitation and drive down reoffending. On top of this, we are expanding the use of electronic monitoring for both community-based sentences and post-custody licence to help reduce the risk of reoffending and support robust offender management.

Finally, public protection work is central to the work of the Probation Service. We have also increased our baseline funding by £155 million per annum which is helping us to increase staffing and take other action to improve delivery across HMPPS so that the service can best achieve its purpose of protecting the public and reducing reoffending.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of knife crime offences in the year ending March (a) 2023 and (b) 2018; and how many such people were first time offenders.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

In the year ending March 2023, 2,108 children were convicted of a knife crime offence (defined as knife possession and knife threatening offences) and for 1,924 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to the year ending March 2018, 2,635 children were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 2,398 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

In the year ending March 2023, 11,899 people (i.e. adults and children) were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,314 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to year ending March 2018, 12,163 people were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,865 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

Tackling knife crime is a priority and this Government is determined to do all it can to break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities.

We are taking significant action to both prevent and respond to crimes involving weapons through the Serious Violence Strategy, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers, and increasing stop and search powers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people under the age of 18 were convicted of knife crime offences in the year ending March (a) 2023 and (b) 2018; and how many such people were first time offenders.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

In the year ending March 2023, 2,108 children were convicted of a knife crime offence (defined as knife possession and knife threatening offences) and for 1,924 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to the year ending March 2018, 2,635 children were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 2,398 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

In the year ending March 2023, 11,899 people (i.e. adults and children) were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,314 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to year ending March 2018, 12,163 people were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,865 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

Tackling knife crime is a priority and this Government is determined to do all it can to break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities.

We are taking significant action to both prevent and respond to crimes involving weapons through the Serious Violence Strategy, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers, and increasing stop and search powers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of drug offences in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Reducing drug-related crime is a key priority of the Government’s 10-year drugs strategy.

We are making good progress. Since April 2022 we have closed over 2,500 county lines and delivered over 6,000 major and moderate organised crime group disruptions.

We are also investing £532m into drug treatment which reduces crime and reoffending. There are now 24,500 more people in treatment across England, including increases in Lancashire.

We are targeting treatment referrals at offenders. The percentage of prison leavers continuing treatment after release has also risen to a record high of 52% - an increase of 10% in the last 12 months.

We are working with the National Police Chiefs Council to increase police referrals into drug treatment, as well as expanding Drug Testing on Arrest to identify those who use drugs. This builds on £2.1 million funding to deliver Project ADDER – a co-ordinated approach across policing and treatment to crack down on supply and support people tackle their addiction – in 13 hard hit areas including Lancashire.

The government has asked every area in England to form a Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP) to work together to reduce drug-related harm and crime. Preston is covered by the Lancashire CDP, and the Government has supported the establishment of the Pan Lancashire Drugs and Alcohol Alliance, to help coordinate work across Lancashire’s three CDPs.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help ensure that anti-social behaviour is investigated in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The investigation of anti-social behaviour in Lancashire is a matter for the Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire.

Last year the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan) ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools they need to tackle anti-social behaviour.

The Plan is backed by £160m of funding. This includes funding an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. Initially we worked with 10 police force areas, including Lancashire Constabulary which received £1,050,000. From April this has been extended to every police force in England and Wales and Lancashire will receive £ 1,713,512 for the hotspot programme tackling areas of high incidents of both ASB and serious violence.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will (a) make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of crime levels in (i) Preston and (ii) Lancashire and (b) take steps to develop a plan to reduce bicycle theft in those areas.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government recognises the impact acquisitive crime can have on individuals and communities. The 2021 Beating Crime Plan, sets out the Government’s strategy for cutting crime, protecting the law-abiding majority and making neighbourhoods safe. The plan can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1015382/Crime-plan-v10.pdf.

Since 2010, overall crime excluding fraud and computer misuse is down by 55%, and we welcome the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales data, which shows that bicycle theft is also down 55% when comparing findings from the year ending September 2023 with the year ending March 2010.

A key part of making acquisitive crime less attractive to criminals is making stolen goods harder to sell on. That is why we are working closely with policing and academic leads to examine what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the profit from acquisitive crime.

This Government also established the Safer Streets Fund. Since its inception in 2020, we have invested over £150 million to deliver interventions across England and Wales helping to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime. This includes investing just over £3.4 million in Lancashire, funding a range of initiatives such as CCTV and street lighting, improvements to home security measures and youth engagement and educational programmes.

The Home Office is working closely with the British Transport Police (BTP), the national lead for cycle theft, to tackle the theft of bicycles. The BTP has launched the ‘double lock it’ campaign with police forces and organisations, providing advice to owners on how to protect their bicycles: https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/campaigns/double-lock-it/.

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Cycling and Walking Plan for England, also sets out initiatives to combat cycle theft, including encouraging retailers to number the bicycles they sell and offer customers the opportunity to register their bicycle on a database at the point of sale. The Plan is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-plan-for-england.

The BTP-led National Cycle Crime Group, working with DfT, have set up Cycle Crime Reduction Partnerships across the country to coordinate regional enforcement activity to disrupt organised cycle theft.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to incorporate wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government recognises the importance of tackling wildlife crime, which is why, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) to help tackle these crimes.

The NWCU provides intelligence, analysis and investigative assistance to the police and other law enforcement agencies across the UK to support them in investigating wildlife crime. This includes supporting cases referred by Border Force to the National Crime Agency or to individual forces. The NWCU is also the UK policing focal point for EUROPOL and INTERPOL wildlife crime activity.

In addition, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners, can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities.

Training standards and the national policing curriculum (covering initial training for all officers) are set by the College of Policing to ensure all officers benefit from the same high standard of initial training, regardless of which force they join. Officers undertake further training and development in the course of their career, which may be tailored to their specific role.

We do not currently have plans to incorporate wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide additional funding for charities that support women who are victims of domestic violence.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, the Home Office has invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.

In 2023/24, the Ministry of Justice provided £21 million for community-based serious violence and domestic abuse services, and £38 million for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors posts. In all, the Ministry of Justice is quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.

And at Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced £10 million of additional funding available in 2024/25 for projects that aim to understand the impacts of domestic abuse on the labour market, support victims of domestic abuse in the workplace or prevent victims experiencing further abuse.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent estimate of the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes by (a) the gambling industry, (b) Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings and (c) any other means in the 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Neither the Government nor the Gambling Commission hold information on how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months and there has been no recent estimate as to the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in Department of Health and Social Care have undertaken an evidence review which provides estimates of the economic costs of harmful gambling, which includes a section on criminal activity (chapter 6).The economic cost of gambling-related harm in England: evidence update 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The Gambling Act 2005 sets out the following licensing objectives:

• preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime.
• ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

As the statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission is responsible for making sure all licensing applications meet these objectives. The Commission has published a statement of principles for licensing and regulation which sets out how it governs what it does and how they help to meet the Act's licensing objectives.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months; what the nature of those crimes was; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of those crimes on (a) the economy and (b) wider society.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Neither the Government nor the Gambling Commission hold information on how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months and there has been no recent estimate as to the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in Department of Health and Social Care have undertaken an evidence review which provides estimates of the economic costs of harmful gambling, which includes a section on criminal activity (chapter 6).The economic cost of gambling-related harm in England: evidence update 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The Gambling Act 2005 sets out the following licensing objectives:

• preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime.
• ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

As the statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission is responsible for making sure all licensing applications meet these objectives. The Commission has published a statement of principles for licensing and regulation which sets out how it governs what it does and how they help to meet the Act's licensing objectives.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the impact of gambling-related (a) fraud and (b) other acquisitive crimes on the finances of the victims of those crimes.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Neither the Government nor the Gambling Commission hold information on how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months and there has been no recent estimate as to the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in Department of Health and Social Care have undertaken an evidence review which provides estimates of the economic costs of harmful gambling, which includes a section on criminal activity (chapter 6).The economic cost of gambling-related harm in England: evidence update 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The Gambling Act 2005 sets out the following licensing objectives:

• preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime.
• ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

As the statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission is responsible for making sure all licensing applications meet these objectives. The Commission has published a statement of principles for licensing and regulation which sets out how it governs what it does and how they help to meet the Act's licensing objectives.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many major cyber crime incidents have been reported since the National Cyber Strategy was introduced.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

Since the announcement of the National Cyber Strategy on 15 December 2021, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has received 71 reports associated with cyber crime activity, considered to be significant.

The NCSC categorise incidents based on numerous contemporaneous factors, including but not limited to, the technical impact of the incident, the nature of the affected organisation, and contextual considerations at the time of the incident report being received.

NCSC and law enforcement take action against cyber criminals by taking down their malicious URLs used to defraud people.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prison leavers are employed six months after their release.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. In order to grow, businesses need skills and labour to fill the nearly one million vacancies in the UK right now. Prison leavers have a role to play in filling those vacancies, particularly in sectors with skills shortages such as construction and hospitality, that the economy needs to grow, while also cutting crime and delivering safer streets. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in delivering key employment reforms across 93 resettlement prisons, including:

• Prison Employment Leads to match prisoners to jobs;
• Employment Hubs where prisoners can access job vacancies and support with applications;
• Employment Advisory Boards – chaired by business leaders and advise prisons on skills delivery.

I am pleased to say that the proportion of prison leavers in employment six months after release more than doubled from 14% in April 2021 to over 30% in March 2023. The next release of this data will be published this summer

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle violence and sexual offences in Preston.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

As part of steps taken through our Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, we are tackling perpetrators and supporting victims.

We have provided funding to the Lancashire PCC to roll out the Drive Project, which focuses on the most serious domestic abuse offenders to prevent them from abusing again, and funded Preston based Saraha to provide bilingual, comprehensive, face-to-face support service for women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds who are victims of domestic abuse.

Nationally, we have invested £9.4 million to develop a New Operation Model for the investigation of rape through Operation Soteria. This ensures investigations are suspect based. All police forces in England and Wales are now implementing this new approach to rape investigations and we have provided £8.5m in 2023/24 to continue to support policing to improve their response to rape.

Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, we have invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.

This includes just over £3.4m for Lancashire, of which £146,568 has been awarded to Preston City Council to fund interventions such as the installation of CCTV, the deployment of taxi stewards and night-time economy sector training, along with improvements to accommodation for services assisting women at risk and recovery services for victims of sexual violence.

Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £8m for a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in Lancashire. VRUs bring together local partners to understand and tackle the drivers of serious violence in their area, including sexual abuse and domestic abuse.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on taking steps to help protect vulnerable people from crime during the digital switchover of telephony services.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT is coordinating the cross-government response to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) switchover. DSIT is engaging closely with counterparts in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) as well as the Local Government Association (LGA). DSIT is a member of the LGA’s working group which focuses on supporting local authorities with the PSTN migration, as well as the 2G/3G switch-off.

DSIT supported the LGA in publishing a guidance note for councils on how to raise awareness among residents, and seek to prevent and disrupt anyone from using the digital switchover as a means to advance criminal activity. The guidance can be found at the following address: https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/cyber-digital-and-technology/digital-switchover/digital-phone-switchover/digital-phone

DSIT also works closely with the Home Office, as the department responsible for crime policy, as well as Ofcom - the independent telecoms regulator - on a range of issues to tackle telephone enabled fraud and bring criminals to justice.

DLUHC’s Local Digital team is dedicated to helping councils digitise and transform their services so that they are modern and resilient. DLUHC’s “Future Councils” pilot programme has recently published a report identifying the most common challenges to digital transformation and is building on its findings.

Ofcom wrote to local government organisations on 17 January 2024 to reiterate the importance of ensuring that councils are prepared for any changes that may impact on the delivery of services when 3G and then 2G is switched off. The letter can be found via the following link:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/275521/letter-local-gov-3g-switch-off.pdf

The Government has published information on the role of Digital Champions within the Digital Connectivity Portal. The Portal is an extensive online resource providing best practice guidance helping local authorities to facilitate digital infrastructure deployment.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-strategy-and-leadership#digital-champion

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, is she will hold discussions with the Local Government Association to help define the role of a digital champion in supporting (a) the digitisation of council services, (b) the digital switchover and (c) the 2G/3G switch off.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT is coordinating the cross-government response to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) switchover. DSIT is engaging closely with counterparts in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) as well as the Local Government Association (LGA). DSIT is a member of the LGA’s working group which focuses on supporting local authorities with the PSTN migration, as well as the 2G/3G switch-off.

DSIT supported the LGA in publishing a guidance note for councils on how to raise awareness among residents, and seek to prevent and disrupt anyone from using the digital switchover as a means to advance criminal activity. The guidance can be found at the following address: https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/cyber-digital-and-technology/digital-switchover/digital-phone-switchover/digital-phone

DSIT also works closely with the Home Office, as the department responsible for crime policy, as well as Ofcom - the independent telecoms regulator - on a range of issues to tackle telephone enabled fraud and bring criminals to justice.

DLUHC’s Local Digital team is dedicated to helping councils digitise and transform their services so that they are modern and resilient. DLUHC’s “Future Councils” pilot programme has recently published a report identifying the most common challenges to digital transformation and is building on its findings.

Ofcom wrote to local government organisations on 17 January 2024 to reiterate the importance of ensuring that councils are prepared for any changes that may impact on the delivery of services when 3G and then 2G is switched off. The letter can be found via the following link:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/275521/letter-local-gov-3g-switch-off.pdf

The Government has published information on the role of Digital Champions within the Digital Connectivity Portal. The Portal is an extensive online resource providing best practice guidance helping local authorities to facilitate digital infrastructure deployment.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-strategy-and-leadership#digital-champion

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the risk of the far right and racists targeting (a) Poplar and Limehouse constituency and (b) other diverse areas; and what steps he is taking to protect communities from hate (i) crimes and (ii) speech.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes which target race and religion and expect the police to fully investigate these appalling offences and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. Our priority is to get more police onto our streets, cut crime, protect the public and bring more criminals to justice. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. Part of this necessitates police recruitment and training - there are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak in March 2010 before the Police Uplift Programme. Funding for the Metropolitan Police Service will be up to £3.5bn in 2024/25, an increase of up to £125.8m when compared to 2023/24. As of 30 September 2023, the Metropolitan Police Service has over 35,000 officers (35,006).

We are committed to protecting all communities from hate crime. In 2023/24, the Home Office is providing up to £50.9 million to protect faith communities. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the new Protective Security for Mosques scheme and a scheme for Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million for the places of worship of other (non-Muslim and non-Jewish) faiths.

The Government continues to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal designed so that victims of all forms of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We also fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to provide expert advice to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using recovered monies from the proceeds of crime to provide adaptive sports equipment for police officers.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Funds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) are distributed under the Home Office’s Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS). The objective of ARIS is to provide agencies with incentives to use POCA powers to recover more criminal assets, with the overall aim of cutting crime and delivering justice.

Under the scheme, a proportion of the assets recovered using powers under POCA are redistributed to the agencies involved in the recovery, based on their relative contributions. The current allocation sees ARIS receipts split 50:50 between central government and operational partners.

In the spirit of the Scheme, the Government encourages agencies to use ARIS funds to increase asset recovery and, where appropriate, fund local crime fighting priorities for the benefit of the community. However, the use of ARIS allocations/payments is a matter for each agency and is left to their discretion. Further information on ARIS and how funds are spent can be found at: Asset Recovery Statistical Bulletin: Financial years ending March 2018 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to respond to the letter of 21 February 2024 from the Hon. Member for Hull West and Hessle on behalf of a constituent regarding protocol for notifiable associations.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire responded on 16 April 2024.

Found: of Schedule 11 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4), and paragraph 95 of Schedule 10 to the Crime

Found: take united action in response to the Syrian crisis; Notes that the use of chemical weapons is a war crime

Lesbian Visibility Week

Found: from their property within two years of the start of the tenancy, except on the grounds of crime

Found: To move the following Clause— “Implementation of section 81 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing

Found: from their property within two years of the start of the tenancy, except on the grounds of crime

Found: To move the following Clause— “Implementation of section 81 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing

Found: consequential on my amendment of Clause 48, page 52, line 27, inserting new section 32ZZA of the Crime

Found: from their property within two years of the start of the tenancy, except on the grounds of crime

Found: summing up and sentencing remarks from a trial in which— (a) the person was a victim of a crime

Found: from their property within two years of the start of the tenancy, except on the grounds of crime

Found: This amendment, taken alongside another amendment in my name to omit section 40(3) of the Crime

Found: To move the following Clause— “Implementation of section 81 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing

Found: summing up and sentencing remarks from a trial in which— (a) the person was a victim of a crime

Found: This amendment, taken alongside another amendment in my name to omit section 40(3) of the Crime

Found: drones as first responders to enable police officers to spend more time on the frontline tackling crime

Found: To move the following Clause— “Implementation of section 81 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing

Found: This is acutely felt in the prosecution of ‘disclosure heavy’ crime types such a s fraud and also rape

Found: mediation compulsory for all money claims up to £10,000. 11 Section 180 of the Anti -social Behaviour, Crime

Found: 'Big Four' accountancy firm to get prison leavers in to work in crime-cutting drive

Found: Lincolnshire Cumbria Warwickshire Dyfed -Powys £158,757 £133,248 Note : (a) A Police and Crime

Found: APP/W0530/W/23/3315611 78 Cambridgeshire Police90 11.22 Various general comments in relation to crime

Found: National Police Chiefs’ Council report estimated that 443,000 officer hours can be saved by simplifying crime

Found: The Rt Hon Chris Philp MP, Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, attended to represent the UK and lead

Found: partners prevented more than 26,000 crossings last year, as well as helping to dismantle 82 organised crime

Found: strengthen victim support include: a crackdown on the misuse of confidentiality clauses to stop victims of crime

Found: continue to work closely with the police to improve how they can support victims of this disturbing crime

Found: Officers should also be aware that, according to Crime Survey for England and Wales data1, people

Found: We also urge countries to fully utilize the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as a

Found: Government to implement as quickly as possible the proposed reforms to Companies House under the Economic Crime

Found: Irregular migration, propped up by transnational organised crime groups, actively stands in the way of

Found: 23 April 2024 Get emails about this page Print this page Explore the topic Crime

Found: manage the economy; d. assist the commission, or hamper the prevention, of investigation of a crime

Found: connectable products will benefit from world-leading security protections from the threat of cyber-crime

Found: Defence Serious Crime Unit (DSCU)

Found: Defence Serious Crime Unit (DSCU)

Found: The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp MP chaired two UK Ministerial Meetings

Found: in purpose ful activity This means providing support to tackle the factors which lead to committing crime

Found: 59 not stated not stated Evidential difficulties Racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress (Crime

Found: provide: - The number of police officers criminally investigated for a sexual offence, split by crime

Found: Rt Hon James Cleverly MP Home Secretary Rt Hon Chris Philp MP Minister of State for Crime, Policing

Found: Fraud data collection – This will provide an informed view of the nature and extent of economic crime

Found: export of green hydrogen from the UK and Germany, and joint efforts to tackle organised immigration crime

Found: secure prisons with rehabilitation at their heart so we can turn offenders lives around for good and cut crime

Found: In Carroll v The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime [2015] ICR 835 (EAT) the difficulty for the

Found: Applying machine learning to crime data  A decision was taken to focus on one of the PEEL assessment

Found: In Carroll v The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime [2015] ICR 835 (EAT) the difficulty for the

Found: In this framework, t he benefit of the crime is the (financial) gain, for example the extra profit that

Found: regulatory reporting, access and mental health (vulnerable consumers programme) and AML/financial crime

Found: assessment and collection of tax and duties, the payment of benefits and the prevention and detection of crime

Found: assessment and collection of tax and duties, the payment of benefits and the prevention and detection of crime

Found: assessment and collection of tax and duties, the payment of benefits and the prevention and detection of crime

Found: t hese would be incidents where a police report may be available (particularly if it relates to a crime

Found: childcare • child or child ren in co nsiderable di stress • children who leave care , care leavers • crime

Found: Credit (if this has changed , the circumstances that led to the change will not be discussed ) Crime

Found: witness protection – arrangements have been made for them under section 82 of the Serious Organised Crime

Found: networks are usually involved in criminal activity such as trafficking, drug dealing and violent crime

Found: For claimants for whom arrangements hav e been made under section 82, of the, Serious Organised Crime

Found: Secretary: Jim Harra Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary: Angela MacDonald 4NATIONAL CRIME

Found: Police made more than 65,000 requests for local and overseas Inte rnet Service Providers to remove “crime

Found: Secretary of State) (on maternity leave) The Rt Hon Chris PHILP MP Minister of State (Minister for Crime

Found: security , public safety or the economic well-being of the country , for the prevention of disorder or crime

Found: published annually in the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland9 including convictions and acquittals by crime

Found: value in exploring experiences of people with communication difficulties at the time of reporting a crime

Found: Botanic Garden Rural • agriculture • animal health and welfare • wildlife management and crime

Found: area is deprived across seven domains: income, employment, education, health, access to services, crime

Found: means that a child cannot be held criminally responsible for harmful behaviour that amounts to a crime

Found: Scottish government spent overall on the hate crime bill: FOI release

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022

Found: The cases have been ranked against the four police Scotland crime categories:•    Group 1 - (non-sexual

Found: disabled people feel comfortable and safe using public transport – this includes being free from hate crime

Found: The CCoE works closely with strategic partners, such as Police Scotland, the Scottish Cyber Crime Co-Ordination

Found: proceedings in Scotland show the conviction rate for rape is consistently much lower than for other crime

Found: proceedings in Scotland show the conviction rate for rape is consistently much lower than for other crime

Found: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act: factsheet

Found: forward, we cannot rely solely on legislation and need to do community work to help people report crime

Found: last few weeks with some of the deliberate misinformation we have witnessed in relation to the Hate Crime

Found: Implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021: Justice Secretary statement

Found: Scottish Crime Recording Board minutes: February 2024

Found: Budget to promote Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act: FOI release

Found: .* A complainer is the Scottish legal term for a person who says they are a victim of a crime.** Covers

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many domestic abuse cases resulted in the accused receiving an absolute discharge in each of the last five years.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

There is no single crime of domestic abuse. Instead domestic abuse can refer to any crime that carries a domestic abuse aggravator, which includes offences under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018. Data on people prosecuted and convicted in Scottish criminal courts are presented in the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistical bulletin. The most recent available version covers the financial years 2012-13 to 2021-22. People convicted where the main charge carried a domestic abuse aggravation and the main penalty was an absolute discharge are shown in the following table for the most recent five years for which data are available.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to further support local authorities to address any antisocial behaviour in social housing.

Answered by McLennan, Paul - Minister for Housing

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the problem of antisocial behaviour in our communities. Local authorities (as landlords) and Registered Social Landlords have a wide range of powers to deal with antisocial behaviour by their tenants that occurs in, or in the vicinity of the tenancy. A breach of tenancy conditions could ultimately lead to eviction as a last resort where the circumstances are sufficiently serious.

Social landlords as part of their requirement to meet the estate management and antisocial behaviour related outcome in the Scottish Social Housing Charter work in partnership with other agencies, to help to ensure as far as reasonably possible that tenants and other customers live in well-maintained neighbourhoods where they feel safe.

We recognise that no single approach will tackle all antisocial behaviour. Our national strategy is based on prevention, early intervention and positive diversionary activities. Police Scotland and local authorities lead on responses, using powers and options available to them to prevent and tackle antisocial behaviour. We are committed to ensuring all agencies have the powers and resources needed to tackle antisocial behaviour and crime.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the work of justice social workers in communities, in light of reported data showing that 13 local authorities made reductions to frontline criminal justice social workers in 2022-23.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

The Scottish Government is working with local government and other stakeholders to support justice social workers and to enhance the delivery of services. This includes increasing funding and providing updated operational guidance.

In 2024-25, a total of £148 million will be invested in community justice. This includes an additional £14 million to encourage wider use of robust community-based interventions where appropriate. This additional investment reflects the evidence that such interventions can be more effective than short-term imprisonment at reducing reoffending, assisting with rehabilitation and ultimately ensuring there are fewer victims of crime.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Police Scotland to disrupt the (a) supply and (b) distribution of super-strong synthetic opioids in Scotland.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce - which includes Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency - oversee work to address the threats highlighted in the Scottish Multi-Agency Strategic Threat Assessment.

Decisions around the detection and disruption of drug supply are an operational matter for the relevant law enforcement agencies. I thank those bodies for the vital work they do to take drugs off our streets and dismantle organised crime groups.

While the law enforcement response to drug trafficking is essential, it is also crucial that we tackle the market for drugs. This Government's position is that tackling the drugs emergency requires a concerted public health approach to improve and save lives.