Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for bringing forward legislative proposals to tackle retail crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Shoplifting has increased at an unacceptable level in recent years, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.
To that end, this Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.
We will also introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
We encourage closer local partnerships between police and retailers ensuring action can be taken, including reporting crime and considering what appropriate action, including non-custodial interventions, can be taken. We urge retailers to join their local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) or Business Improvement District (BID) to support local community efforts to reduce retail crime.
The Home Office supports Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, that is improving the way retailers share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. There have been approximately 1.5 million shoplifting offences recorded in England in the last 5 years, of which 7737 were for the York area.
We are committed to preventing young people being lured into crime, drugs and criminal gangs and the Government has made clear its commitment to introduce a new offence to tackle child criminal exploitation.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of Child Criminal Exploitation. The County Lines Programme is funded by the Home Office to tackle this, resulting in over 5,600 county line closures, 16,500 arrests and 8,800 safeguarding referrals
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what non-custodial steps she is taking to help divert people away from retail crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Shoplifting has increased at an unacceptable level in recent years, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.
To that end, this Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.
We will also introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
We encourage closer local partnerships between police and retailers ensuring action can be taken, including reporting crime and considering what appropriate action, including non-custodial interventions, can be taken. We urge retailers to join their local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) or Business Improvement District (BID) to support local community efforts to reduce retail crime.
The Home Office supports Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, that is improving the way retailers share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. There have been approximately 1.5 million shoplifting offences recorded in England in the last 5 years, of which 7737 were for the York area.
We are committed to preventing young people being lured into crime, drugs and criminal gangs and the Government has made clear its commitment to introduce a new offence to tackle child criminal exploitation.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of Child Criminal Exploitation. The County Lines Programme is funded by the Home Office to tackle this, resulting in over 5,600 county line closures, 16,500 arrests and 8,800 safeguarding referrals
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of the potential links of retail crime to County Lines.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Shoplifting has increased at an unacceptable level in recent years, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.
To that end, this Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.
We will also introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
We encourage closer local partnerships between police and retailers ensuring action can be taken, including reporting crime and considering what appropriate action, including non-custodial interventions, can be taken. We urge retailers to join their local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) or Business Improvement District (BID) to support local community efforts to reduce retail crime.
The Home Office supports Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, that is improving the way retailers share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. There have been approximately 1.5 million shoplifting offences recorded in England in the last 5 years, of which 7737 were for the York area.
We are committed to preventing young people being lured into crime, drugs and criminal gangs and the Government has made clear its commitment to introduce a new offence to tackle child criminal exploitation.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of Child Criminal Exploitation. The County Lines Programme is funded by the Home Office to tackle this, resulting in over 5,600 county line closures, 16,500 arrests and 8,800 safeguarding referrals
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
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 financial sustainability of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4 million in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6% in cash terms compared to 2023/24.
In 2024/25 Shropshire FRA has a core spending power of £28.8m, an increase of £1.6m (6.0%) compared to 2023/24.
As at 31 March 2023 Shropshire FRA held £6.0m in resource reserves. This is equivalent to 22.1% of their 2023/24 core spending power and an increase of £1.1m (22.4%) compared to the previous year.
In addition to the funding received through the Local Government Finance Settlement, fire and rescue authorities including Shropshire FRA will receive a share of grants provided by the Home Office, including Pensions and Protection grants.
The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to keep the public safe.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of funding on Fire and Rescue services; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding to Fire and Rescue services through the Local Government Settlement.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
MHCLG published the final Local Government Settlement on 5 February 2024 setting out the referendum principles for Local Authorities in 2024/25. All standalone FRAs will be able to increase their council tax by the core referendum limit of 3%. Standalone FRAs utilised this flexibility, which raised £42.6m in 2024/25.
Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to determine how to allocate that funding based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances. The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to keep the public safe.
Funding for Local Authorities in 2025/26 will be announced at the provisional Local Government Settlement later this year.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to protect Hindu places of worship.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - 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 routinely assess potential threats to ensure that protective measures are in place to protect Hindu communities and their places of worship against 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 of all other faiths in England and Wales that are particularly vulnerable to religiously or racially motivated hate crime.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour in Beckenham and Penge constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
We will put thousands of new neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities and we will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers, including new Respect Orders to tackle repeat offending.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has taken steps to ensure (a) police and (b) security services receive adequate training to (i) identify and (ii) tackle instances of transnational repression of (A) people from Hong Kong with BNO status and (B) other people in the UK.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK does not tolerate any attempt to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK and overseas, including people from Hong Kong with BNO status. We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. This involves taking a proactive approach to countering the most acute forms of state-directed threats to individuals.
The National Security Act 2023 strengthens our legal powers to counter foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats. As we implement the Act we are ensuring all relevant authorities have a good understanding of the threats many foreign powers present.
Where individuals have concerns for their safety, they are advised to contact their local police in the first instance. In the event that a person believes they are subject to an imminent threat, they should call 999.
Asked by: Satvir Kaur (Labour - Southampton Test)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making wildlife crimes notifiable offences.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are no plans currently to make wildlife crimes notifiable. Any non-notifiable wildlife crime reported to the police can still be investigated where appropriate, as Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.
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 to help tackle these crimes.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) adults and (b) children have (i) applied for and (ii) been found eligible to relocate and settle permanently in the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 1 Stage 2: Separated Families.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 32,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes. We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK.
The window to submit an expression of interest under ACRS Pathway 1 Stage 2: Separated Families was opened on 30 July 2024. This will remain open until 30 October 2024.
Those who have been resettled in the UK under Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 1 and were evacuated during Operation Pitting without their immediate family members can submit an expression of interest under this pathway.
Further information is viewable at: Afghan citizens resettlement scheme: Separated Families Pathway - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Data on the number of individuals relocated under this Pathway will be included in future additions of Afghan Operational data. Data on eligibility considerations will not be published. Work is ongoing to consider the expressions of interest submitted thus far as quickly as possible.