Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the implementation of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The offence of assault against an emergency worker is the responsibility of Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the offence of assault against an emergency worker on trends in the level of (a) arrests and (b) convictions of women.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The offence of assault against an emergency worker is the responsibility of Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the offence of assault against an emergency worker on women.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The offence of assault against an emergency worker is the responsibility of Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will conduct an equality impact assessment for the offence of assault against an emergency worker.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The offence of assault against an emergency worker is the responsibility of Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people convicted for the offence of assault against an emergency worker in 2024 were women.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions and convictions across England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics. The data tool includes the number of convictions for an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 in 2024.
Information on the number of males and females who were proceeded against and convicted for these offences is available within the published data and can be accessed by filtering the ‘overall volumes’ dataset by sex. This data is held on a principal-offence basis and therefore reports information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt for.
The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record the specific occupation of the victim of an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 so it is not possible, without disproportionate cost, to state the proportion of emergency worker victims who were police officers, or the number or proportion of women convicted of an assault on a police officer under the 2018 Act offence.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to undertake research on the potential impact of the offence of assault against an emergency worker on women.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the legislation relating to assaults on emergency workers, has not made an assessment of the impact, or potential impact, of the offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 on trends relating to the arrest or conviction of women. Nor does it plan to conduct further assessments or research relating specifically to the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Following changes made by provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the then Government published an Equalities Impact Assessment of the changes on the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. The assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-equality-statements/assault-on-emergency-workers-in-the-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-equalities-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will conduct an equality impact assessment for the offence of assault against an emergency worker.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the legislation relating to assaults on emergency workers, has not made an assessment of the impact, or potential impact, of the offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 on trends relating to the arrest or conviction of women. Nor does it plan to conduct further assessments or research relating specifically to the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Following changes made by provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the then Government published an Equalities Impact Assessment of the changes on the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. The assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-equality-statements/assault-on-emergency-workers-in-the-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-equalities-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the offence of assault against an emergency worker on trends in the level of (a) arrests and (b) convictions of women.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the legislation relating to assaults on emergency workers, has not made an assessment of the impact, or potential impact, of the offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 on trends relating to the arrest or conviction of women. Nor does it plan to conduct further assessments or research relating specifically to the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Following changes made by provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the then Government published an Equalities Impact Assessment of the changes on the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. The assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-equality-statements/assault-on-emergency-workers-in-the-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-equalities-impact-assessment.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls in (a) Stoke-on-Trent North constituency and (b) Kidsgrove.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this government and we will treat it as a national emergency. Our mission is to halve levels of these crimes within a decade, using every lever available to us. This means reforming the police response to these crimes, strengthening the criminal justice system, and empowering victims by providing access to specialist support when they need it. The Home Office is working closely with other departments and stakeholders in developing plans to deliver this ambition.
In September, we unveiled a series of measures designed to strengthen the police response to domestic abuse, protect victims and hold perpetrators to account. From early 2025, under a new approach named ‘Raneem’s Law’, domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in 999 control rooms to advise on risk assessments, work with officers on the ground and ensure that victims are referred to appropriate support services swiftly. We are also working with the police to develop a national framework utilising data-driven tools and algorithms to track and target high-harm offenders involved in domestic abuse, sexual assault, harassment, and stalking.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services report, State of Policing: The Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2023, published on 19 July, and in particular its findings in relation to efforts to address rape and sexual violence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this government and we will treat it as a national emergency. Our mission is to halve levels of VAWG within a decade, using every lever available to us. This means reforming the police response to these crimes, strengthening the criminal justice system, and empowering victims by providing access to specialist support when they need it.
We are grateful to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services’, for their yearly State of Policing Report, which provides an invaluable evaluation of the most pertinent issues facing policing across England and Wales, including their response to violence against women and girls.