Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help protect victims of domestic abuse when non-molestation orders have been breached and offenders have up to 28 days before being charged.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Non-molestation orders are civil orders made by the family court to protect victims and their children from the harm of domestic abuse. Breach of an order is a criminal offence. The police take breaches of such protective orders extremely seriously and have the necessary powers to arrest, investigate and commence criminal proceedings. Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the police can hold a suspect in detention for up to 96 hours depending on the seriousness of the case, or up to 14 days under the Terrorism Act, before being charged or can grant pre-charge bail if there are no grounds to keep a suspect in detention while the investigation continues. The police have further powers to remand the suspect in custody once charges are made, for example if there is a risk of further offences being committed by the suspect if released on bail before a court hearing.
In addition, the Government is bringing in reforms to the pre-charge bail regime through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which will allow for better protection for victims in all criminal cases, including violent and sexual offences. The reforms include the removal of the perceived presumption against use of pre-charge bail; new risk factors to be considered when making bail decisions; amending the timescales and authorisation levels for pre-charge bail, and a new duty to seek views from victims on bail conditions which relate to their safeguarding.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to tackle knife crime in (i) Coventry North East constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold figures below the level of Police Force Area. In the year ending September 2020, there were 4,745 offences involving knives or sharp instruments in the West Midlands Police Force Area. This compares to 4,483 in the year ending September 2021. This represents a fall of 8% between September 2020 and September 2021.
The number of homicides recorded in the West Midlands Police Force Area involving a knife or sharp instrument over the last five years were as follows:
Year ending Sept 2017 - 23
Year ending Sept 2018 - 21
Year ending Sept 2019 - 22
Year ending Sept 2020 - 25
Year ending Sept 2021 - 23
The number of homicides recorded in England involving a knife or sharp instrument over the last five years were as follows:
Year ending Sept 2017 - 238
Year ending Sept 2018 - 279
Year ending Sept 2019 - 237
Year ending Sept 2020 - 252
Year ending Sept 2021 - 267
Tackling knife crime is a priority for this Government and we are supporting the police by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023. As at 31 December 2021, police forces in England and Wales have recruited over 11,000 additional officers as part of the Police Uplift Programme and West Midlands police force has recruited 844 additional uplift officers against a combined year 1 and 2 allocation of 730 officers.
Police funding is also increasing and, on 2 February 2022, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £16.9 billion in 2022/23. West Midlands Police will receive up to £694.9 million in 2022/23, an increase of up to £39.4 million when compared to 2021/22.
Since 2019, the Home Office has invested £105.5m (£35.5m this financial year) in the 18 areas worst affected by serious violence to develop Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) of which £10.11m has been allocated to the West Midlands PCC to develop the West Midlands VRU. VRUs combine the expertise of key local partners, including the police, health, education, and local authorities, to pinpoint the drivers of violence in their areas and deliver bespoke interventions in response. This includes targeted interventions with at-risk young people, ranging from behavioural therapy, social skills training, trusted adult relationships amongst many more. Over 300,000 young people have been supported by VRUs in their first two years of funding.
Additionally, we have made up to c.£17m available this financial year for additional early intervention and prevention programmes to support young people at high risk of involvement in serious violence, delivered via VRUs on top of their core funding. This includes three investments into the West Midlands, which are:
o £1.176m in high-intensity therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which the Youth Endowment Fund’s Evidence Toolkit identifies as likely to be highly effective in reducing violent crime;
o £455k in ‘teachable moment’ style interventions for young people involved in serious violence which capitalise on important moments when they are likely to be most receptive (for example, admission to A&E or in police custody), connecting them to a package of support enabling a more positive life course; and
o £591k in trauma-informed training for frontline professionals to help them improve support for young people by developing a greater understanding of different types of trauma that may have been experienced by the children and young people they work with.
Since 2019 we have invested a further £136.5m to support the police across the 18 areas in England and Wales worst affected by serious violence to increase operational activity to tackle serious violence, including by delivering targeted patrols in serious violence hotspots.
Since 2019, £15.541m of this funding has been allocated to West Midlands Police. We have also invested £200m in early intervention and prevention support initiatives over 10 years to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). The YEF will support how this government responds to serious violence by identifying what works in diverting children and young people away from involvement in serious violent crime. In total, 15 grantees in the West Midlands are in receipt of funding from all grant rounds.
We will also help the police target those who have already been convicted of knife or offensive weapon offences and who persist in unlawfully carrying a knife or a weapon with the intention to commit more violence. We have introduced Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill which will give the police powers to stop and search those already convicted of knife and offensive weapon offences. West Midlands Police will be one of the four police forces to pilot SVROs.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of deaths resulting from offences which involved a knife or sharp instrument in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold figures below the level of Police Force Area. In the year ending September 2020, there were 4,745 offences involving knives or sharp instruments in the West Midlands Police Force Area. This compares to 4,483 in the year ending September 2021. This represents a fall of 8% between September 2020 and September 2021.
The number of homicides recorded in the West Midlands Police Force Area involving a knife or sharp instrument over the last five years were as follows:
Year ending Sept 2017 - 23
Year ending Sept 2018 - 21
Year ending Sept 2019 - 22
Year ending Sept 2020 - 25
Year ending Sept 2021 - 23
The number of homicides recorded in England involving a knife or sharp instrument over the last five years were as follows:
Year ending Sept 2017 - 238
Year ending Sept 2018 - 279
Year ending Sept 2019 - 237
Year ending Sept 2020 - 252
Year ending Sept 2021 - 267
Tackling knife crime is a priority for this Government and we are supporting the police by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023. As at 31 December 2021, police forces in England and Wales have recruited over 11,000 additional officers as part of the Police Uplift Programme and West Midlands police force has recruited 844 additional uplift officers against a combined year 1 and 2 allocation of 730 officers.
Police funding is also increasing and, on 2 February 2022, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £16.9 billion in 2022/23. West Midlands Police will receive up to £694.9 million in 2022/23, an increase of up to £39.4 million when compared to 2021/22.
Since 2019, the Home Office has invested £105.5m (£35.5m this financial year) in the 18 areas worst affected by serious violence to develop Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) of which £10.11m has been allocated to the West Midlands PCC to develop the West Midlands VRU. VRUs combine the expertise of key local partners, including the police, health, education, and local authorities, to pinpoint the drivers of violence in their areas and deliver bespoke interventions in response. This includes targeted interventions with at-risk young people, ranging from behavioural therapy, social skills training, trusted adult relationships amongst many more. Over 300,000 young people have been supported by VRUs in their first two years of funding.
Additionally, we have made up to c.£17m available this financial year for additional early intervention and prevention programmes to support young people at high risk of involvement in serious violence, delivered via VRUs on top of their core funding. This includes three investments into the West Midlands, which are:
o £1.176m in high-intensity therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which the Youth Endowment Fund’s Evidence Toolkit identifies as likely to be highly effective in reducing violent crime;
o £455k in ‘teachable moment’ style interventions for young people involved in serious violence which capitalise on important moments when they are likely to be most receptive (for example, admission to A&E or in police custody), connecting them to a package of support enabling a more positive life course; and
o £591k in trauma-informed training for frontline professionals to help them improve support for young people by developing a greater understanding of different types of trauma that may have been experienced by the children and young people they work with.
Since 2019 we have invested a further £136.5m to support the police across the 18 areas in England and Wales worst affected by serious violence to increase operational activity to tackle serious violence, including by delivering targeted patrols in serious violence hotspots.
Since 2019, £15.541m of this funding has been allocated to West Midlands Police. We have also invested £200m in early intervention and prevention support initiatives over 10 years to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). The YEF will support how this government responds to serious violence by identifying what works in diverting children and young people away from involvement in serious violent crime. In total, 15 grantees in the West Midlands are in receipt of funding from all grant rounds.
We will also help the police target those who have already been convicted of knife or offensive weapon offences and who persist in unlawfully carrying a knife or a weapon with the intention to commit more violence. We have introduced Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill which will give the police powers to stop and search those already convicted of knife and offensive weapon offences. West Midlands Police will be one of the four police forces to pilot SVROs.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of offences which involved a knife or sharp instrument in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands in each of the last two years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold figures below the level of Police Force Area. In the year ending September 2020, there were 4,745 offences involving knives or sharp instruments in the West Midlands Police Force Area. This compares to 4,483 in the year ending September 2021. This represents a fall of 8% between September 2020 and September 2021.
The number of homicides recorded in the West Midlands Police Force Area involving a knife or sharp instrument over the last five years were as follows:
Year ending Sept 2017 - 23
Year ending Sept 2018 - 21
Year ending Sept 2019 - 22
Year ending Sept 2020 - 25
Year ending Sept 2021 - 23
The number of homicides recorded in England involving a knife or sharp instrument over the last five years were as follows:
Year ending Sept 2017 - 238
Year ending Sept 2018 - 279
Year ending Sept 2019 - 237
Year ending Sept 2020 - 252
Year ending Sept 2021 - 267
Tackling knife crime is a priority for this Government and we are supporting the police by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023. As at 31 December 2021, police forces in England and Wales have recruited over 11,000 additional officers as part of the Police Uplift Programme and West Midlands police force has recruited 844 additional uplift officers against a combined year 1 and 2 allocation of 730 officers.
Police funding is also increasing and, on 2 February 2022, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £16.9 billion in 2022/23. West Midlands Police will receive up to £694.9 million in 2022/23, an increase of up to £39.4 million when compared to 2021/22.
Since 2019, the Home Office has invested £105.5m (£35.5m this financial year) in the 18 areas worst affected by serious violence to develop Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) of which £10.11m has been allocated to the West Midlands PCC to develop the West Midlands VRU. VRUs combine the expertise of key local partners, including the police, health, education, and local authorities, to pinpoint the drivers of violence in their areas and deliver bespoke interventions in response. This includes targeted interventions with at-risk young people, ranging from behavioural therapy, social skills training, trusted adult relationships amongst many more. Over 300,000 young people have been supported by VRUs in their first two years of funding.
Additionally, we have made up to c.£17m available this financial year for additional early intervention and prevention programmes to support young people at high risk of involvement in serious violence, delivered via VRUs on top of their core funding. This includes three investments into the West Midlands, which are:
o £1.176m in high-intensity therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which the Youth Endowment Fund’s Evidence Toolkit identifies as likely to be highly effective in reducing violent crime;
o £455k in ‘teachable moment’ style interventions for young people involved in serious violence which capitalise on important moments when they are likely to be most receptive (for example, admission to A&E or in police custody), connecting them to a package of support enabling a more positive life course; and
o £591k in trauma-informed training for frontline professionals to help them improve support for young people by developing a greater understanding of different types of trauma that may have been experienced by the children and young people they work with.
Since 2019 we have invested a further £136.5m to support the police across the 18 areas in England and Wales worst affected by serious violence to increase operational activity to tackle serious violence, including by delivering targeted patrols in serious violence hotspots.
Since 2019, £15.541m of this funding has been allocated to West Midlands Police. We have also invested £200m in early intervention and prevention support initiatives over 10 years to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). The YEF will support how this government responds to serious violence by identifying what works in diverting children and young people away from involvement in serious violent crime. In total, 15 grantees in the West Midlands are in receipt of funding from all grant rounds.
We will also help the police target those who have already been convicted of knife or offensive weapon offences and who persist in unlawfully carrying a knife or a weapon with the intention to commit more violence. We have introduced Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill which will give the police powers to stop and search those already convicted of knife and offensive weapon offences. West Midlands Police will be one of the four police forces to pilot SVROs.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will undertake a review of sentencing guidelines for defendants convicted of sexual offences against minors.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Sentencing guidelines are developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, which is independent of Parliament and Government.
The Sentencing Council recently consulted on revisions to its child sexual offences sentencing guidelines, which set out the approach courts should take when sentencing cases where no sexual activity takes places or the targeted child does not exist, for instance in police sting operations, as well as a new guideline for the offence of sexual communication with a child. The Council is currently analysing responses to the consultation, and it is anticipated that revised versions of the guidelines will be published next year.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level (a) youth crime and (b) violent crime in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency in the last three years; and what (i) steps she is taking and (ii) resources she is allocating to tackle those crimes.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It is vitally important that we prevent young people from being drawn into violent crime. The Government is committed to reducing serious violence and putting an end to the tragedies afflicting our communities.
The Home Office collects data from police forces on police recorded crime, broken down by Police Force Area and Community Safety Partnership Area, including the London borough of Haringey. Data is not collected at parliamentary constituency level. The latest data can be found here (This includes the number of recorded offences of violence against the person):
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
In March the Home Office announced its £130.5 million investment in tackling serious violent crime, including homicide and knife crime, in 2021-22. This includes an extra £30 million to support the police in taking targeted action in parts of England and Wales most affected by serious violence, and up to £23 million for new early intervention programmes that will help stop young people from being drawn into violence. This includes programmes which use significant moments in a young person’s life – such as when they enter police custody or Accident and Emergency – as opportunities for trained professionals to engage and divert young people away from violence.
In total, £105.5 million, over three years (2018 – 2021), has been invested in multi-agency Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in the 18 areas most affected by serious violence, which bring together local partners to deliver an effective, joined up approach to tackling violent crime and its drivers. £21 million was allocated to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to develop the London VRU, covering all London boroughs. £136.5 million, over three years (2018 – 2021), has also been allocated to the same 18 police forces to fund a surge in police operational activity. The Metropolitan Police Service have been allocated £42,547,955 of this funding.
In addition we have invested £200 million in early intervention and prevention support initiatives over 10 years to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). The government has awarded an extra £5 million towards the expedited development of a national Centre of Excellence (CofE) to help guide government investment and national policies.
In March a new criminal justice bill was introduced to Parliament – the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The bill includes a duty on public sector bodies to take a joined-up approach to addressing serious violence; the requirement for local agencies to review the circumstances when an adult homicide takes place involving an offensive weapon; and Serious Violence Reduction Orders, which give the police the authority to stop and search known knife and weapons carriers.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in the last full reporting year what the average sentence was for people convicted of a contact child sex offence.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice has published information on proceedings and outcomes for child sexual offences in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938554/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx.
A full list of child sexual offences can be found in the table attached to the response to PQ 266750 (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2019-06-19/266750).
All of the offences listed in the table are contact child sexual offences, apart from the following:
The average custodial sentence length for offenders convicted of contact child sexual offences in 2019 was 5 years and 2 months (61.5 months).
Court statistics on proceedings and outcomes for 2020 will be published in May 2021.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many times the Unduly Lenient Sentencing scheme has been used as regards people convicted of offences related to the online sexual exploitation of children in each of the last five years; and on how many occasions that scheme has led to a longer sentence being imposed.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Online child sexual exploitation may involve the commission of different criminal offences: it is not reflected in a single offence or set of offences but instead is reflected in the facts of an offence. The facts of the offences of those cases referred by the Law Officers to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme suggest that in 2015, 6 cases were referred in which 5 sentences were increased; in 2016, 9 referred and 7 increased; in 2017, 15 referred and 11 increased; in 2018, 4 referred but none increased; in 2019, 3 referred and 1 increased.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how the changes proposed in the White Paper, A Smarter Approach to Sentencing, published September 2020, will effect those convicted of sexual offenses against children.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the worst offenders are kept behind bars to protect the public, and that the safety of our children is paramount when sentencing sex offenders.
We have already legislated to end automatic halfway release for offenders who have committed a specified sexual offence, including child sexual offences, for which the maximum penalty is life and who receive a sentence of 7 years or more. Such offenders now have to serve two-thirds of their sentence in prison before being released to serve the final part of their sentence on licence and under supervision in the community.
We are going further in the sentencing White Paper, A Smarter Approach to Sentencing, to ensure that serious offenders spend more time in prison, to properly reflect the gravity of their crimes. We are proposing to legislate to extend the requirement to serve two-thirds of the sentence to other sexual offenders who receive sentences of between 4 and 7 years. Also under our proposals, offenders who commit serious sexual assaults against children and receive a Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern (SOPC), will be required to serve two-thirds of their sentence, instead of the current half, before they can come before the Parole Board for consideration for release.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals similar to the provisions of the Child Cruelty (Sentences) Bill introduced in the 2017-19 Parliament.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government has no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals that seek to increase the penalties for the offences of causing or allowing death or serious injury to a child or child cruelty at this stage.
The Government will, however, continue to keep the maximum penalties for these specific offences closely under review.