Category: Criminal Justice

The statement made by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 19 December 2022.

Police Uplift

The police uplift programme continues to support forces with additional police officers, and we remain on track to recruit 20,000 additional officers by March 2023. Data published on 30 September 2022 shows that 15,343 additional officers have already been recruited, accounting for 77% of our target. There are now 11 forces with the highest number of officers they have ever had: Cheshire, Dyfed-Powys, Essex, Kent, City of London, the Metropolitan, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, South Wales, Suffolk, and Thames Valley.

The police workforce is more representative than ever before. For the first time ever, there are over 50,000 female officers—50,364, as at 30 September 2022, which is 34.9% of all officers in post. There were 11,477 ethnic minority officers, as at 30 September 2022, which is 8.2% of all officers in post, the highest figures on record.

Police Performance

His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary, fire and rescue services continues to shine a light on force performance. Humberside received an excellent report from its latest inspection, with six “outstanding” grades. Humberside was awarded the “outstanding” grade for preventing crime, treatment of the public, protecting vulnerable people, managing offenders, developing a positive workplace and good use of resources. It received a further two “good” grades and one “adequate” grade.

Greater Manchester Police has made great strides in getting the basics right. Under strong leadership, it is responding faster to emergency calls and halved the number of open investigations since 2021. HMICFRS removed GMP from its “engage” phase in October 2022. I am pleased to see GMP working so constructively with HMICFRS and others to act on its inspection findings. I encourage others to learn from its experience.

Six police forces remain “engaged” by HMICFRS, and I expect all forces to make the necessary improvements and work towards restoring public trust and confidence in the police.

Police Culture

We recognise that police culture and standards need to improve to rebuild public trust and confidence. We are bringing forward part 2 of the Angiolini inquiry to focus on these issues and are reviewing the process of dismissals to ensure that policing can swiftly remove officers who fall well short of the standards expected of them.

We have commissioned the National Police Chiefs’ Council to conduct a review of operational productivity in policing, led by Sir Stephen House. This will address issues that may affect the anticipated outcomes from our investment in policing.

We believe that a policing career must be open to talented and committed people from across our communities, including those who do not have a degree or want one. That is why I have commissioned the College of Policing to develop options for a new non-degree entry route. The current transitional non-degree entry route will be kept open in the meantime.

Reducing the Risk to Homeland Security

The Home Office has continued to focus relentlessly on reducing risk across the full range of threats to our homeland security. In October, counter-terrorism police responded swiftly to an attack on a migration facility in Dover that was declared as terrorism.

On 30 October we announced a refresh of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. This will ensure that we are able to best protect the public from the enduring threat of terrorism. The refresh will maintain clarity and consistency of purpose, and ensure that the necessary tools are in place to tackle terrorist hatred and violence.

Our counter-terrorism system never stops learning. Volume 2 of the Manchester Arena inquiry was published on 3 November 2022. This covered the emergency services’ response on the night of the attack. The Government will respond fully when all three volumes have been published. However, we are already enhancing our response using the learning from the attacks—for example, in improving joint working between the emergency services—which will feed the refresh of CONTEST. We have also received the independent review of Prevent, which we will look to publish next year alongside His Majesty’s Government’s response. We will reflect the lessons and learning from the Shawcross review, along with those from the numerous inquests, inquiries and other reviews from recent years through the CONTEST refresh.

I have today issued a further written ministerial statement providing an update on our progress on developing Martyn’s law—also known as the protect duty. This is a significant milestone in the development of this legislation—the first of its kind—which will keep people safe by scaling up preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks. This legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows. This is a recommendation in Volume 1 of the Manchester Arena inquiry. This duty has been tirelessly campaigned for by Figen Murray, who tragically lost her son Martyn in the Manchester Arena attack. I would like to pay tribute to her, alongside all other victims, survivors and those affected by these heinous events.

Access to data is fundamental to the investigation and prosecution of serious crimes. The UK-US data access agreement entered into force on 5th October 2022. This world-first capability will fundamentally change the way we are able to fight serious crime across the UK, including terrorism, organised immigration crime and child abuse. The agreement permits certain UK public authorities to obtain data directly from US-based communications service providers. This will allow us to access vital data more quickly than ever before. Operational benefits are already being derived from the agreement.

Earlier in the year, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Home Office delivered a transformative package of work through emergency legislation to strengthen financial sanctions legislation, creating new register of overseas entities and reforming unexplained wealth orders.

We are building on that work through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on 22 September 2022. This cracks down even further on kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists who abuse our open economy, and ensures that we drive out dirty money from the UK. It strengthens the UK’s reputation as a place where legitimate businesses can thrive and enhances our ability to tackle new and emerging threats such as the use of crypto-assets, ransomware and the growth of cyber-enabled fraud.

The National Crime Agency’s Combatting Kleptocracy Cell is also delivering significant success, with nearly 100 disruptions against Putin-linked elites and their enablers. It has frozen over £18 billion-worth of assets in the UK. On 1 December 2022 it conducted a major operation to arrest a wealthy Russian businessman on suspicion of offences including money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury.

The National Security Bill, which is now at its Committee stage in the House of Lords, represents a fundamental reform of our framework for tackling state threats. It includes a suite of new measures to tackle the full range of modern-day state threats, from sabotage and spying to foreign interference and economic espionage. It will ensure that our world-class law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the modern tools, powers and protections they need to counter those who seek to do the UK harm.

The first meeting of the new Defending Democracy taskforce took place on 28 November 2022. The taskforce’s primary focus will be to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign interference. The taskforce will work across Government and with Parliament, the UK intelligence community, the devolved Administrations, local authorities and the private sector on the full range of threats facing our democratic institutions.

The statement made by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 19 December 2022.

Today I am updating Parliament on Home Office delivery since the previous written ministerial statement of 5 September 2022. In the face of an increasingly complex operational context, the Home Office continues to make a significant positive impact. We have faced substantial external pressures that have continued over the last three months, including the ongoing arrival of small boats and war in Ukraine. The Department remains committed to delivering better outcomes for the public and continues to work to deliver a safer, fairer and more prosperous United Kingdom.

Following the sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Home Office successfully delivered departmental responsibilities and assurance of police and security plans for Operation London Bridge from 8 to 19 September. Keeping the capital safe during an event on this scale—the equivalent of 160 state visits within three days—was a major achievement. This was the largest no-notice policing operation of a generation, which included over 12,000 police officers deployed on the day of the state funeral.

The statement made by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 19 December 2022.

Today I am pleased to announce the foundational policy elements that will form the basis of this Government’s upcoming Protect Duty Bill, also known as Martyn’s law. These proposals have been developed in response to feedback received to the Government’s 2021 consultation on policy, where seven in 10 respondents supported the concept that businesses should protect the public, in partnership with key stakeholders. Government will continue to work closely with business stakeholders to ensure that guidance and support is bespoke, accessible and easy to understand, enabling Martyn’s law to be implemented successfully in an effective and proportionate manner.

As the House will be aware, the chair of the Manchester Arena inquiry recommended the introduction of a duty in June 2021. This was further to the 2017 London Bridge prevention of future deaths report, which recommended the introduction of legislation setting out the duties of public authorities. Martyn’s law has been championed by the Martyn’s Law Campaign—led by Figen Murray, the mother of Martyn Hett, killed in the Manchester attack—and the Survivors Against Terror network, whom I would like to pay tribute to today. It is also supported by expert security partners such as the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) within Counter Terrorism Policing.

Overview

The proposed Martyn’s law will seek to improve the safety and security of our citizens so they can enjoy public premises without fear of terrorism by improving protective security and organisational preparedness at a wide range of locations across the UK. It is emphatically in the public interest for the Government and business to work together to ensure people are protected when visiting venues, retail areas, and other publicly accessible venues without introducing undue burden. Those responsible will be required to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate, proportionate mitigation measures. The two primary objectives for Martyn’s Law will be to:

clarify who is responsible for security activity at locations in scope, thereby increasing accountability;

and improve outcomes UK-wide so that security activity is delivered to a consistent level. An inspection and enforcement regime will seek to educate, advise, and ensure compliance with Martyn’s law.

Proportionate requirements

In developing Martyn’s law policy, I have been clear that proportionality and clarity are fundamental to successful delivery. Legislation will therefore establish a tiered model, introducing a requirements framework that is linked to the type of activity that takes place at eligible locations and the number of people—occupancy —that the location can safety accommodate at any time. Wherever possible and appropriate the policy has been aligned to wider regimes designed to keep the public safe—e.g., health and safety and fire safety—to increase ease of understanding. The distinct requirements for each tier are:

Standard: will drive good preparedness outcomes. Locations with a maximum occupancy of greater than 100 people at any time will be required to undertake low-cost, simple yet effective activities to improve protective security and preparedness. This will be achieved by accessing free awareness raising materials and development of a basic preparedness plan considering how best a location can respond to a terrorist event in their locale.

Enhanced: focused on high-capacity locations in recognition of the potential consequences of a successful attack. Locations with an occupancy of 800+ at any time will additionally be required to take forward a risk assessment and subsequently develop and implement a security plan. Enhanced duty holders will be required to meet a reasonably practicable test. Locations with a maximum occupancy at any time of less than 100 will fall out of scope, however, they will be encouraged to adopt good security practices on a voluntary basis. This will be supported by free guidance and training materials. To ensure that Martyn’s law is agile and responsive, Government will have the ability to adjust capacity thresholds in response to changes in the nature of the terrorist threat.

Definitions

Premises will fall within scope of Martyn’s law where “qualifying activities” take place. This will include activities such as entertainment and leisure, retail, food and drink, museums and galleries, sports grounds, public areas of local and central Government buildings—e.g., town halls—visitor attractions, temporary events, places of worship, health, and education. It is proposed that Martyn’s Law will apply to eligible locations which are either: a building—including collections of buildings used for the same purposes, e.g., a campus; or location/event—including a temporary event—that has a defined boundary, allowing capacity to be known. Eligible locations whose maximum occupancy meets the above specified thresholds will be then drawn into the relevant tier. This would include, for example, music festivals, where there are known and controlled boundaries in place.

Responsible parties

To deliver clarity of responsibility and accountability, Martyn’s law will define parties obliged to meet its requirements. This will be a simple formulation to establish persons in control of a premise. Where there are multiple parties at a location, Martyn’s Law will primarily place obligations on a lead party while placing requirements on others to co-operate with that party, such as in the development of risk assessments and security plans. Martyn’s law guidance will detail how and where it would be envisaged that parties will need to co-ordinate on assessments and plans and provide examples of good practice.

Exemptions

I intend that there will be some limited exclusions and exemptions from the duty. This includes locations where transport security regulations already apply; and those that are vacant over a reasonable period or are permanently closed. Those with a large floor space and low occupancy in practice—e.g. warehouses and storage facilities—as well as offices and private residential locations, will not be in scope.

As a unique cohort, places of worship (PoW) will receive bespoke treatment under Martyn’s law. All PoW will be placed into the standard tier, with a small cohort of locations that charge for entry placed into the enhanced tier. Similarly, given the existing safety and safeguarding policies in place at under-18 educational settings, such sites will be placed into the standard tier regardless of their occupancy. However, due to the accessible nature of higher educational settings I consider there is no case for any special treatment. I also consider that given their iconic status, with many locations operating as high-footfall visitor attractions, there is no case to provide any exemption for publicly accessible Defence, royal and Crown estate sites.

Regulation

To limit burdens on the Criminal justice system, avoiding unnecessary criminalisation of individuals, enforcement will predominantly be delivered via a civil sanctions regime—to a civil standard. In all but the most serious cases a civil monetary penalty is likely to be issued to provide a backstop to the civil sanctions. However, in the case of the most egregious breaches a limited number of criminal offences will be available. It is not my intention for a failure to comply with standard Martyn’s law requirements to result in criminal prosecution. In line with recent, comparable regimes, to disincentivise financial benefit from non-compliance, variable monetary penalties will be available. A maximum penalty of up to £18 million or 5% of worldwide turnover will be available for enhanced sites. Standard locations will be subject to a maximum £10,000 penalty. Civil liability for failure to comply with the requirements will be precluded by way of express provision for all duty holders.

Sensitive Information in Licensing Applications (SILA)

I intend to introduce the Sensitive information in licensing applications (SILA) protocol—by way of an amendment to the Licensing Act 2003—to align to the similar system already in place within planning legislation, sensitive information in planning applications, to reduce the risk of misuse of sensitive information in the public domain.

Bill preparation and Government support

I am pleased to have set out the above elements of Martyn’s law, on the basis of which Government will introduce measures to the House as soon as parliamentary time allows. Statutory guidance to support duty holders in fulfilling Martyn’s law requirements will also be developed. This will encourage a culture of continuous improvement. In addition, a range of initiatives are already in train to support understanding of Martyn’s law and its requirements. ProtectUK will be a key tool for the effective delivery of support to all owners and operators of publicly access, providing guidance and advice, training options and, engagement opportunities through webinars and forums.

An impact assessment has been developed to robustly assess the expected impact on organisations in scope.