Tag: Home Office

The press release issued by the Home Office on 3 February 2023.

Eleven more lethal substances to be made Class A drugs, following a recommendation by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

To stop lethal drugs claiming more lives, 11 synthetic opioids will be banned in the UK, the Home Office announced today (3 February 2023).

On the recommendation of Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), 10 additional nitazenes and brorphine will be made Class A substances.

These highly dangerous drugs are psychoactive substances which can be more potent than fentanyl. To protect lives, their possession will now be illegal and anyone who supplies the drugs will face up to life in prison, an unlimited fine or both.

Often mixed into other pills sold on the street, the government commissioned the ACMD to investigate after the substances were linked to rising overdoses in other countries. The ACMD found one drug, isotonitazene, was responsible for 24 fatalities in the UK in 2021 alone. Their recommendation to place all 11 narcotics in Class A has been accepted.

Policing Minister Chris Philp said:

Synthetic opioids are highly dangerous substances, which ruin lives and devastate communities.

We must stop these lethal drugs from reaching our streets, to prevent more tragic deaths and other harmful consequences of addiction, from violent crime to antisocial behaviour.

Drugs like these erode our society and we accept the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ recommendations, to bring proper penalties on their supply.

The substances to be added to Class A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, subject to Parliamentary approval, are: Butonitazene, Etodesnitazene (etazene), Flunitazene, Isotonitazene, Metodesnitazene (metazene), Metonitazene, N-Desethylisotonitazene, N-Piperidinyl-etonitazene (etonitazepipne), N-Pyrrolidino-etonitazene (etonitazepyne), Protonitazene and Brorphine. Because they have no recognised medical uses in the UK, they will also be placed in Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. Legislation will be brought forward to control these substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, as soon as possible, when Parliamentary time allows.

The move comes as a UK Drugs Ministerial was held yesterday, with ministers and experts from across the four nations. Chaired by the Policing Minister, it seeks to facilitate a UK-wide approach to tackling substance misuse.

Attendees included Scottish and Welsh representatives, Angela Constance MSP and Lynne Neagle MS, along with representatives from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and Department for Health and Social Care. Dame Carol Black, Independent Advisor on Combating Drugs, and Owen Bowden-Jones, Chair of the ACMD, were also in attendance.

Delegates shared information on drug-related deaths, including impacts of poly-drug use, as well as drug supply and use across the UK.

The meeting was the third of its kind. It supports the cross-government drug strategy, which brings a whole-system approach to tackling drugs, from enforcement through to treatment. Over 2,900 county lines, which shift drugs around the country, have already been dismantled through the approach. As part of the effort to tackle drug-related deaths, we have also dedicated £780 million to support people through treatment and recovery.

And today, the Department of Health and Social Care has also announced £53m will go to 28 local authorities in England to provide housing support to people in drug and alcohol treatment. The funding strengthens our government-wide commitment to reducing drug use and improving treatment outcomes, as part of the drug strategy.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 31 January 2023.

An estimated 136,000 violent offences have been prevented in areas of England and Wales delivering government-funded programmes to reduce serious violence.

Eighteen areas of England and Wales most blighted by violent crime have been receiving targeted funding for the past three years, to increase police patrols in crime hotspots and provide more support to at-risk young people.

An independent evaluation published today of the government’s ‘hotspot’ policing programme and network of Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) has revealed promising signs the approach is working, with 136,000 violence without injury offences estimated to have been prevented in areas with the programmes.

There are also positive indications that homicides and hospital admissions for violent injuries are reducing in these locations as a result of this funding.

The results come as the new Serious Violence Duty comes into force today, which was brought in by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and places a legal duty on public bodies to work together to drive down serious violence.

Policing Minister Chris Philp said:

These are outstanding results. Early interventions, which support at-risk kids to make the right choices in life, are helping to keep our communities and streets safer.

Serious violence is a complex issue, which is why we are putting multi-agency working at the centre of our approach.

Violence Reduction Units, hotspot patrols and the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers will see every community become a safe and prosperous place to live.

Set up in 2019, VRUs are a pioneering multi-agency initiative that brings together local partners in policing, education, health, and local government, to identify vulnerable children and adults and steer them away from a life of crime and violence.

With prevention better than cure, VRUs and GRIP patrols not only reduce violent incidents but see wider benefits. In their third year of operation, for every £1 invested by the Home Office in this serious violence prevention work, there was a return of £4.10 in savings to society.

The Violence Intervention Project (VIP) navigator scheme by the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Violence Reduction Unit engages with young people in custody suites, at a time they are most likely to accept help. Support workers create a ‘teachable moment’ to offer support and access to services to steer them back on track.

One eighteen-year old, James (name has been changed), was helped by the VIP team after being caught in possession of a knife and drugs. Weekly mentoring, engagement with a substance misuse worker, and enrolment on a construction course and a gym has helped him stick to his bail conditions. He has not reoffended, has been more open about his mental health and now understands how decisions at this stage of his life can impact his future.

Grace Strong, Director of the Leicestershire Violence Reduction Network said:

The VIP team are seeing hundreds of young people a year and offering them tailored support to make positive changes in their life and reducing their risk of being involved in further serious violence.

These vulnerable young people are becoming supported and empowered, and it is extremely positive for everyone to see them achieve goals that they never thought to be possible.

West Yorkshire VRU runs a similar scheme, in conjunction with the local hospital, to reach those presenting in A&E due to a violent incident.

Dr Alice Downs, Paediatric Emergency Consultant & Department Safeguarding Lead for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

When young people come into our hospitals as a result of violent crime we have a small window of opportunity to offer brief intervention using youth workers to empower the young person to make better life choices.

Working with the Violence Reduction Unit has enabled us to establish a team of Navigators who can explore the circumstances that have led to the young person’s hospital attendance, and address these to try and prevent similar incidents occurring.

Their attendance in our Emergency Department provides a valuable opportunity to intervene, improve lives, reduce morbidity and death from violent crime. This in turn should reduce the substantial impact on families and the cost to the NHS.

Building on the successes of VRUs, from today, multi-agency working is a legal obligation for public bodies across England and Wales, through the Serious Violence Duty. Police, health, fire and rescue services, local government and criminal justice partners will now be required to collaborate to find and address the causes of serious violence in their local area.

The duty will aim to continue driving down serious youth violence (as measured by under 25 hospital admissions for assault by a sharp object) across England and Wales, which has already fallen by 20% across England and Wales since March 2020.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 31 January 2023.

The Small Boats Operational Command (SBOC) will bring together the government’s response to small boats with 730 additional staff.

A bolstered response to curb migrant crossings comes into force today (Tuesday 31 January), as leadership of tackling small boats in the Channel returns to the Home Office.

The newly created Small Boats Operational Command (SBOC), which is part of Border Force, brings together the government’s response to small boats under a single integrated structure, enhancing the work conducted alongside the military last year.

To support this, 730 additional staff will be recruited, with 100 of these located inside its UK headquarters, while the remainder will bolster operations.

New air and maritime capabilities including new drones, boats, land-based radar and cameras, will also be introduced under SBOC. This will aid our ability to track vessels on the water, identify pilots and help to bring those responsible to justice.

The SBOC, which will be led in the interim by director Duncan Capps, will strengthen existing capabilities to oversee operations with the French to disrupt crossings, save lives at sea and ensure the effective processing of arrivals in the UK.

Military leadership of the operational response to Channel crossings was always intended to be a temporary measure and scheduled to end in January 2023. SBOC will continue to work closely with the military during a handover period to respond to the challenge of Channel crossings.

The command, through additional staff and new technologies, along with close working with NCA and other European partners, will deliver a more coordinated response in the Channel.

A government spokesperson said:

Last year we saw an unsustainable and unacceptable number of people risking their lives to reach the UK illegally.

This simply cannot continue and that is why we are taking immediate steps to tackle the evil people-smuggling gangs behind these deadly crossings and get our immigration system under control.

The return of Channel primacy to the Home Office, bolstered by 730 extra staff and led by director Duncan Capps, is a significant landmark in our long-term plan to ensure the safety and sovereignty of our borders and our communities.

We are building on the progress already made through the new deal with France, and our determination will not waiver until we stop the abuse of the asylum system and bring the smugglers responsible to justice.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 25 January 2023.

Latest figures show that there are more than 16,700 additional police officers in England and Wales since April 2020.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 24 January 2023.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has reaffirmed her department’s commitment to the Windrush generation, whilst hosting her first formal meeting with the Windrush Cross-Government Working Group.

It comes as new figures show that by the end of last year, more than £64 million in compensation had been paid or offered by the Home Office to those affected by the Windrush scandal.

Some 15,713 people have been helped to secure documentation confirming their right to be in the UK.

The Windrush Working Group was set up in June 2020 and brings together stakeholders and community leaders with senior representatives from several government departments.

The meeting today (24 January), which took place at 10 Downing Street, involved discussions on the operation of the Windrush Compensation Scheme, the Home Office’s progress in responding to the recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review and planning across government to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of MV Empire Windrush in June.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

A huge amount has been achieved in responding to and learning the lessons of Windrush and I’m delighted to have been able to host the Windrush Working Group – who have done so much to help shape the Home Office’s response.

The fact we have now offered or paid more than £64 million in compensation to those affected by the scandal is due in no small part to their tenacity and expertise.

I am committed to working with my co-chair Bishop Webley and the group’s other members to continue to drive the improvements this department must make.

The Home Secretary reiterated her commitment to ensure those affected receive the compensation they deserve and that the department she leads learns the lessons of Windrush.

Bishop Derek Webley, co-chair of the Windrush Working Group said:

The Home Secretary has made clear that she’s committed to working with us on these vitally important issues.

We will continue to ensure the voices of the community are heard and I’m confident our advice and constructive challenge will continue to have a positive and tangible impact.

We’ve worked hard to support and serve the interests of the Windrush generation, who have contributed so much to the life of this country, and we have made very good progress but we all recognise there is more to do.

The group has been integral to driving improvements to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, culminating in its overhaul in December 2020, when the minimum payment was raised from £250 to £10,000. This minimum award is now paid as a preliminary payment as soon as someone applying can demonstrate an impact on their life under the terms of the scheme.

It has advised on the design and delivery of the £500,000 Windrush Schemes Community Fund, which allowed community and grassroot organisations to bid for up to £25,000 to deliver projects encouraging applications to the Home Office’s documentation and compensation schemes. It also advised the department on a communications campaign with the same objectives.

And it has provided strategic input into the Home Office’s response to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review (WLLR), which was written by Wendy Williams and published in March 2019. In her follow-up progress report, published last March, Ms Williams concluded that 21 of her 30 recommendations had been met or partially met. The Home Office will be updating Parliament shortly on its progress in responding to all of the recommendations in the report.

Most recently, in October 2022, the Home Office established the Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints (recommendation 25), offering customers of the department’s immigration services an opportunity to have their case reviewed independently if they remain unhappy with the outcome of a complaint.

Compensation Scheme Statistics

Today’s statistics show that £53.98 million had been paid out by the end of December 2022 across 1,417 claims. A further £10.09 million has been offered, awaiting acceptance, or pending review, taking the total amount paid or offered to more than £64 million.

The statistics also highlight a significant increase in the number of claims receiving a final decision during the calendar year 2022, at 1,485, compared to 873 in 2021.

Payments to date include some very significant sums. More than 200 people have been paid between £50,000 and £100,000 and over a dozen have been paid more than £200,000.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 24 January 2023.

Police to adopt new ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ tactic, as Home Secretary launches consultation on new offences to frustrate criminal enterprises.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 23 January 2023.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which implement the majority of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations, come into force today (23 January 2023).

These are new requirements for ‘responsible persons’ of mid and high-rise blocks of flats to provide information to fire and rescue services to assist them with operational planning and provide additional safety measures. In all multi-occupied residential buildings, residents should now be provided with fire safety instructions and information on fire doors.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 are now law from today and form part of a package of sensible, risk mitigating fire safety measures that the government is delivering following the Grenfell Tower fire to keep the public safe.

In high-rise residential buildings, responsible persons will be required to:

• provide their local fire and rescue service with up-to-date electronic building plans and information on the design and materials of their external wall
• undertake monthly checks of firefighting lifts, evacuation lifts and other key pieces of firefighting equipment
• install a secure information box and wayfinding signage

In mid-rise residential buildings (over 11 metres), responsible persons will be required to undertake annual checks of flat entrance doors and quarterly checks of all fire doors in the common part.

Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, Chris Philp, said:

I am very pleased that measures to improve fire safety in blocks of flats are now law following recommendations made by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Keeping the public safe is our utmost priority and we are committed to ensuring that the Grenfell tragedy must never happen again.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 23 January 2023.

The Home Office has ramped up immigration enforcement activity in the month since the Prime Minister’s pledge to boost raids on illegal working.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 23 January 2023.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 20 January 2023.

Victims will be better protected from invasive requests for personal records, including during rape investigations, the Safeguarding Minister announced today (20 January).

Third party information on victims, such as education, medical, social services and counselling records, can be requested by the police during an investigation. These requests can be time-consuming and have a severe impact on victims’ confidence as an infringement on their privacy.

The government ran a public consultation on these police requests, in which experts across the sector including victims’ groups shared their views.

Today the Home Office published its response to the consultation, which includes a commitment to introduce new legislation on the way the police can request access to personal data from third parties. This will better protect people’s data by ensuring the police and other parties only request this information where this is absolutely necessary and proportionate.

Minister for Safeguarding, Sarah Dines said:

We know that sexual abuse investigations have a significant psychological impact on victims, and it is wrong that victims of some of the most traumatic crimes are having significant amounts of their personal records unnecessarily requested.

This new legislation and guidance will support the police to ensure all requests are completely necessary, and that we can protect victims and deliver justice more quickly.

Respondents to the consultation were supportive of the government’s plans for new legislation, which will put on a statutory footing the police’s duty to only request material that is necessary and proportionate, in addition to a duty to inform people about what type of information is being requested, why, and how it will be used. These duties will be further clarified in a code of practice to aid the police in fulfilling their duties.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Disclosure lead, ACC Tim De Meyer, said:

Police investigators must sometimes seek third party information in order to ensure that they impartially follow all potential leads in an investigation. Third party information might support the prosecution case or be required to see that there is a fair trial. The need to seek third party information depends on the circumstances of the case.

Forces are committed to bringing offenders to justice while treating victims with sensitivity and respect during an investigation, and so policing welcomes the new proposals. It will enable officers to carry out thorough investigations which preserve the absolute right to a fair trial, while respecting the right to privacy of all parties.

John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said:

We know from our investigations that the excessive collection of information from victims of rape and serious sexual assault leaves people feeling revictimised by a system they expected to support them.

The steps set out by government show that change is possible, and alongside work by police and broader work across the UK, we believe progress can be made to prevent victims feeling as though they are being treated as suspects.

If the police fail to abide by the statutory duties included in the legislation, they would be in breach of the law and could be open to legal challenge.

The new legislation will help to fulfil a commitment in the government’s End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan to reduce unnecessary and disproportionate requests for personal records, and forms part of the government’s wider commitment to increasing charge and prosecution volumes for adult rape cases and putting the victims’ needs at the centre of investigations.

This new commitment follows the changes the government has already delivered to address concerns surrounding sensitive information taken from victims’ phones. The new powers introduced in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act (2022), and accompanying code of practice, ensure that all requests for phones and other devices are necessary, proportionate and that victims are given the information they need to make a decision that is right for them before they are asked to volunteer their device. Where victims do agree to share information, the majority of forces are now in the position to ensure they are not without a phone for more than 24 hours, which is another means of improving victim wellbeing in investigations.

The government is also funding Operation Soteria, a programme which brings together academics and police forces, and aims to radically transform the way police and the Crown Prosecution Service deal with rape – shifting the focus onto the suspect, rather than the victim. With the aim of publishing a new national operating model for the investigation of rape in June 2023, academics were brought into 5 ‘pathfinder’ police forces to work alongside frontline police officers and develop new tools for improvement.

Operation Soteria is already showing early indicators of change, including stronger collaboration with prosecutors, improved organisational capability and more specialist knowledge of sexual offending being applied to investigations. A further 14 forces are now participating in the programme.

This is all alongside government action such as offering pre-recorded evidence for rape victims to every Crown Court in England and Wales, sparing them the trauma of testifying during live trial; and committing to quadrupling funding for victim support services by 2025 compared to 2010, including investment to increase the number of independent sexual violence advisors and independent domestic violence advisors to over 1,000 by 2024/25.

The government will pursue the new legislation on requests for third party material when parliamentary time allows.