Tag: Lord Condon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-06-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which police forces in areas with North Sea coastlines or English Channel coastlines from Norfolk south and west to Devon and Cornwall have marine or boat units capable of patrolling estuaries or inshore sea waters; and what is the maximum range in which those police forces’ units are licensed to operate.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Home Office does not collect this information. Decisions on the local deployment of assets and resources, including marine units, are for individual chief constables working with their police and crime commissioner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to assist in the resolution of the industrial dispute between Southern Rail and some of its staff and their unions.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

This, like any other industrial dispute between a Train Operating Company and a trades union, is a matter for the union and operator to resolve. The Government condemns any industrial action that disrupts the travelling public. RMT has advised its members to accept the new On-Board Supervisor roles on offer. The Government’s strong opinion is there are no grounds at all for any further industrial action and these strikes must stop now.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to encourage the provision and wearing of body cameras by operational police officers to improve police and public confidence in cases of disputed incidents.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Home Office fully supports the police exploiting technology to help cut crime wherever possible. Body worn video can be a powerful tool to help the police be more effective, efficient and accountable. The decision to procure and deploy it is an operational one for chief officers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2015-12-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in 2015 towards ensuring that people with mental health issues are not detained in police cells because no hospital bed is available for them.

Lord Prior of Brampton

According to data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the number of people detained in police custody as a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 fell by 34% in England between 2013-14 and 2014-15. This corresponds to an increase in the use of hospital-based places of safety of 14%, according to the Health & Social Care Information Centre. The figure amounts to a 54% reduction in the use of police custody since 2011-12, surpassing the ambition of a 50% reduction set out in the Government’s Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, which was published in February 2014 and is attached. Existing guidance in the Concordat and the Mental Health Act Code of Practice makes it clear that police custody should only be used as a place of safety in exceptional circumstances.

The Concordat – signed by over 25 national organisations – has led to the establishment of 96 local groups covering the entirety of England, consisting of health, policing and local authority partners who have pledged to work together to improve mental health crisis care and set out detailed, publicly available plans, including to reduce the use of police custody for those detained under the Act.

However, although significant progress has been made, the Government has signalled its intention to go further by amending legislation through the forthcoming Police and Criminal Justice Bill, so that, among other measures, police custody can never be used as a place of safety for under-18s and so custody can only be used for adults in the most exceptional circumstances.

Moreover, in May this year the Home Secretary announced that the Government would invest up to an additional £15 million in 2016-17 to reduce the use of police custody as a place of safety. Further announcements around this will be made shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage the full-time employment of adults with special learning needs, and what assessment they have made of how successful those measures have been in 2015.

Baroness Altmann

Increasing disability employment is a key part of the government’s aim to achieve full employment. That is why this Government has an ambition to halve the disability employment gap by creating the opportunity for a million more disabled people to work.

The Government has a variety of initiatives and programmes in place to support and encourage people with special learning needs to find and retain work. Performance statistics are published for a number of these.

For example:

• Access to Work provides on-going personalised in-work support for disabled people who are in work or about to start work on a full or part-time basis. Access to Work has had a Hidden Impairments Specialist Advisory team since September. We are also considering whether the Mental Health Support Service model of support could benefit those with hidden impairments other than mental health conditions. Last year Access to Work supported record numbers of people with a Learning Disability or Dyslexia recorded as their Primary Health Condition (6,580 people supported – 520 more people than in 2013/14).

• The most recent Access to Work statistics are attached at Annex A.

• Work Choice is a specialist disability employment programme which provides tailored support for disabled people who face the most complex employment barriers to find and stay in work. DWP has improved the referral process for Work Choice to ensure that information about candidates’ hidden impairments is shared with Work Choice providers. In 2014/15, 5,670 people with a Mild or Moderate to Severe Learning Disability recorded as their Primary Disability were referred to Work Choice. Since 2010, 19,410 people with a Mild or Moderate to Severe Learning Disability recorded as their Primary Disability have started Work Choice, of whom 8,600 have started work – giving a job outcome rate of around 44% for this group.

• The most recent Work Choice statistics are attached at Annex B.

• The Government’s Disability Confident campaign works with employers at a national and local level to help them to understand the benefits of employing disabled people, and promote good practice in recruitment and employment of disabled people, including people with special learning needs.

• DWP also works in close partnership with the Hidden Impairment National Group (HING), a national network of disabled people, medical professionals/ academics and disability specific organisations. This collaboration has produced an ‘Uncovering Hidden Impairments’ toolkit, which supports organisations in both the private and public sectors to confidently recruit and retain talented individuals with hidden impairment conditions, such as special learning needs.

• Jobcentre Plus continues to offer a range of support, including a free helpline for claimants who have difficulty making claims for benefit online because of dyslexia or similar conditions. DWP is working in partnership with Autism Alliance UK to build an autism network across Jobcentre Plus by training nominated autism leads, including Work Coaches and DEAs.

• We have worked with Community Service Volunteers to introduce the Job-Shadowing Work Placement Initiative for young disabled people, including those with special learning needs. The first tranche had a 65% participation rate for young people having autistic spectrum conditions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new arrangements have been made in 2015, nationally, regionally, or locally, for police forces formally to share operational or support functions.

Lord Bates

Chief Constables and PCCs are best placed to consider whether and how their forces’ operational or support functions should be shared. The number of collaborations continues to increase, with at least 4 new alliances involving 9 forces announced in 2015.

Regional Organised Crime Units, the National Crime Agency and local law enforcement continue to develop specialist capabilities to tackle a range of threats, including serious and organised crime, child sexual abuse and cyber crime. The Government supports the current review by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners into where specialist policing capabilities best sit, and how they should be delivered, to provide a common basis for future collaboration decisions.

To continue to strengthen and improve mutual aid arrangements, the National Police Coordination Centre is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to develop consistent national standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police forces in the UK are operating drones for intelligence purposes, or for the prevention or detection of crime; and whether such use is being monitored by the Inspectorate of Constabulary, or any other independent body.

Lord Bates

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is an operational matter for individual police forces, and the Home Office does not hold information on which forces use them. A number of forces are conducting trials to assess whether the use of drones can bring benefits to the provision of the police service. Any use would need to comply with existing Civil Aviation Authority Regulations. Monitoring the police use of drones is not within Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Constabulary’s (HMIC) general remit. HMIC have confirmed that they have no plans to consider police use of drones at this stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the efficacy of the rollout of high speed broadband, and when they expect the rollout to be completed.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Broadband Delivery UK’s (BDUK) Superfast Broadband Programme remains on track to achieve 90% superfast broadband coverage within the next few months, and 95% by December 2017. The programme has provided coverage to more than 3.5 million homes and businesses across the UK that would otherwise not have it, and will reach 4 million by spring 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made regarding Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Data Review.

Lord Bates

Further to the Noble Lord’s previous question HL2559, the Home Secretary has received the conclusions of Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Review and will report on its recommendations shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in providing alternatives to Operation Stack in Kent in the event of further serious disruption to the operation of the channel ferries or the Channel Tunnel.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government has listened to the communities and businesses of Kent and taken action to deal with the causes and effects of Operation Stack. In Autumn Statement 2015, the Chancellor announced up to £250m for an off-road lorry area.

Highways England completed a public consultation on proposals on 26 January 2016 and is now carefully assessing all the responses. Subject to the outcome of this assessment, the Government intends to make public its next steps shortly.

As an interim measure, the Government secured the use of a site at Manston in North Kent last summer. The Department for Transport and Highways England continue to work with Kent partners, including the county and district councils, emergency services, hauliers and ports to reduce the impact of Operation Stack on Kent should it need to be implemented.