Tag: Lord Condon

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to prevent children being detained in police cells overnight because no suitable local authority accommodation is available.

Lord Bates

The Government is committed to ensuring that young people are protected and treated appropriately while in police custody. This is why in January last year, the Home Secretary commissioned a multi-agency Working Group on Section 38(6) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which concerns the transfer of children from police custody to local authority care when charged and denied bail. The purpose of the group is to better understand the problems with the operation of the law and to develop solutions to enable forces and local authorities to meet their respective statutory responsibilities. The group is currently finalising a package of measures and will present these to the Home Secretary once the work is complete.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by Sir Stephen Bubb The Challenge Ahead and his proposal for a Commissioner to protect and promote the rights of people with learning difficulties.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government welcomes Sir Stephen Bubb’s report Time for Change – the Challenge Ahead which focuses on improving the experience of care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities. Sir Stephen’s report acknowledges the real progress that has been made in the last year.

The Department will consider the recommendations in Time for Change – the Challenge Ahead in our development of a Learning Disability Action Plan. However, new statutory roles and legislation are not necessarily the answer to achieving the changes envisaged by the Steering Group. We believe that we can make more rapid and meaningful progress by ensuring that the rights that exist under current laws and statutes are properly understood, implemented and exercised by those with learning disabilities and/or autism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the current Police and Crime Commissioners are standing for re-election in May.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Twenty seven of forty current police and crime commissioners (PCCs) for police force areas where ordinary PCC elections are taking place this May are standing for re-election.

This excludes Greater London, where the elected mayor exercises PCC functions in respect of the Metropolitan Police, and Greater Manchester, where the ordinary PCC election has been cancelled to pave the way for the transfer of PCC functions to an elected mayor in May 2017, with the term of the current PCC extended to that point.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to the recent news that one in eight cases at Crown Court are not proceeded with by the Crown Prosecution Service, even though the defendants have been formally charged.

Lord Keen of Elie

All cases are kept under constant review as they progress through the criminal justice system. If new evidence comes to light, a witness decides to no longer support a prosecution or a co-defendant pleads guilty to the offence, the CPS will then review the case. If there is no longer sufficient evidence or if it is no longer in the public interest, the CPS will stop a prosecution.

The Transforming Summary Justice (TSJ) and Better Case Management (BCM) initiatives, introduced nationally, are recent programmes which will have a material and positive impact on both levels and timing of discontinuance. These include earlier, pre-first magistrates’ hearing case review by prosecutors; an emphasis on early defence engagement; listing periods that support the time required to prepare the case; and improved processes to gather and serve evidential material and disclosure prior to court hearings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the 10 most recently appointed Chief Constables in the UK were not internal candidates from the appointing police force, and over what period of time those appointments have taken place.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Three of the ten most recently appointed chief constables in England and Wales were not internal candidates from the appointing police force, although eight of the chief constables have served as a chief officer outside of the force.

These appointments have taken place over the period from June 2015 to March 2016.