This five year plan should be read in conjunction with the Strategic plan for the criminal justice system (ISBN 010162882x) to see how the Home Office will take forward its objectives. It is in four main sections: the strategy for reducing crime, drug abuse and insecurity; building cohesive communities; managing migration; managing the Home Office. Amongst the measures is a greater focus on the more prolific offenders, an increased use of tagging and an expansion of treatment places for drug users. There will also be an investment of £800 million to integrate IT systems and there is a plan to introduce biometric ID cards by 2008.
The Home Office has been effective at raising the profile of domestic violence and alcohol related crime and encouraging local action to address these issues. Such action is likely to have made some contribution to the overall fall in levels of violent crime. It has not yet managed to address successfully barriers which are reducing the effectiveness of crime prevention activities at a local level and which have been raised in previous reports by the National Audit Office and the Committee of Public Accounts. However, the Home Office has made some progress in addressing these barriers. The persistence of these barriers means that good practice has not been extended from small initiatives, and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have not been able to take a long-term, strategic approach to tackling violent crime. There are a number of NAO recommendations.
The Government recognises that many lifestyle-driven health problems are at alarming levels: obesity; high rates of sexually transmitted infections; a relatively large population of drug users; rising levels of harm from alcohol; 80,000 deaths a year from smoking; poor mental health; health inequalities between rich and poor. This white paper outlines the Government's proposals to protect the population from serious health threats; help people live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives; and improve the health of the poorest. It aims to empower individuals to make healthy choices and give communities and local government the freedom, responsibility and funding to innovate and develop ways of improving public health in their area. The paper responds to Sir Michael Marmot's strategic review of health inequalities in England post 2010 - "Fair society, healthy lives" (available at http://www.marmotreview.org/AssetLibrary/pdfs/Reports/FairSocietyHealthyLives.pdf) and adopts its life course framework for tackling the wider social determinants of health. A new dedicated public health service - Public Health England - will be created to ensure excellence, expertise and responsiveness, particularly on health protection where a national response is vital. The paper gives a timetable showing how the proposals will be implemented and an annex sets out a vision of the role of the Director of Public Health. The Department is also publishing a fuller story on the health of England in "Our health and wellbeing today" (http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_122238.pdf), detailing the challenges and opportunities, and in 2011 will issue documents on major public health issues.
This White Paper sets out the Government's plans for a second phase of reforms of the police service in England and Wales. The reforms detailed have three broad objectives: i) the creation of dedicated neighbourhood policing teams across the country, including police constables, community support officers (CSOs) and wardens, designed to make the service more accessible, accountable and visible in the community; ii) further modernisation of the police workforce with more capacity for front-line policing, including 25,000 new community support officers and wardens by 2008, a new improvement agency to ensure policing is driven by intelligence, good practice and performance monitoring, and an enhanced training and career development structure to improve leadership and management skills at all levels; and iii) greater citizen involvement in determining how their local communities are policed, including minimum national service standards for every force by 2006, that can be built on locally. These reforms are designed to embed a strong, responsive customer service culture throughout the police service, and to help build trust and confidence in relations between the police and the public.
The right to peaceful protest is a key part of a democratic society, particularly in the vicinity of Parliament given that it is the seat of our elected representatives. Following on from a Green Paper (Cm. 7170, ISBN 9780101717021) published in July 2007, this consultation paper seeks views on the framework governing the right to protest around Parliament, looking at the wider context of legislation governing protests and demonstrations in England and Wales. It considers the general legislative framework for public protests, such as assemblies and marches, under the Public Order Act 1986, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights. It also looks at arguments in favour of having specific rules governing the area around Parliament, including security concerns. The consultation process ends on 17/01/2008.
The Government published the UK Cyber Security Strategy in June 2009 (Cm. 7642, ISBN 97801017674223), and established the Office of Cyber Security to provide strategic leadership across Government. This document sets out the Home Office's approach to tackling cyber crime, showing how to tackle such crimes directly through the provision of a law enforcement response, and indirectly through cross-Government working and through the development of relationships with industry, charities and other groups, as well as internationally. The publication is divided into five chapters and looks at the following areas, including: the broader cyber security context; cyber crime: the current position; the Government response and how the Home Office will tackle cyber crime.
The Committee reports on the circumstances around the termination of the UK Border Agency's contract with Glasgow City Council for the housing of asylum seekers in the council's accommodation. The report is highly critical of the manner in which UKBA's London office handled notifying the Glasgow asylum seekers of changes to their housing provision, which it says was inappropriate at best and callous and inhumane at worst. However, the Committee says the Immigration Minister responded speedily and appropriately to the situation he had been put in. The lack of firm contingency plans at the time the contract was terminated is to be regretted and the Committee remains unclear about issues around costs and savings, as well as being unable to clarify the complete financial situation around the accommodation contract. Matters relating to the work of UKBA in Scotland will continue to be reviewed by the Committee, including the Family Return project, and additional figures and information requested by the Committee.
The Government, in consultation with the Territories and other stakeholders, has developed a strategy of re-engagement: strengthening links between the Territories and the UK; strengthening governance; and enhancing support to the Territories. This White Paper sets out priorities for action in terms of defending the Territories; supporting successful economic development; preserving the Territories' rich environmental heritage and addressing the challenges of climate change; making government work better; community issues; and strengthening links with international and regional organisations or other countries. Taking this forward will require a partnership between the UK Government and Territory Governments. The UK wants to strengthen political engagement between Ministers in the UK and the Territories, particularly through the proposed Joint Ministerial Council, and is determined to live up to its responsibilities to the Territories
Anti-social behaviour encompasses a broad range of behaviours including nuisance behaviour, intimidation and vandalism. Seventeen per cent of the population perceive high levels of anti-social behaviour in their area, with the young and the less well off being disproportionately affected, at a cost to government agencies of responding to reports of anti-social behaviour in England and Wales of around £3.4 billion per year. This report examines the work of the Home Office's Anti-Social Behaviour Unit set up in 2003 and measures introduced by the Home Office since 1997 to tackle anti-social behaviour, focusing on the impact of three of the most commonly used interventions: warning letters, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. Using a sample of 893 cases, the report found that the majority of people who received one of these interventions did not re-engage in anti-social behaviour, but there were a number of perpetrators for whom interventions had limited impact, with about 20 per cent of the sample having received 55 per cent of the interventions issued. Recommendations include that the Home Office should undertake formal evaluation of the success of different interventions and the impact of combining these with support services at the local level. International research suggests that preventive programmes, such as education, counselling and training can be a cost effective way of addressing anti-social behaviour.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme provides compensation to victims of violent crime. In 2006-07, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (the Authority), which covers England, Scotland and Wales, received 61,000 applications and paid some £192 million to victims. Awards are determined by a tariff, with fixed compensation for each type of injury. Dissatisfied applicants can apply to the Authority for a review of their case and, if they remain dissatisfied, can appeal to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel (the Panel), which received 2,136 appeals in 2006-07. In 2006-07, the Authority's administrative costs were £23.6 million, and the Panel's £4.9 million. This report examines whether the Authority and Panel provide a more cost effective and better quality of service than when last investigated in 2000. The report finds the Authority's service has declined, and it has not met its targets. The average time to resolve a tariff case has increased from 364 days in 1998-99 to 515 days in 2006-07. There were 81,600 unresolved cases at the Authority and 2,400 at the Panel in October 2007. Half of the applications are rejected as ineligible, and these need to be identified much earlier in the assessment process. The Authority has recently initiated a major reform programme, and has diagnosed problems with current ways of working - too bureaucratic and repetitive - and early signs are that the changes are bringing improvements. The NAO makes a number of recommendations for further improving the service to victims and on improving the efficiency of case processing and management of the caseload.
This is the fourth National Statistics annual report which highlights the variety of work carried out by statisticians and other analysts in the Government Statistical Service (GSS) during the year 2003-04. It considers the progress made in implementing the statistical plans set out in the National Statistics Work Programme for 2003/04 to 2005/06, across three main areas of work: major developments in cross-cutting departmental or theme boundaries; work carried out under the aegis of the 12 National Statistics Theme Groups; and quality improvements carried out in the context of the National Statistics Quality Review Programme.
Newport Passport Application Processing Centre serves the whole of Wales and south west England. It deals with 47,000 passport applications annually-around 10 per cent of the national total. The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) proposes to close the Passport Office at Newport, with a loss of over 300 jobs, although the Home Office announced that a customer service centre would be retained in Newport to service South Wales and the South West of England. The piecemeal nature of the announcements suggests the lack of a co-ordinated strategy regarding the future of the IPS in Wales. The Office's significance to Wales and its value to the Welsh economy have not been truly appreciated by the Government. No economic impact assessment of the proposal has been completed, and the criteria on which the decision was based should be re-examined. The Newport Passport Office is the second largest employer in the city centre. Its closure would have a significant economic impact on the city and would be a further blow for the Welsh economy. The Committee is not convinced that long-term savings will be made by reducing the size of the Office. The IPS should, on the contrary, provide a detailed appraisal of the costs and benefits of consolidation and expansion as opposed to a reduction of services. Without the retention of the office in Newport, the Government's duty to provide a Welsh-language service to users may not be properly discharged.
This statutory guidance on injunctions to prevent gang-related violence draws on the experience and knowledge of the police service, local authorities and a wide range of local partners involved in dealing with violent gangs. It has been developed and approved by partners across the Criminal Justice System, as well as local practitioners. It has been produced after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls, and has been laid before Parliament by the Home Secretary. The Policing and Crime Act 2009 contains provision for injunctions to prevent gang-related violence to be sought against an individual; these were commenced in January 2011. The Crime and Security Act 2010 contains provisions for breach of an injunction to be enforced against 14 to 17 year olds; these will be commenced in January 2012.
This report is the Committee's annual review of how the FCO is managing its resources, examining the departmental annual report for 2007-08 (Cm. 7398, ISBN 9780101739825). Chapters cover: new strategic framework; performance measurement; global network; essential services; FCO Services; personnel issues; transparency and openness; financial management; public diplomacy and communication; the British Council; the BBC World Service. The Committee is concerned that the FCO is facing serious financial pressures in this financial year due to the Treasury's withdrawal of its support for the Overseas Pricing Mechanism (OPM) which used to protect departments from the weakening of sterling. There is a risk that the FCO may not be able to meet higher international subscriptions over the next two financial years, causing its performance against Public Service Agreement targets to suffer. The likely increase in the UN Regular Budget and other international subscriptions will push this figure even higher. The FCO should have to shoulder the financial burden from within its already tight budget to pay for subscriptions which also benefit other Government departments. The Committee recommends that additional nondiscretionary costs should properly be met by the Treasury.
The Border Force's 7,600 staff operate immigration and customs controls at 138 air, sea and rail ports across the UK. It has a budget of £604 million for 2013-14, but is facing cuts. It has had to prioritise passenger checks at the expense of its other duties thereby weakening security at the border by neglecting other duties, such as the examination of freight for illicit goods, and checks in Calais on lorries to detect concealed illegal entrants. It was not able to meet and check up to 90,000 private planes or private boats arriving in the UK each year, leaving the UK border vulnerable and raising issues about resourcing and how priorities are set. The Border Force acknowledged that it had missed 8 of its 19 seizure and detection targets. Recommendations: set out how it will ensure that it delivers its full range of duties across all ports to provide the required level of national security; demonstrate that it can deliver its workload within the resources available; must address the gaps in the data it receives on people arriving in the UK, and the existing data needs to be cleansed to increase the quality, reliability and usefulness of the intelligence generated; set out how, and by when, it will have in place the functional IT systems it needs to underpin the security of the UK border; senior management must provide the organisation with a clear sense of purpose and tackle those barriers which inhibit the flexible and effective deployment of its staff.
Cocaine is a dangerous drug linked to heart disease, long-term erosion of cognitive brain function, and has extremely toxic effects when combined with alcohol. This title notes some successful operations to prevent couriers from reaching the UK, but the degree of success is difficult to quantify.
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