Correspondence

Crime and policing update: November 2015

Published 3 December 2015

This was published under the 2015 to 2016 Cameron Conservative government

1. Comprehensive spending review

On 25 November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer published the 2015 comprehensive spending review. Overall police spending will be protected over the spending review period. This provides funding to maintain overall police force budgets at current cash levels. Additional funding will be provided for forces who have strong proposals to support efficiency and reform. This funding will also allow forces to adapt to changing crime threats and train more firearms officers to make sure the country can be protected from terrorist threats.

The counter-terrorism budget will increase by £500 million to increase the capability of the police to pursue terrorists and ensure that the UK is properly prepared in the event of an attack.

The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) budget will also be protected as it leads UK law enforcement’s fight to cut serious and organised crime. The NCA will receive an additional £200 million capital investment to transform it into a world-leading law enforcement agency, with new digital and investigative capability to deal with cyber crime, child exploitation and the distribution of criminal finances.

2. Draft Investigatory Powers Bill published

The Home Secretary announced the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill. This landmark legislation sets out the powers already available to law enforcement, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, enshrines new capabilities in legislation, and significantly strengthens the oversight, safeguards and authorisation that govern their use.

The main provisions of the bill are:

• the creation of a new, single, stronger body – led by a powerful Investigatory Powers Commissioner who will be a senior judge – which, will replace the existing arrangements split across 3 different bodies to establish a more visible, world-leading oversight regime
• granting law enforcement agencies access to internet connection records which they need in the course of their investigations. Access to this data would be considered on a case-by-case basis, and would only be given where it was necessary and proportionate to do so in the course of an individual investigation, and be limited to rigidly defined purposes
• allowing the security and intelligence agencies the ability to acquire and use communications data in bulk including data relating to both the UK and overseas from communications services providers. The draft bill makes clear existing powers for the security and intelligence agencies to do this, whilst subjecting them to stricter safeguards

The legislation responds to the changes in the way we all communicate and seeks to ensure law enforcement has the powers it needs to police cyberspace in the face of technological advances. The draft bill will now go through full pre-legislative scrutiny before a revised Investigatory Powers Bill is laid before Parliament in spring 2016. Further details on the draft bill have been published, alongside the Home Secretary’s statement to Parliament.

3. The national security strategy and strategic defence and security review published

On 23 November the government published the National Security Strategy (NSS) and Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which sets out cross government action to deal with the national security threats facing the UK and its interests overseas.

Cyber security will be enhanced with the creation of a new national cyber centre to make Britain the best protected country in cyber space. Government spending on cyber security will reach £1.9 billion a year by 2020, whilst MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will receive a further 1,900 extra security and intelligence staff.

To deal with criminals and bring them to justice, new measures will be introduced to make the UK a more hostile place for those seeking to move, hide or use the proceeds of crime and corruption and evade sanctions. A comprehensive action plan will be developed to better identify, disrupt and dismantle the networks involved in modern slavery and immigration crime; at the same time, the government’s approach to deal with online child sexual exploitation and abuse will also be strengthened.

4. Lynne Owens announced as new head of National Crime Agency

On 26 November, the Home Secretary announced that Lynne Owens CBE QPM, has been appointed as the new Director General of the National Crime Agency. Ms Owens is currently the Chief Constable of Surrey Police and will succeed Keith Bristow who leaves his post in January after 4 years as director general. Lynne Owens is expected to take up the post in the new year.

5. Second mental health crisis care Concordat summit

The second mental health crisis care Concordat summit was held on 24 November and was attended by Karen Bradley, the Minister for Minister for Preventing Abuse and Exploitation, Alistair Burt, the Minister of State for Community and Social Care, charities (including long standing partner Mind), clinicians, the police, and NHS England among others.

Speaking at the summit, Karen Bradley explained how the Concordat is helping people who experience a mental health crisis to receive appropriate, timely and urgent care. She outlined the positive action taken forward by the Home Office and other national signatories, including reducing the number of people detained in police cells under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, and supporting new ‘street triage’ schemes, which see policing and health professionals working together to improve the response to people experiencing crisis.

The Home Office is now taking forward a number of measures to improve the experience for people detained under section 135 or 136, through the forthcoming Policing and Crime Bill.

The concordat was launched in February 2014 and sets out how health staff, police officers and approved mental health professionals should work together to help someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Further information on the Concordat is available on the dedicated Concordat website.

6. New THINK! campaign to highlight the dangers of drink driving

To highlight the dangers of drink driving, the Department for Transport has launched its THINK! campaign. To encourage everyone to think before drinking and driving, adverts will be broadcast on TV, online video and radio to make people aware that even a small number of drinks before driving increase the chance of being in a fatal collision.

To support the campaign, a toolkit with campaign information and materials for use in local communications channels is available to police forces and other road safety professionals. You can email DfTpublicity@dft.gsi.gov.uk to receive a copy. More information about the campaign is available on the THINK! website and you can also follow THINK! on Twitter using the handle @thinkgovuk.

7. New campaign launched to fight money laundering and organised crime

A national campaign to help the funding of organised crime has been launched by the Home Office. Called ‘Flag it up’, the campaign seeks to encourage solicitors and accountants to protect their businesses from involvement in money laundering and report suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency.

The campaign will run until the end of March 2016, and will be promoted through sector-specific press and advertising. A range of partners, including government departments, law enforcement and representative accountancy and law bodies, are supporting the campaign. If you would like more information on the campaign, or to find out how you can support it, please contact Tristan Derry Tristan.derry@homeoffice.x.gsi.gov.uk.

8. All police forces now connected to the child abuse image database

The child abuse image database (CAID) was launched by the Prime Minister during the WePROTECT children online summit in London. The database was created to transform how we deal with online child sexual exploitation and abuse, and at the second WePROTECT summit last month, Baroness Shields, Minister for Internet Safety and Security, announced that all UK police forces were now connected to the database.

The benefits for forces in using CAID include:

• it takes less time to review images - previously, a case with 10,000 images could typically take up to 3 days - using the database, a similar case like this can be reviewed in an hour
• it is able to recognise victims more quickly
• it can reduce how many devices the officer needs to seize, as it identifies all the devices that contain images of abuse

In addition, digital fingerprints of almost 19,000 of the images held on CAID have been assessed by the internet watch foundation and shared with 5 major global technology companies to enable the removal, and prevent the sharing, of potentially hundreds of thousands of images from their platforms and services.

The priority now is to support forces to use CAID to ensure they see its benefits in helping to investigate cases and safeguard victims more effectively. Further information on CAID has been published on GOV.UK.

9. Serious and organised crime local partnerships bulletin

The serious and organised crime local partnerships team has developed a bulletin to share good practice among local multi-agency serious and organised crime partnerships. It is envisaged that highlighting local partnerships’ successes will support the establishment of strong multi-agency partnerships and galvanise engagement across the law enforcement, public, voluntary and private sectors to work together to deal with serious and organised crime. Each bulletin will feature examples of partnership successes, as well as promote new tools, resources, guidance, and information sharing initiatives.

The bulletin is published quarterly, with the second edition published in December. You can subscribe to the bulletin, or contribute an article for future editions, by contacting the strategic centre for organised crime’s prevent and local partnerships team: SCOC.localpartnerships@homeoffice.x.gsi.gov.uk.

10. Police ICT summit 2016

The police ICT company is hosting the second annual police ICT suppliers’ summit on Wednesday 27 January 2016. Building on the success of the inaugural summit, the event aims to make it easier for the police, government bodies and suppliers to work together and deliver efficiencies through smarter, more cost effective technology.

This forward thinking and solution focused event will:

• set out how the company will act as the ‘intelligent consumer’ for policing, and work with industry to get the best deals to deliver better, more cost effective policing
• identify opportunities for collaborative contracts and procurement, and agree how to deliver solutions
• explore the use of innovative technology to respond to the changing demands of operational policing
• inform the policing and industry communities of the company’s approach, priorities and key areas of work for the 3 years ahead

The company has asked police and crime commissioners and chief constables to nominate delegates to attend the event, who will have the opportunity to hear from high profile leaders from within policing and industry leaders.

11. New psychoactive substance banned under temporary power

As the landmark Psychoactive Substances Bill enters its final stage of passage through Parliament, the government has issued a Temporary Class Drug Order on Methiopropamine (commonly known as MPA) following advice from the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).

The order came into effect on 27 November and will last for up to 12 months while the ACMD considers whether MPA should be classified and controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Anyone caught making, supplying or importing the drugs will face up to 14 years in prison and an unlimited fine under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Police and border force officers have the power to search or detain anyone they suspect of having the drugs and seize, keep or dispose of a substance they think is a temporary class drug.

12. Surveillance Camera Commissioner launches certification scheme

A scheme allowing organisations to demonstrate they comply with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice has been launched by the Surveillance Camera Commissioner.

To receive the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s certification mark, organisations need to be audited by an approved UKAS accredited certification bodies. Successful organisations will receive a certificate and be able to display the commissioner’s certification mark on their website and other publicity material. You can find further information on the scheme on the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s website.

13. New sentencing guidelines for corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety announced

A new guideline for how organisations or individuals convicted of corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety and hygiene offences should be sentenced has been published by the Sentencing Council. The guidelines will come into force from 1 February 2016.

For the first time, judges and magistrates will have comprehensive guidance for sentencing the most common health and safety offences and food safety offences in England and Wales. The guidelines give a range of options to judges and magistrates that reflect the very different levels of risk of harm that can result from these offences. The guidelines also take into account how culpable the offender was, such as minor failings in procedures to deliberately dangerous acts.

14. Charity governance awards nomination period open

The charity governance awards is a new not-for-profit initiative designed to celebrate outstanding governance in charities. The nomination period for entries is now open and you can submit your nomination via the online form. There is no charge to enter and you can return to the form to complete or update your entry before the nomination period closes on 15 January 2016. There are 6 award categories and award winners will receive £5,000 of funding.

15. Speeches

The Prime Minister’s statement to the House of Commons on the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

The Home Secretary’s statement to the House of Commons on the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Baroness Shields’s speech at the WeProtect Summit on preventing online child abuse and exploitation.

The Home Secretary’s speech about transformation to reform.