HC 200 - Tobacco Smuggling

HC 200 - Tobacco Smuggling
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2014-06-14
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0215072987

There is an urgent need for improvements to the Government's 'Tackling tobacco smuggling' strategy. It is a matter of grave concern that, despite an increase in the resources over the last three years the numbers of arrests, prosecutions and convictions for organised crime cases involving tobacco have all fallen. It is vital that there is no reduction in enforcement action. The time of Jamaica Inn is over and our fight against tobacco smuggling must be a priority. It is most surprising that no UK tobacco manufacturer has ever been fined for over-supply of products to high-risk overseas markets, and that only one statutory warning letter has been issued. The penalties available are too weak and enforcement too rare. An immediate review should be taken against all historic and ongoing cases in order to ensure those who have committed an offence do not go unpunished. The standardised packaging decision should be made on the basis of health. It is vital that consideration of the potential effects on smuggling is thorough and common sense steps are taken to ensure that criminal gangs do not profit from the Government's decision

HC 199 - Gangs and Youth Crime

HC 199 - Gangs and Youth Crime
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2015
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0215081706

The London Metropolitan Police Service reported in 2012, that they had identified 259 violent youth gangs and 4,800 'gang-nominals' in 19 gang-affected boroughs. Also in 2012, Greater Manchester Police identified 66 Urban Street Gangs and estimated the total number of gang members across Greater Manchester to be 886. The Office of the Children's Commissioner's 2013 inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups found that 2,409 children and young people were subject to sexual exploitation in gangs and a further 16,500 children at risk, using a survey period of August 2010-October 2011. 21 police forces in England identified that they had criminally active gangs operating in their area. In total, individual forces reported 323 gangs as being criminally active, with 16 being associated with child sexual exploitation. In London between March 2013 and February 2014, only six per cent of stop-and-searches were conducted on females. London, while experiencing the most gang-related violence of any area in the country, has obtained only fourteen gang injunctions.

HC 711 - Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

HC 711 - Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 24
Release: 2014
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0215078985

This inquiry addresses police forces' use of RIPA powers to acquire communications data in the course of investigations. In two recent, high-profile cases, police have used RIPA powers to obtain material which might be regarded as journalistic material for the purposes of PACE. In the Metropolitan Police's Operation Alice (the investigation into the so-called "Plebgate" incident and subsequent events), the Metropolitan Police accessed a journalist's telephone records to establish whether the information provided to his newspaper might have emanated from within the MPS. In Kent Police's Operation Solar (the investigation into perversion of the course of justice by Constance Briscoe in relation to the trial of Rt Hon Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce) the police used RIPA powers to obtain material from Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) after an application by the police for access to the material under PACE had already failed because ANL had successfully claimed in court that journalistic privilege applied.

HC 799 - Out-Of-Court Displosals

HC 799 - Out-Of-Court Displosals
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 29
Release: 2015
Genre: Law
ISBN: 021508389X

Out-of-court disposals (OOCDs) can provide the police with simple, swift and proportionate responses to low-risk offending, which they can administer locally without having to take the matter to court. As a quick and effective means of dealing with less serious offences, they enable police officers to spend more time on frontline duties and on tackling more serious crime. Additionally, OOCDs can often represent an effective response to offending that can focus on the needs of the victim. There are currently six ways in which offences can be addressed by the police without the matter proceeding to court (excluding no further action). These are: (i) Cannabis Warnings: a formal warning from a police officer for simple possession of cannabis for personal use; (ii) Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs); (iii) Penalty Notices for Disorder (PND): an offender is offered the chance by a police officer to pay a fixed penalty of £50 or £80 to discharge liability for an offence and avoid a court appearance; (iv) Simple Cautions: a formal warning from a police officer following an admission of guilt; (v) Conditional Cautions: a caution with conditions attached. These are issued to tackle offending behaviour, provide reparation and enable compensation to be paid to victims, where appropriate. Failure to comply with the conditions will usually result in prosecution for the original offence; and (vi) Community Resolutions.

HC 238 - Her majesty's passport Office: Delays in Processing Applications

HC 238 - Her majesty's passport Office: Delays in Processing Applications
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2014-09-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0215078101

Applications for a passport are administered by Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO). This executive agency of the Home Office was established on 13 May 2013. At the beginning of June 2014, it became apparent that there were delays in the processing of passport applications. Members of the public who did not contact their MPs were held in queues and their cases were not dealt with a sufficient level of service. All applicants should be able to receive details of their applications, regardless of whether they follow it up themselves, or if it is followed up by their constituency MP. A number of people have ended up out of pocket due to HMPO's inability to meet its service standard. HMPO should compensate all those people who made an initial application on or after 1 May 2014, who subsequently upgraded to the fast-track service and who met the criteria for the free upgrade which was later offered and the Home Office should remove the agency status from Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) bringing it back under the direct control of Ministers.

HC 825 - Effectiveness of the Committee in 2012-13

HC 825 - Effectiveness of the Committee in 2012-13
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2014
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0215078888

In order to monitor the effectiveness of its Reports, the Home Affairs Committee maintains a colour-coded grid of its recommendations. Recommendations are coded green if, in it's view, the Government has accepted them, red if they have been rejected, and yellow if they have been partially accepted, or if the Government has undertaken to give them further consideration. This Report covers the Committee's work in the 2012-13 Session. The Committee will use the grid to inform its choice of inquiries over the course of the Parliament, returning to earlier recommendations where it appears that there may be some merit in doing so, but avoiding reduplication of earlier work where it appears unlikely to prove beneficial

HC 203 - Child Sexual Explpotation and the Response to Localised Grooming: Follow-Up

HC 203 - Child Sexual Explpotation and the Response to Localised Grooming: Follow-Up
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 74
Release: 2014
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0215078306

This report is a follow-up to the Committee's second report of session 2013-14. That report revealed results of an inquiry into children being treated in an appalling way not just by their abusers but, because of catastrophic failures by the very agencies that society has appointed to protect them. There is no mechanism at all to suspend or remove a Police and Crime Commissioner for behaviour which falls short of criminal. The current report includes a draft Bill which suggests mechanisms for removing PCCs from their post. It is vital that children's services are dramatically improved to prevent a similar situation from happening again. It was shocking that evidence of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham was ignored by both Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police. A number of individuals attempted to bring these crimes to light, only to face obstacles from the Council and Police which in some cases questioned their credibility and the veracity of their claims. If the Council and Police had taken these warnings seriously, the abusers could have been brought to justice more quickly and some of the later victims could have been spared their ordeal. The proliferation of revelations about files which can no longer be located gives rise to public suspicion of a deliberate cover-up. The only way to address these concerns is with a full, transparent and urgent investigation

HC 201 - Female Genital Mutilation: The Case for a National Action Plan

HC 201 - Female Genital Mutilation: The Case for a National Action Plan
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2014-07-03
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0215073339

The Committee recommends the immediate implementation of a national action plan and specific steps to respond to the growing FGM crisis. A number of successful prosecutions would send a clear message to those involved that FGM is taken with the utmost seriousness in the UK and will be punished accordingly. There should be an extension to the right to anonymity to include victims of FGM to aid prosecution. The good example of France should be emulated and there is a case for a system that empowers medical professionals to make periodic FGM assessments where a girl is identified as being at high risk. The Multi-Agency Guidelines on FGM should also be placed on a statutory footing to provide a stronger incentive for the provision of training on FGM to all those who need it. The Committee's further recommendations include: the inclusion of mandatory questioning on FGM for antenatal booking interviews and at GP registration, and changes to the Personal Child Health Record/Red Book to refer explicitly to FGM; a requirement for all schools to provide training on FGM and Headteachers to read guidance or face funding penalties; the introduction of FGM protection orders similar to those which exist for forced marriage. In 12 months' time, if reporting does not increase, a failure to report should be made a criminal offence. Better services for women and girls affected by FGM including refuge shelters for those at risk also need to be provided

HC 800 - Evaluating the new Architecture of Policing: The College of Policing and the National Crime Agency

HC 800 - Evaluating the new Architecture of Policing: The College of Policing and the National Crime Agency
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2015
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0215081579

Since 2010 the Home Secretary has set out an ambitious plan for the new landscape of policing. However, more progress has to be made to declutter the landscape and ensure that the organisations created meet the rapidly evolving challenges facing 21st century policing. Force mergers are clearly back on the agenda. The College of Policing was a great idea that has both vision and purpose. However, numerous hurdles, weak foundations, and an unrepresentative board have hindered its ability to function to its full potential. In time, the College has the power to fashion a new concept of policing. For the local bobby, he or she needs a certificate of policing that is affordable, an oath that is binding and ethics that are ingrained within its DNA, and training that is practical, however at the moment none of this exists. The NCA has been a success, and has proved to be more responsive and more active than its predecessor SOCA, but it is not yet the FBI equivalent that it was hailed to be. Its reputation has been damaged by the unacceptably slow response to the backlog of child abuse cases sent to it by Toronto Police. The NCA must establish practical benchmarks against which its performance can be assessed. Its current asset recovery is not of a sufficient volume when set against its half a billion pound budget.

HC 962 - Police Bail

HC 962 - Police Bail
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2015
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0215084446

Police bail, or pre-charge bail, is a tool that allows the police to continue an investigation without detaining the suspect in custody. The two common situations in which the police use pre-charge bail are: a) where there is insufficient evidence to charge a suspect, and the police wish to continue to investigate without keeping the suspect in custody; and b) where the police have passed the file to the CPS for a charging decision. Being arrested and held on bail is no indication of guilt. It means the police have acted upon a reasonable suspicion, carried out an arrest, and wish to continue to investigate the allegation without holding the suspect in custody. Pre-charge bail has been criticised because there are no limits on the length of time that someone can be bailed or the number of times they can be re-bailed, and the suspect cannot challenge the imposition of bail. This concern has led to two consultations, the first in March 2014 by the College of Policing on the operational use of pre-charge bail, introducing common standards and standardising use across all forces. The second consultation, initiated by Home Office in December 2014, is considering the introduction of statutory time limits on the use of pre-charge bail.