Correspondence

Crime and policing news update: February 2016

Published 9 March 2016

1. Policing and Crime Bill introduced

On 10 February the government introduced the Policing and Crime Bill. The bill supports the government’s manifesto to ‘finish the job of police reform’. The bill puts into place the plans to enable police and crime commissioners to take responsibility for local fire and rescue services, and to reform the powers and roles of police staff and volunteers.

In addition, the bill:

• reforms the police complaints and disciplinary systems
• strengthens the role and independence of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
• enables the Home Secretary to amend the police rank structure on the advice of the College of Policing
• increases the accountability and transparency of the Police Federation for England and Wales
• reforms police powers under the Mental Health Act 1983
• amends the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to ensure that 17-year-olds in police custody are treated as children
• introduces a clear expectation that pre-charge bail should last no longer than 28 days and judicial oversight of any extension beyond 3 months
• closes loopholes in the Firearms Acts
• ensures that live streaming of child sexual abuse is covered by the Sexual Offences Act 2003

2. New legislation to restrict the use of police cells for those experiencing a mental health crisis

The government has been clear that police cells are a poor environment for any person experiencing a mental health crisis. They can make service users feel criminalised and exacerbate levels of distress, especially for those under the age of 18.

The Home Office has introduced legislation under the Policing and Crime Bill to ensure that people experiencing a mental health crisis can only be held in a police cell in exceptional circumstances. The Policing and Crime Bill will also make further changes to the Mental Health Act to better protect people experiencing a mental health crisis, including:

• banning police cells as a ‘place of safety’ for under-18s
• creating regulations to limit the circumstances in which police cells can be used as a place of safety for adults
• reducing the maximum duration of detention for the purposes of an assessment under the act from 72 to 24 hours
• widening the current definition of a place of safety to increase local capacity and flexibility
• extending police officers’ powers to act quickly to detain and remove people experiencing a mental health crisis from any place other than a private dwelling (for which a warrant would still be required)
• requiring police officers to consult health professionals before detaining someone under the act’s provisions
• clarifying that assessments under the act can take place in a private dwelling

The government has already implemented a range of measures to improve the care people receive and to reduce the burden on police officers, including:

• street triage
• liaison and diversion
• the Crisis Care Concordat
• an alternative place of safety pilot in Sussex for people detained under sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act

These measures have contributed to a reduction of almost 50% in the number of times police cells were used as a place of safety in England and Wales from 2011 and 2012 and 2014 to 2015, but progress is highly variable across the country with 5 police force areas accounting for more than half of all uses of police cells.

This change in legislation will ensure that all sufferers of mental health, no matter where they live, are cared for in the proper environment.

3. The College of Policing’s proposals to recognise, accredit and promote the professionalism of those working within policing

The College of Policing has set out its proposals for a Policing Education Qualifications Framework to recognise, accredit and promote the professionalism of those working within policing in the UK. The framework seeks to formally recognise that police officers and staff already use graduate level skills on a daily basis, and to ensure they can acquire external accreditation of their considerable skills and experiences.

The College’s proposals are to:

1. Establish a qualifications framework for policing, working in partnership with the higher education sector to set minimum education levels by level of practice or rank.
2. Develop opportunities for existing officers and staff to gain accredited and publicly-recognised qualifications equivalent to their level of practice or rank.
3. Develop initial entry routes which involve self-funded undergraduate programmes, police-force funded graduate conversion programmes for graduates in other disciplines, and higher level apprenticeships.

The college is seeking views on these proposals, and has launched a consultation which runs until 29 March.

4. New Joint Fraud Taskforce launched

On 10 February, the Home Secretary announced the creation of a new taskforce to crack down on fraud and reduce its devastating impact. The Joint Fraud Taskforce will build on ongoing work across the financial sector and law enforcement to protect consumers, such as the dedicated Card and Payments Crime Unit, where police work alongside industry fraud investigators to disrupt fraudsters and secure convictions.

The work of the taskforce will include:

• understanding the threat: working to identify priorities for the taskforce and spot intelligence gaps and vulnerabilities
• collective response: fast-tracking intelligence sharing between banks and law enforcement for a more co-ordinated approach to serious and organised crime gangs, including the creation of a new top 10 most-wanted fraudsters
• victims and vulnerability: more efficient identification of victims and potential victims, including national roll-out of intervention training for bank staff
• behaviour change: finding out why victims fall prey to fraud and helping to raise awareness of the steps they can take to protect themselves
• dealing with systemic vulnerabilities: removing the weak links in systems and processes, which fraudsters can exploit

The Joint Fraud Taskforce will be made up of representatives from government, law enforcement and the banking sector, including the City of London Police, National Crime Agency, Financial Fraud Action UK, the Bank of England, Cifas and CEOs of the major banks.

5. Home Office launches child abuse whistleblowing helpline

A new whistleblowing helpline for employees to speak out about child protection failures was launched by the Home Office on 13 February by the Minister for Preventing Abuse, Exploitation and Crime, Karen Bradley.

The NSPCC will deliver this service, which includes a helpline and email support, on behalf of the Home Office. The government has provided £500,000 to set up the helpline in this financial year.

The service will handle calls from employees from any sector who are afraid to raise concerns about the way their organisation is dealing with cases of child abuse, or who feel they have exhausted all avenues with their employer directly. It will offer whistleblowers legal protection from future discrimination and help authorities to spot and address patterns of failure in relation to child abuse across the country.

You can contact the helpline on: 0800 028 0285 (8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Monday to Friday) or email help@nspcc.org.uk.

6. Consultation on the definition of child sexual exploitation

The Home Office has launched a consultation seeking views on proposed changes to the statutory definition of child sexual exploitation (CSE). The proposed definition takes account of comments from a range of partners, and reflects increased understanding of this form of abuse. The consultation also seeks views on whether the revised definition should be included in the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015).

The proposed changes are intended to provide clarity on the definition of child sexual exploitation as a form of child sexual abuse. This will ensure that all professions are using the same definition of CSE, as they create joint risk assessments and work together to target disruption and investigate offending.

The consultation closes at 12pm on 11 March.

7. Government launches consultation on age verification for pornography

The government has set out proposals to introduce age verification for pornographic content online, preventing vulnerable children from accessing potentially damaging material.

Under the new proposals, companies profiting from online pornography will have a legal obligation to ensure that those accessing the material are over 18. Alongside the proposals, the government will also establish a new regulatory framework to monitor and enforce compliance, with the ability to impose civil sanctions where breaches are identified.

The government has developed this approach, taking on board views from a range of stakeholders, including internet providers, social media and search companies, charities, academics and others. It has now launched a public consultation seeking views on these proposals, which runs until 12 April.

8. Cabinet Office’s small charities fundraising training programme now open

Charities can sign up for a range of training opportunities through the Cabinet Office’s small charities fundraising training programme. The programme will provide expert training to small charities from February to June 2016, and will help charities with an annual income of up to £1 million to generate more income to support their vital work.

The programme will be run by the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI), in partnership with the Small Charities Coalition, and GlobalGiving UK, who were chosen following a competitive tender process. They will provide training opportunities for small charities, from face-to-face training, to intensive one-to-one advice sessions, skilled volunteering matches and webinars.

You can find more information about the training courses being run by the FSI and GlobalGiving UK on their websites. The Small Charities Coalition’s volunteer mentoring service can help put you in touch with a skilled fundraiser, and you can register your interest by emailing info@smallcharities.org.uk.

9. Speeches

• Home Secretary’s speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC on the need for international action to tackle terrorism
• Home Secretary’s speech on the new joint taskforce to crack down on fraud
• Home Secretary’s speech at Policy Exchange on the future of police and crime commissioners