Correspondence

Crime and policing newsletter: January 2013

Published 7 May 2013

0.1 Crime Survey for England and Wales

In the year ending September 2012 there were 8.9 million crimes estimated by the survey. This is an 8% decrease compared with the previous year. The latest estimate represents a statistically significant decrease in survey crime, flowing a fairly flat underlying trend over the last few years. The level of crime estimated by the survey is now at its lowest level since the survey began in 1981. The latest fall has been driven by falls vandalism, vehicle-related theft and domestic burglary.

0.2 Police Recorded Crime

There were 3.8 million crimes recorded by the police in the year ending September 2012, a 7% fall compared with the previous year. Police recorded crime is at its lowest level in a decade (since counting rule changes were introduced in April 2002). These findings continue recent trends for police recorded crime – falling by around 5% per year on average since 2003/04). All of the main categories of police recorded crime show a fall in the latest year, however there was a 6% increase in the sub-category of theft from the person, continuing the recent upward trend.

0.3 Change in definition of domestic violence

On 19 September 2012, following a public consultation, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the government would be extending the definition of domestic violence so that young people aged 16 and 17 would be included. The change is being introduced to increase awareness that young people from this age group do experience domestic violence and abuse. The government also announced that wording to capture coercive control would be introduced.

The new definition will be implemented from 31 March 2013. Whilst this is not a legislative change, the definition will send a clear message to victims about what does constitute domestic violence and abuse. We would encourage you to review your guidance and policies on domestic violence to ensure they reflect the change in definition.

You can read more about the new definition and what this means for you on the Domestic Violence policy page on Home Office website. If you have any queries please email Hannah Buckley in the Violent and Youth Crime Prevention Team.

0.4 Teenage Relationship Abuse campaign

The Teenage Relationship Abuse campaign will re-run in February through to April 2013. The campaign is targeted at 13-18 year old boys and girls and aims to prevent teenagers from becoming victims and perpetrators of abusive relationships. It encourages teenagers to re-think their views of violence, abuse or controlling behaviour in relationships and directs them to the campaign website - this is abuse for help and advice.

The advertising will start on 14 February and will be shown on TV and Video on Demand, specifically targeted to teen channels and on the radio. A Campaign Brief with background information and details on how partners can order support materials is available. Please email the VAWG Campaigns team to request a copy of the Campaign Brief.

0.5 Alcohol Strategy Consultation

Don’t forget that the alcohol strategy consultation closes on 6 February. You can read more about the strategy and access the consultation document via the Home Office website.

Please note that electronic responses must be received by 6 February. Paper copies received by the Home Office on 7 February will be included. No extensions to the deadline will be granted. The government’s response to the consultation will be published in due course on the Home Office website.

0.6 Licensing Act 2003: changes to regulation of entertainment

On 7 January, the government published its final plans for the deregulation of entertainment under the Licensing Act 2003.

These reforms will remove the requirement for entertainment licences and Temporary Events Notices between 8am and 11pm for: * indoor sport activities for audiences of 1000 or less * plays and dance to audiences of 500 or less * for recorded music in premises licensed for the sale of alcohol for audiences of 500 or less * events held by local authorities, hospitals, schools and nurseries on their own premises will be exempt from licensing requirements * events held by others on these premises with permission, will be exempt from regulation for live and recorded music for audiences up to 500.

In addition community premises such as village halls will also be able to host live and recorded music event for audiences of up to 500 without prior authorisation under the 2003 Act. Key protections of the Live Music Act 2012 will be retained, but the permitted audience for live music in licensed premises and workplaces will increase from 200 to 500.

The government will also shortly be consulting on limited exemptions for community film exhibition.

Most of these reforms will come into effect in England and Wales from April 2013, following Parliamentary approval, with remaining legislative measures for live and recorded music being introduced later. The government will issue revised guidance to licensing authorities under section 182 of the 2003 Act to reflect these legislative changes. Further details of the reforms are available via the website of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

0.7 FRANK campaign launches

A new advertising campaign to remind young people to talk to FRANK for accurate and trustworthy drugs advice was launched on the 28th January. The campaign which targets 13 to 18 year olds includes new online and TV Adverts. Advertising will run across: a 4Music sponsorship, online search and display (across channels such as Youtube, spotify, MTV), online catch up TV websites such as 4OD and mobile.

Please support the campaign in the following ways:

• Re- posting videos or driving young people to the FRANK adverts on the Home Office Youtube channel
• Use FRANK imagery from our Flickr page
• Hold your own activity to mark FRANK’s 10th year and share via social media using #talktofrank
• Download or order promotional materials

0.8 New device to test drivers for drug driving

It is an offence to drive whilst impaired by a drug. Evidence to support a prosecution comes from a blood specimen. Until now, a specimen could only be required from a possible drug driver if a doctor was called to the police station and confirmed that the suspect’s condition might be due to a drug.

The Home Office has now approved a device, the Draeger DrugTest 5000, that can be used at a police station to test the saliva of a possible drug driver for the presence of THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient of cannabis. If this test is positive, the person can be required to provide a blood specimen without the need for medical authorisation.

This new process will reduces bureaucracy, saves time and the cost of calling out a doctor and makes it more likely a drug driver will be detected and successfully prosecuted. Work continues to determine if the device can be approved to test for other drugs and whether there are other devices that might be approved. You can read more about this new process in the media centre. Further information on the device and its manufacturer can be found on the Draeger website.

Please note devices used in connection with the Drug Intervention Programme are not suitable for testing drug drivers and cannot be used for this purpose.

0.9 Direct entry consultation

On 30 January the government published its consultation on direct entry in the police. The proposals include a three year fast track to inspector scheme, direct entry at superintendent and opening up the rank of chief constable to those from who have equivalent experience from outside the UK.

The government wants to attract the best and brightest candidates into policing, people who have the right skills and expertise to forge a force fit for the 21st century. By opening up the police to a wider pool of talent, forces will be able to bring in people with diverse backgrounds and new perspectives. Combined with the strong leaders already working in forces, and the improved nurturing of internal talent through the College of Policing, we will have a police force that is even better at fighting crime. You can access the [full consultation and respond online] (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/independent-custody-visitor-icv-code-of-practice-consultation) on the Home Office website. The consultation will close on 28 March.

0.10 Reform of Police Officer Pay and Conditions

On 15 January 2013, the Home Secretary made a Written Ministerial Statement accepting the findings of the Police Arbitration Tribunal on key recommendations from the Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions.

The measures accepted include:

• a new pay scale for constables joining the police with a reduced starting salary (between £19,000 and £22,000) that will allow officers to reach the top of the pay scale within seven years instead of ten
• the introduction of an on-call allowance of £15 per day
• phasing out competence related threshold payments
• allowing chief constables to use local discretion in the payment of regional allowances.

The Tribunal did not agree to the introduction of an Expertise and Professional Accreditation Allowance and a final decision on the introduction of a scheme of compulsory severance has been deferred pending further negotiations.

A new voluntary exit scheme for police officers, which was one of the recommendations from the first part of the Review, has now become available to forces. It is for chief officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners to decide whether to run a scheme in each force. The terms of the new scheme are described in the Home Office circular 002/2013.

0.11 The National Police Air Service (NPAS)

On 29 January, police forces in the North West (Cheshire, North Wales, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria) joined the National Police Air Service (NPAS) in the second phase of implementation. The remaining police forces in England and Wales will join NPAS in a phased regional approach by January 2015.

The focus of NPAS is to deliver a more cost effective service whilst ensuring the police have a quickly deployable asset that can be used to tackle crime and protect the public. NPAS will provide a national service, regionally co-ordinated through West Yorkshire Police.

The North West forces have been operating under a regional model in line with NPAS since July 2011. Successes/ results to date include:

• savings of 14% compared with previous costs
• 10% fewer flying hours due to intelligent tasking and despatch

These forces now have the additional benefit of an NPAS reserve aircraft to provide support when aircraft are offline for scheduled maintenance.

0.12 National Crime Agency update

The National Crime Agency (NCA) Programme continues to make significant headway on the build of the agency, in collaboration with precursor agencies and partners, to ensure there is a seamless transition of operations, officers, assets and resources.

The Crime and Courts Bill - which will provide the legal basis for the NCA, including its functions, powers, tasking and assistance, information sharing, governance and scrutiny arrangements - was introduced in the House of Commons on 19 December. The Bill has completed Commons Second Reading and is currently in Committee stage. Subject to the will of Parliament the bill is on track to receive Royal Assent in spring 2013, which would enable the NCA to become operational by the end of the year.

There has been further progress on shadow functions and operations, which are testing how the NCA will operate in the run up to it becoming fully operational. There have also been further senior team appointments; Gordon Meldrum and Tim Symington are now in post as Director Designate of the Organised Crime Command and Director of Intelligence (Home Office Programme Team). We expect to announce the Director Designate of the Economic Crime Command and to advertise the position of Deputy Director General shortly, and interviews for the Head of the National Cyber Crime Unit are currently taking place. For more information on the NCA and the Bill visit the Home Office website.

0.13 GOV.UK

To reduce cost and improve the presentation of government information, the Government Digital Service, based in Cabinet Office, is bringing together all government websites into one single place GOV.UK.

The first stage of this work has been completed and as you may be aware the government websites which held information for the public and businesses, Direct.gov and Business Link, have closed and all relevant information from those sites has been transferred to the new GOV.UK site.

By March 2013 all government department websites will be hosted on the new GOV.UK website. Some departments have already been transferred to the new site, and information currently on the Home Office website will be found on the new site by the end of March 2013. The existing Home Office website will be archived on the National Archives website. If you have bookmarked any pages on the Home Office website these will automatically be re-directed to the relevant Home Office page on GOV.UK.

By bringing together all government information onto one website it will be easier to find information and see how government policies are delivered across government departments. This should reduce duplication and be a more consistent and clear way of informing and updating partners.

0.14 News from partners

0.15 Help improve policy making

Cabinet Office is seeking views on how the government can improve its policy making. They are seeking views from everyone - policy makers, those involved in policy delivery and people interested in policy – to improve policymaking so that more policies achieve the outcomes they are meant to, including improved services. If you think you can help develop this important policy please visit the open policy website.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre - interactive drama: First to a Million

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre has created a new interactive drama, First to a Million, which focuses on young people posting video content to sites like YouTube, highlighting how quickly things can spiral out of control and where they can get help if it does.

Throughout the film the viewer can actively participate, making decisions about what happens next in the drama. As the initial friendly rivalry becomes more serious, events spiral out of control and the viewer is faced with the question – ‘what do you think we should do?’

Aimed at 13-18s, the film features popular teenage pranks going wrong and includes scenes that highlight the trend of uploading sexual content to social networking sites or sending via mobile.

The film, accompanied by supporting information, is available for young people to view the [think u know website.] (http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/first2amillion/) Free guidance and lesson plans based on the drama are also available for practitioners to use with the young people that they work with.

You can read more about First to a Million on the Home Office website.

0.16 Update from the Gambling Commission

0.17 Multi Agency Community Safety Operation in Liverpool

Earlier this month the Gambling Commission was pleased to provide support and advice as part of a multi agency community safety initiative in Liverpool to tackle suspected illegally sited and supplied gaming machines in Liverpool City Centre. Merseyside Police, Liverpool council licensing and trading standards officers and HM Revenue & Customs were also involved, resulting in a number of machines being seized from a social club premises. The Commission is continuing enquiries into the source of the gaming machines.

0.18 Commission briefs London boroughs on tackling illegal poker

In January over twenty local authorities attended a [Gambling Commission event] (http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gh-press/news_archive/2013/commission_briefs_london_borou.aspx) to hear how they can tackle the problem of illegal poker clubs, and how the Commission, along with other agencies, can support them in closing such venues. Practical examples of good practice were provided by licensing staff from Hackney and Reigate and Banstead councils.

0.19 Gaming Machines Workshop

The Commission is holding two gaming machine workshops in London on Friday 22 February 2013 focusing on different categories of machines, the key factors to look at when checking machines and practical case studies of how to deal with illegally sited machines. The workshops will be of benefit to licensing officers and local police licensing officers given the potential impact on community safety of illegal machines. Please contact email the Gambling Commission if you are interested in attending.

0.20 Ministerial speeches

Speech given by Damian Green at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioner (APCC) event on 23 January 2013.