House of Commons
Parliament

MPs have now divided to vote on the police grant report motion.

The report sets out government grants to police forces in England and Wales for the coming year.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Concluding the debate, Home Office Minister Nick Hurd says there is common ground, with MPs from different parties calling for funding to be spread across the UK.

Labour say cuts have consequences, but the cuts were a consequence of the fact that the previous Labour government overspent and ran out of money, Mr Hurd says.

Mr Hurd says the government is committed to investing £2bn in police services, and that Labour should support the proposal, which will allow constabularies to recruit more officers.

This is a stepping stone on a "journey" towards the spending review later this year, he says, which will offer a long-term funding solution for the police.

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Summing up the debate for Labour, shadow policing minister Louise Haigh says only five Tory MPs spoke in the debate and all displayed "mixed feelings" about the settlement.

She says Labour will be voting against the "regressive" and "completely inadequate" settlement, which she says equates to a real-terms cut for police.

Arrests have halved in a decade, and unsolved crimes stand at 2 million cases, she says, accusing ministers of continuing to "deny the link between police cuts and rising crime".

She adds that ministers have "no political will to address their abominable record with law and order", and that policing under their watch has come down to "a postcode lottery".

Select Committee
Parliament

The first question to the panel is on who is most at risk of sexually transmitted infection.

Laura Russell of LGBT charity Stonewall tells the committee that they know that while gay and bisexual men are more likely to contract HIV and other STIs, "we don't know enough about other members of the LGBT community...we just don't have the data collection".

Marion Wadibia of NAZ Project London tells the committee that 80% of women living with HIV are from a ethnic minority background.

Ian Green of the Terrence Higgins Trust says that trans women are 50 times more likely than the general population to be living with HIV.

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Plaid Cyrmu MP Jonathan Edwards says Wales has lost over 500 police officers since 2010, and Welsh forces lose out on £25m per year by being under the UK government's police settlement.

The government, he adds, "must stop treating Welsh people like second-class citizens".

He adds that taxpayers in rural Wales contribute considerably more than those in urban areas, and pay far more for their policing than other public services, he adds.

Mr Edwards calls for ministers to announce "as a matter of urgency" when the police spending review will have concluded.

Select Committee
Parliament

As part of their session on sexual health, MPs on the committee are now hearing from a second panel of experts:

• Ian Green - Chief Executive, The Terrence Higgins Trust
• Marion Wadibia - Chief Executive, NAZ Project London
• Laura Russell - Head of Policy, Stonewall
• Dr Anatole Menon-Johansson - Clinical Director, Brook

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Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson Sir Ed Davey says people are noticing the impact of police cuts and "know where to pin the blame".

MPs are being asked to support an increase in spending that does not exist, Sir Ed says, adding: "this is a cut, and there is nowhere to hide."

He says the government wants people to believe increases in council tax will allow police forces to recruit more officers, but he tells MPs a career as a police officer is "not as attractive anymore" due to pay cuts and an increase in violent crime.

Sir Ed calls for a rise in police officers' pay to ensure that more officers can be recruited, and says he will be voting against the grant.

House of Commons
Parliament

Peter Aldous, the Tory MP for Waveney, says Suffolk is a "great place to live" but is no longer a "rural idyll" when it comes to crime.

Residents are "increasingly dissatisfied" with the status quo, he says - and he calls for a "radical shake-up" of funding.

From neighbouring Norfolk, Labour MP for Norwich South Clive Lewis says his local police force is advertising for people to guard crime scenes for £10 an hour on zero-hour contracts.

He says the new recruits will save the force money, but he warns: "policing on the cheap will only risk public safety".

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Select Committee
Parliament

Asked about alternative models of service provision, Dr Olwyn Williams says: "what we want is adequately funded services...moving and rearranging the deckchairs is not the issue here".

She says sexual health services are "just a bag of bones, we can't cope".

Dr Asha Kasliwal, from the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, says "funding cuts really need to be reversed" but "we need joined-up commissioning" of services.

Ian Hudspeth of the Local Government Association agrees, and says "it's about having the systems in place" but funding is most important and "it's not there".

Select Committee
Parliament

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Labour's Ben Bradshaw asks what is behind rises in cases of syphilis and gonorrhoea.

Public Health England recorded an increase of 20% in cases of syphilis and 22% in gonorrhoea between 2016 and 2017, part of a steady uptick in both diseases since the late 2000s.

Dr Olwyn Williams, President of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, says the increases have hit two groups in particular: men who have sex with men, and ethnic minorities.

She says reasons for this include lower condom use, where research shows use of condoms with a new partner is around 50%.

She also says the increasing popularity of casual app-based "hookups" can make it "impossible" for someone to get in contact with a one-off partner if they subsequently are diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection.

Dr Williams also agrees with Ben Bradshaw when he mentions "significant" cuts to funding for sexual disease prevention and education.

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Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott says the funding levels proposed by ministers are "nowhere near covering what forces need" and "patently inadequate".

The government, she adds, is guilty of a "long-standing failure" to fund the police properly.

She tells MPs it would be "less than responsible" for Labour to vote in favour of the settlement, calling it a "sticking plaster" that does not meet current challenges.

She says the precept - the portion of council tax that goes towards policing - is a "regressive" tax which "bears down unfairly on poorer persons and poorer regions".

"They are passing the buck on funding the police to the public," she says.

Select Committee
Parliament

From 2:30pm, the Health and Social Care Committee will take evidence as part of their inquiry into trends in sexual health, the commissioning and delivery of sexual health services and prevention.

The first panel appearing in front of MPs will be:

• Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Community Wellbeing Board, the Local Government Association
• Dr Olwen Williams, President, The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH)
• Dr Anne Connolly, Clinical Champion for Women’s Health, Royal College of General Practitioners
• Dr Asha Kasliwal, President, Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

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House of Commons
Parliament

Home Secretary Sajid Javid says he recognises that resources are an important issue, but that it would be "too lazy of any of us to attribute rising crime levels to one factor".

The impact of next year's funding increase "will be immense", he adds, noting that police forces "will be able to prevent more crimes and deliver better outcomes for victims".

Mr Javid says police constabularies must use the extra money on four priority areas:

• to continue efficiency savings
• resolving the shortfall in detective numbers
• continuing improvements in productivity leading to £50m savings next year
• respond appropriately to the threat of organised crime

"I have delivered my own promise to the police and I now expect them to the challenge we have set," he adds.

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Home Secretary Sajid Javid stands to move the police grant report motion which sets out government grants to police forces in England and Wales for the coming year.

You can read more about the government's police grant here, external.

Mr Javid says the police are being given more powers that they need, such as those in the Offensive Weapons Bill, "to help keep communities safe" in a time of rising crime.

The settlement provides the biggest increase in police funding since 2010, he adds, and will allow forces to recruit more officers.

He adds that government grants to PCCs (Police and Crime Commissioners) will rise by £161m, and that an extra £12m is being invested into police forces.

We are also giving PCCs the ability to raise the council precept in areas where it is needed most, he says. "We know money is tight and we did not take this decision lightly - locally elected PCCs must make the case to their area."

If all PCCs use their full precept next year overall police funding will have increased by £2bn in just four years, Mr Javid says.

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Labour MP Melanie Onn is now introducing her Crime (Impact Statements) Bill.

The bill aims to allow statements made by victims of a crime to be used in sentencing proceedings in court, and allow impacts on emergency workers to be taken into account.

Ms Onn says that going through an experience like a violent arrest resistance or an emotionally distressing case can make officers far less comfortable in approaching a situation that could lead to a repeat occurrence and could reduce their confidence at dealing with arrests.

"There should be a national standard for how these are produced and considered," she adds.

Ms Onn says it must be made clear that it is "socially unacceptable" to attack emergency workers, and that those who do this should be given "the strongest sentence possible".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake is now applying for an emergency debate on the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Mr Brake says he doubts Theresa May will return from Brussels with anything more than her duty free, and that the only backstop on offer is the one that is secured in the prime minister's current deal.

He adds that this "reckless game" is costing real jobs, causing business uncertainty, and leading the UK towards no-deal.

The Speaker John Bercow says: "At this time I am not persuaded that the matter is proper to be discussed under standing order number 24."

Mr Bercow adds the standing order states that the Speaker does not need to give a reason for his decision, but that he is "conscious of the pressing timescale" and the "promise of a statement on Wednesday next week and votes on Thursday".

He says he has the UK's departure day "in his mind" and that the issue "will not be allowed to rest".

"I do not accept for one moment that only the government can determine when or if it is debated," he adds.

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Labour MP Ellie Reeves brings up the case of her constituent Willow Sims who, she claims, has been wrongly denied help from the Home Office despite being eligible.

Ms Reeves says that Willow Sims, who came to the UK aged four, has found herself in debt and facing eviction and deportation after losing her right to work.

Ms Reeves says Ms Sims is "fully entitled to assistance", yet despite numerous representations to the government from Willow, solicitors and Ms Reeves herself, "the situation has not been resolved".

Ms Reeves calls on Mr Javid to "urgently rectify this chaos" as "she now faces eviction from her home".

Home Secretary Sajid Javid apologises for the "mistakes of the Home Office in not recognising the importance of her case".

He says he is happy to discuss the case further with Ms Reeves

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Labour MP Kate Osamor says the government should be ensuring that people affected by the Windrush scandal are able to reintegrate themselves into the community.

She says that in December last year the government agreed to support Windrush citizens affected by the scandal with up to £5,000 for their mistreatment, but that access to the fund is "overly stringent".

The scheme must work for the most vulnerable, she adds, "victims require immediate and ongoing assistance".

Home Secretary Sajid Javid says the Home Office has been working with the Treasury and Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that citizens of the Windrush generation are well supported.