Opal, the police intelligence unit on serious organised acquisitive crime, monitors the numbers of catalytic converter thefts and shares data with the Home Office and National Vehicle Crime Working Group. In addition, the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) is collating intelligence to track these thefts, alert members to trends, and implement crime prevention measures.

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of theft offences, and arrests and charges for theft. However, this data is collected at offence group level only and cannot be broken down further to identify thefts of catalytic converters.

We are continuing to work closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group to tackle vehicle-related thefts. The British Transport Police and the NICRP have co-ordinated a number of multi-agency national weeks of action to tackle theft of scrap metal and catalytic converters. Three weeks of action resulted in 92 arrests, over 2,000 site visits, over 1,000 stolen catalytic converters recovered, and the catalytic converters of over 3,000 vehicles were forensically marked. This has helped to promote awareness, with over 1,000 officers trained in enforcement powers to deal with scrap metal dealers.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of catalytic converter thefts reported in the last 12 months, or information on the number of arrests and charges for theft of catalytic converters from motor vehicles centrally.

We are continuing to work closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group to tackle vehicle-related thefts. Actions include working with manufacturers of vehicles most susceptible to catalytic converter thefts, and increasing awareness and intelligence-sharing amongst police.

We also provided seed corn funding to the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership, which is ensuring national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, including the theft of catalytic converters. Through this Partnership, national enforcement activity has been carried out to disrupt organised crime, train hundreds of law enforcement officers, investigate and shut down illegal scrap metal and waste sites, recover stolen and forensically mark catalytic converters to deter thefts.

The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests made by police forces in England and Wales. The most recent statistics, including a breakdown of arrests by police force area, covering the year ending 31 March 2021 can be found in Section 3 here: Police powers and procedures: Stop and search and arrests, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

These data only cover arrests for notifiable offences and therefore will not include arrests made under the Vagrancy Act 1824.

The Home Office does not centrally hold data regarding the number of anti-vaccination protesters arrested outside of school gates since September 2021.

The use of powers to manage protests is an operational decision for the police. Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the Government is introducing new measures which will allow the police to take a more proactive approach in managing highly disruptive protests.

As a part of our County Lines programme we are supporting the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) which has been established to strengthen the law enforcement response and enable police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.

The NCLCC regularly coordinates weeks of intensive action against county lines gangs, which all police forces take part in. As reported by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), the most recent of these took place between 11-17 October and resulted in more than 1,400 arrests, nearly £2m worth of class A drugs, over £1m in cash and nearly 300 weapons seized, more than 2,600 vulnerable people safeguarded, and 894 cuckooed addresses visited.

The NPCC do not report on charges for the week of intensification. However, the NCLCC have identified all national law enforcement initiatives in relation to ‘cuckooing’ and are sharing best practice. Examples include working with local authorities and housing associations to disrupt this malicious crime and signpost vulnerable victims to support.

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of arrests, conducted by each police force in England and Wales, on an annual basis.

Data are held at the offence group level (for example ‘Violence against the person’ and ‘Public order’ offences) and Police Force Area level only.

Information on the number of arrests made at Extinction Rebellion protests are not held centrally.

How many protests have been prevented or restricted under existing legislative powers in the last 12 months?

The Home Office does not record the numbers of protests that take place, have been prevented or restricted. We do not hold information to answer the question.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Home Office does not issue guidance on the recording of sex or gender to police forces.

It is down to individual police forces and the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College for policing to make decisions on how this information is captured.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

The National Crime Agency manages requests made under Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003.

Decisions on arrests are an operational matter for the police. They do so in line with their duties to keep the peace, to protect communities, and to prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.

The Government is clear that freedom of the press is an absolute priority. That is why the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport set up the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists last year which brings together representatives from government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and civil society. The Committee will publish its National Action Plan shortly.

National security is a Government priority and we take police activity to disrupt individuals suspected of terrorism-related activity seriously.

The Home Office publishes quarterly national statistics on the use of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent relevant legislation in Great Britain. This includes information on arrests, charges and convictions for terrorism-related offences. The most recent publication up to the quarter ending September 2020 was published on 10 December on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-quarterly-update-to-september-2020.

The quarterly publications establish transparency by ensuring that data is publicly available on the use of police powers in a consistently categorised way. As with all crime statistics published by the Home Office, data providers are not required to routinely provide further detail on an individual’s previous arrest and charge history, as to do so would place a disproportionate burden on the organisations responsible, particularly the National Counter-Terrorism Police Operations Centre. As with all Official Statistics, we continually review outputs taking account of user needs.

The Home Office have announced a provisional police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion for 2021/22. This is a total increase of up to £636 million for the policing system which will enable police to cut crime and tackle offences including relating to animal cruelty.

For the latest data on prosecutions and conviction relating to animal cruelty, please see Parliamentary Question answer 138105, tabled on 14 January 2021.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests for possession of weapons offences. These figures are published annually in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. The latest bulletin, covering arrests from 2006/07 to 2019/20, can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2020

In the last five years, there have been 92,991 arrests for possession of weapons offences in England and Wales (excluding Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Police).

Data on prosecutions resulting from weapons confiscations is not held by the Home Office or by HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

The right to peaceful protest is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. However, in these unprecedented circumstances it is vital that everyone plays a part in controlling the virus.

The time-limited, national measures previously in place between 5 November-1 December, applied to protests and to all other gatherings, except for a few exemptions such as funerals. Everyone was required to follow these rules.It is for the Police, in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether an action warrants possible criminal proceedings.

People are required to follow the rules under the current national measures that are in place for large gatherings, including protests. They are in place to protect the public and save lives during this national pandemic.

Sections 44 to 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 provide for offences of encouraging or assisting an offence. Whether someone engaging in peaceful protest that is in breach of Coronavirus regulations has committed an offence under sections 44 to 46 of the Serious Crime Act of encouraging or assisting an offence will depend on the circumstances.

Individual decisions on detaining or charging an individual are operational matters for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Decisions regarding whether to arrest and charge individuals is a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The number of arrests in relation to breaches of Covid-19 restrictions are not distinguished from broader statistics covering arrests for breach of the peace and other public order offences.

The number of fixed penalty notices issued for breaches of the Covid-19 regulations are published monthly by ACRO with the most recent release being made on Tuesday 29 September.

They show that for the period between 27 March - 27 September 2020, a total of 19,045 fixed penalty notices have been issued by police forces in England (16,373) and Wales (2,672).

The management of protests, including the tactics they use; their cost; and their resourcing, is an operational matter for the police.