Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 51
51
Deferred
Establish firewall between police and Home Office to prevent data sharing against migrant victims.
Conclusion
We restate the previous Home Affairs Committee’s recommendation from its 2018 report into Domestic Abuse, that “immigration status must not bar victims of abuse from protection and access to justice.” We concur with the Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendation that the Government “establish an appropriate firewall- type mechanism between the police and the Home Office to prevent data sharing for the purposes of enforcing immigration rules against victims of abuse.” As that Committee 66 Policing priorities said, any information sharing from the police with Immigration Enforcement on victims should only be in exceptional circumstances for the purposes of assisting in the safeguarding of the individual or acting against their abuser. (Paragraph 124) Prioritising roles and functions
Government Response Summary
The government details reforms introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to simplify Out of Court Disposals to two types, noting it is too early to assess their impact on justice, but does not address the recommendation on immigration status for victims of abuse or a data-sharing firewall.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
123. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced reforms by simplifying the current framework on Out of Court Disposals (OoCD). The changes are intended to provide much more consistency to the Police, victims and offenders. 124. The new framework reduces the number of adult out of court disposals from six to two, comprising of an upper tier disposal titled ‘Diversionary Caution’ and a lower tier disposal titled ‘Community Caution’. 125. As the new framework is yet to go live across all forces in England & Wales, it is too early to predict if this will help to speed up justice and reduce court backlogs.