Day: June 28, 2018

The long awaited Home Office Biometrics Strategy published today is to be welcomed as the basis for a more informed public debate on the future use of biometrics by the Home Office and its partners.

The strategy lays out the current uses of biometric data and the development of new multi-user data platforms. Unfortunately the strategy says little about what future plans the Home Office has for the use of biometrics and the sharing of biometric data. A debate is needed given the rapid improvements in biometric matching technologies and the increasing ability to hold and analyse large biometric databases.

While the use of biometric data may well be in the public interest for law enforcement purposes and to support other government functions the public benefit must be balanced against loss of privacy. Biometric data is especially sensitive because it is most intrusive of our individual privacy and for that reason who decides the balance is as important as what is decided. Legislation carries the legitimacy that Parliament decides that crucial question.

It is disappointing that the Home Office document is not forward looking as one would expect from a strategy. In particular it does not propose legislation to provide rules for the use and oversight of new biometrics, including facial images.

This is in contrast to Scotland where such legislation has been proposed. Given that new biometrics are being rapidly deployed or trialled this failure to set out more definitively what the future landscape will look like in terms of the use and governance of biometrics appears short sighted at best.

What the strategy does propose is an oversight and advisory board to make recommendations about governance just short of legislation. If that results in the development of a set of principles to inform future legislation then it is also welcome. However, the advisory board is mainly described as concerned with the use of facial images by the police.

What is actually required is a governance framework that will cover all future biometrics rather than a series of ad hoc responses to problems as they emerge. I hope that the Home Office will re-consider and clearly extend the advisory board’s remit to properly consider all future biometrics and will name the board accordingly.

A package of measures to drive forward swifter action by building owners to remove potentially unsafe cladding on private sector high-rise residential buildings was announced today (28 June 2018) by Secretary of State for Communities, Rt. Hon James Brokenshire MP.

Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, local authorities have been working hard to identify affected buildings in their areas and have carried out the large-scale, complex task of assessing more than 6,000 buildings.

Monthly data published today show that 297 private sector high-rise residential buildings have unsafe cladding – with a small additional number expected to be confirmed.

Building owners are responsible for ensuring the safety of their buildings and their residents, and government and councils will continue to monitor and hold them to account where they have unsafe cladding systems.

Local fire and rescue services have been informed about all of these buildings to ensure appropriate interim measures are in place so residents are safe now.

Ministers have been clear that building owners are responsible for making buildings safe and local authorities have also started enforcement action in all but a handful of cases to compel them to take action.

Whilst remediation work has begun on 21 of these buildings, of which 4 have been completed, the government is determined to accelerate the pace of this work and has announced a number of steps to progress this work:

• A new taskforce which will oversee a national programme of remediation in the private sector and ensure plans are in place for every single building affected. The taskforce will be chaired by ministers and membership will include Local Government Association (LGA), National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), London Councils, local authorities who have experienced the largest degree of impact and industry representatives.
• A new inspection team, backed by £1 million government funding, consisting of experts from environmental health, building control and fire inspection who will provide support to individual councils boosting their capacity and expertise to undertake enforcement action and ensure building owners take the necessary action and speed up the remediation process.
• A follow-up industry roundtable next month so representatives can present their proposals on solutions to remove unsafe cladding from high-rise buildings without passing on the costs to leaseholders. In the meantime, MHCLG will continue to explore other routes for protecting leaseholders, such as supporting local authorities to take more targeted action to identify and remediate affected buildings and recovering costs from those responsible for ensuring the safety of buildings; and supporting leaseholder enfranchisement.
• Letters will be sent to all relevant private sector building owners to remind them of their responsibility to make their buildings safe.

Secretary of State for Communities, Rt. Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

The safety of residents is my main priority and fire and rescue services are working with building owners to ensure residents are safe now. But I want to see swifter progress in removing unsafe cladding which is why I have announced further action to support councils as they work with owners of high-rise blocks.

I have been clear that leaseholders should be protected from unfair costs and we expect the industry to do the right thing. If they don’t, I will continue to explore other routes and I am not ruling anything out.

Further information

You can find the latest monthly data release on the building safety programme.

Secretary of State for Communities, Rt. Hon James Brokenshire MP, provided an update to Parliament.

To identify affected buildings, the government has already provided £1.3 million to the authorities most affected. With this funding they were able to assess more than 6,000 high-rise private sector buildings.

The National Democracy Week Awards will be held for the first time next Monday 2 July at the People’s Museum in Manchester, to kick off celebrations for National Democracy Week.

The awards recognise pioneering individuals and organisations who have demonstrated exceptional service in increasing democratic engagement in the UK. Nominees have been shortlisted across four national categories:

Young Advocate of the Year Award:

• Staffordshire’s UK Youth Parliament Representatives for democratic services to young people in the region
• Rachael Farrington from South London for democratic services in launching Voting Counts website
• Matteo Bergami from Stanmore for founding ShoutOutUK.org, a platform to engage young people in the political process
• Dan Lawes from Manchester for promoting youth voter registration

Diversity Champion of the Year Award:

• Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Management (Up Our Street) for helping give its diverse community a voice in politics
• Harrow Mencap for helping to empower people with learning disabilities to engage with politicians and candidates
• Harris Bokhari from Epsom for his drive to engage diverse communities in the political process
• Sara Livadeas from Oxford for her campaign to help people in care homes vote

Changemaker of the Year Award:

• Mehala Osborne from Bristol for her campaign to help domestic abuse survivors register to vote
• 50:50 Parliament #AskHerToStand for their campaign to increase the number of female candidates for Parliament
• My Life My Say for opening cafes nationwide where young people can engage in political discussion in a safe space
• Harriet Andrews from Manchester for running digital surgeries to connect young people with their elected representatives

Collaboration of the Year Award:

• The People’s History Museum in Manchester for working with communities to tell the story of the fight for LGBT+ rights
• Situation Novoville in the West Midlands for using innovative online chat interfaces to engage the public in digital services
• National Adult Learners’ Forum (Scotland) for promoting adult learning services in disadvantaged communities in Scotland.

National Democracy Week is being held in July to coincide with and celebrate the 90th anniversary of the 1928 Equal Franchise Act – a further historic constitutional milestone which granted equal voting rights to men and women.

Over the course of the week, a series of nationwide events are being held by charities and community groups across the country, aimed at inspiring people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in democracy.

Winners of the awards will be announced next Monday 2 July.

Further details on National Democracy Week can be found here.

Notes to editors

• The criteria to be shortlisted for each of the awards can be found here.
• The Prime Minister answered a question at Prime Minister’s Question Time on 6 June about National Democracy Week. Read the full transcript here.
• National Democracy Week events will take place on a national and local level to encourage members of the public to get involved with our democracy, in particular those from under-registered groups, including young people, BAME groups, British ex-pats, and people with disabilities. Events can be found here.
• The week will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 when the first British women over 30 (who met a property qualification) won the right to vote and the 90th anniversary of the Equal Franchise Act 1928 which granted equal voting rights to men and women.
• The week is being delivered in collaboration with the National Democracy Week Council members, the Cabinet Office and partners across the country. Council members can be found here.
• Follow us on social media at #talkdemocracy
• You can find out more about National Democracy Week on the website: https://democracyweek.campaign.gov.uk/
• For further information on National Democracy Week, contact the Cabinet Office Press Office on 0207 276 0436.
• It takes about 5 minutes to register to vote online. To find out more visit https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Residents are being invited to learn more about the Outstays to Skeffling Managed Realignment Scheme by attending the surgery at Patrington Village Hall, Church Lane, 11am to 3.3pm on Thursday 5 July.

Being delivered in partnership with Associated British Ports, the scheme will see a new inter-tidal environment created that offsets habitat losses from future coastal development and climate change.

It is a legal obligation for the Environment Agency to rebalance the reduction in habitats caused by ‘coastal squeeze’, which occurs when fixed hard flood defence structures, built to protect people and properties along the coast, reduce the inter-tidal land between low and high tide as a result of rising sea levels.

As part of the proposed scheme a 900 acre natural habitat site will be created for estuarine and terrestrial wildlife and an improved landscaped flood defence will surround this area to help reduce the risk of flooding to the local community.

The Environment Agency and Associated British Ports say they are hoping to announce the final design and plans this autumn, with the planning application being submitted before the end of the year and construction starting in spring 2019.