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Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Tuesday, 30 June 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 July 2020 (named day). It was answered by James Brokenshire (Conservative) on Wednesday, 8 July 2020 on behalf of the Home Office.

Hezbollah

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2020 to Question 62325 on Hezbollah, if her Department will (a) collect and (b) publish information on the number of (i) investigations and (ii) charges for (A) displaying the flag or other symbols of and (B) other promotion of (1) Hezbollah and (2) other proscribed organisations.

Answer

The Government takes proscription offences seriously. Investigations into the activities of proscribed organisations or individuals who may be members or supporters of proscribed organisations are an operational matter for the police and intelligence agencies. It would not be appropriate to publish data on intelligence related matters.

The Government 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 proscription offences. The most recent publication up to year ending March 2020, was published on 11 June on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-financial-year-ending-march-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, the data published in the Terrorism statistics are offence based, where police provide a count of the number of offences recorded. Data providers are not required to provide further detail on events leading to the arrest, as to do so would place a disproportionate burden on the organisations responsible. This includes the National Counter-Terrorism Police Operations Centre, the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter-Terrorism Division, the Metropolitan Police Service and the National Counter-Terrorism Policing Headquarters. As with all Official Statistics, we continually review outputs taking account of user needs.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
66827
Session
2019-21
Related items
Hezbollah
Monday, 29 June 2020
Written questions
House of Commons
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Proscribed organisations Hezbollah
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk