The ministerial reshuffle orchestrated by Prime Minister David Cameron also sees Damian Green remain at the department, now becoming the minister responsible for policing and justice (jointly with the Ministry of Justice), while James Brokenshire also stays on as security minister.
Under the changes, responsibility for Women and Equalities now transfers to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Lynne Featherstone has left the Home Office to become a minister at the Department for International Development, while former Home Office ministers Nick Herbert and Lord Henley have left the Government.
Home Secretary Theresa May commented: “I’m pleased to be leading a talented and committed team of ministers as we continue to implement vital reforms to policing, crime and immigration. We’re freeing up the police to fight crime, securing the UK border and controlling immigration and keeping the country safe against the threat of terrorism.”
The new Home Office team in detail
The new Home Office team is as follows:
- Home Secretary: Theresa May MP (overall responsibility for all Home Office business)
- Minister of State: Damian Green MP (Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, joint with the Ministry of Justice)
- Minister of State: Mark Harper MP (Immigration Minister)
- Minister of State: Jeremy Browne MP (Minister for Crime Prevention)
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State: James Brokenshire MP (Security Minister)
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State: Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Lords Minister and Minister for Criminal Information)
New police minister visits West Midlands force to see new fingerprint technology
Newly appointed police and criminal justice minister Damian Green has visited police in Coventry to see how new equipment is allowing officers to spend more time on the beat.
Green met neighbourhood officers to discuss local challenges and find out more about how new hand-held scanners are allowing officers to check fingerprints against national databases without returning to the station.
The minister said: “I want the police service to have the best tools and training available to do their job, and it’s through innovations like this that police forces can get the most out of their officers and staff and increase their service to the public.”
He added: “I don’t want officers to be bogged down by red tape and form filling. Our radical reforms will ensure officers are free to do what they joined the police for: fight crime.”
Meeting the chief constable
During the visit the minister also met Chris Sims, chief constable of West Midlands Police.
Later that day, he spoke to officers at the Police Superintendents’ Annual Conference where he promised to act as a ‘candid friend’ of the service and of the need to continue the excellent relationship between the police and the public which has been boosted by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Green continued: “A healthy society requires the police and public to be at ease with each other: the triumph of the policing operation at the Olympic and Paralympic games is testament to this.”
“Visitors to the Olympic Park and other venues, spectators observing the Olympic Torch relay and tourists or residents of London were only able to throw themselves into the spirit of the Games because of the work that dedicated officers were doing quietly behind the scenes. I want this easier relationship between the police and the public to be one of the legacies of the Games.”
The minister spoke the day after the Home Secretary addressed conference, at which point Theresa May outlined how Government reforms to policing would benefit both the public and the police.
Helen Grant: the new minister for the victims of crime
Responding to the appointment of Helen Grant, Conservative MP for Maidstone and the Weald, as the new minister for victims of criminality, Javed Khan (CEO at Victim Support) said: “We welcome Helen Grant’s appointment and look forward to working with her to help victims and witness of crime in England and Wales.”
Khan added: “Under new plans Police and Crime Commissioners will be directly responsible for funding victims’ services. We are currently working with PCC candidates to ensure that the victims of crime are treated as a priority.”