Select committee: Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
Eighth Report - Investigation and prosecution of rape
Published 12 Apr 2022
Paragraph 102
Addressed to Home Office
Home Affairs Committee Investigation and prosecution of rape All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government must strongly encourage police forces without specialist police rape teams to put such teams in place. Since the policing of violence against women and girls is to be added to the Strategic Policing Requirement, putting specialist police rape teams in place would be a powerful way to demonstrate the priority that should be given to tackling violence against women and girls. The Government should, for example, make clear in the next Rape Review Progress Update that it is the Government’s view that forces should have specialist rape teams set up where possible. The Government should work with the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to understand better the obstacles forces face in putting these teams in place and to provide support to forces committed to forming specialist teams.
From: Home Affairs Committee, Eighth Report - Investigation and prosecution of rape (HC 193), paragraph 102, 12 April 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 25 July 2022 (deadline 12 June 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response to the Committee's report says it has made "important progress" under its Rape Review Action Plan, and it agrees with some recommendations while stating that others are for Chief Constables, the judiciary or ongoing work to determine.
- On governance, it "welcome[s] and agree[s]" with the recommendation to write to the Committee every six months, in line with the cycle of Rape Review Progress Update publications.
- On specialist police rape teams, it "agrees that specialism is crucial" but says Chief Constables "remain best placed to make decisions about the local deployment of resources".
- On a sexual violence commissioner, it recognises "there may be benefits", says the Home Office and Ministry of Justice are considering the recommendation, and will "update the Committee on progress in due course".
- On Operation Soteria, it commits £5m this year, with a national operating model for rape investigation "by June 2023", though adoption "will be a decision for operationally independent forces".