Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Deferred
Paragraph: 108
Collect and publish data on specialist rape teams and RASSO-trained officers in all forces.
Recommendation
The Government must start collecting and publishing data on the number of police forces with specialist police rape teams in place, and the number of police officers with specialist rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) training in each force (for example, the number trained on the Rape and Specialist Sexual Assault Investigation Development Programme (SSAIDP) and the number of Sexual Offences Liaison Officers (SOLOs)). This should be published in the next Progress Update, and in each subsequent update. Further, the police officer uplift programme should not be referred to in Rape Review Progress Updates unless the Government has data on the number of recruited police officers who will be or are developing a RASSO specialism. We would strongly encourage the Home Office to collect that data, working closely with the College of Policing and the NPCC, currently conducting a skills gap analysis of the number of specialist trained staff, relative to current demand, covering the number of SOLOs and those on the SSAIDP.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government stated that the Ministry of Justice has asked the Law Commission to conduct a review of the use of evidence in sexual offence cases, and that it will work with the Law Commission as their findings emerge, but did not address the recommendation to collect and publish data on specialist police rape teams and RASSO-trained officers.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
108
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
This data is not currently collated centrally as the deployment of officers is a matter for Chief Constables. We are working to better understand the data in this area and will provide an update to the Committee in due course. The Home Office is also working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to support the design of a new blended learning programme for police officers. This programme will incorporate the learning from Operation Soteria to strengthen investigative skills and enhance and embed specialist knowledge about sexual offending and victim engagement. It is due to be piloted in two police forces in Summer 2022.
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