Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the merits of introducing a standardised method of recording dog attacks across all police forces in England.

Attacks where a person or assistance dog is injured constitute specific offences in law and police forces are required to record them consistently as set out in the Home Office Counting Rules for recorded crime. Other attacks, such as those on livestock, should be recorded by police when reported to them and we expect forces to be able to use the data to assess the risks in their area and take action accordingly.