Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure police officers are more able to (a) identify and (b) respond to stalking crimes.

This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking as part of our ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

Achieving this will require a dramatic improvement in the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, including stalking. improving the police and wider criminal justice response and sustained support for victims.

To start that work, we have committed to giving women the right to know the identity of online stalkers and to strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders, and will set out further action on stalking in the coming weeks.

In addition, to help ensure support for victims, the Home Office part-funds the National Stalking Helpline, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.