Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Overhaul of criminal justice system delivers significant improvement for rape victims, published on 10 July 2023, how many extra police officers have been trained in investigating rape and sexual offences.

We recognise that specialist skills and knowledge is critical to ensuring rape and sexual offence cases are progressed and managed effectively.

We are supporting the College of Policing to improve the learning and development offer available to officers on rape and sexual offences. This includes developing new, academic-informed, training for investigators and officers likely to make initial contact with victims.

In July, we also announced that 2,000 officers will complete new specialist training on investigating these crimes by April, which will mean more officers building stronger cases and placing victims at the heart of their response. The College of Policing are confident that this commitment will be met and we will provide a further update shortly.