Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police forces are required to refer incidents of animal cruelty involving people under the age of 18 to a) safeguarding agencies and b) Youth Offending Teams.

Police forces are operationally independent from Government. Chief Constables and their officers are responsible for determining what action is appropriate in individual cases, including when information should be shared with relevant safeguarding partners, local authorities or other agencies.

The statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children sets out clear expectation that safeguarding partners must work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Practitioners should be alert to children showing signs of being drawn into anti-social or criminal behaviour and should consider whether a referral to local authority children's social care, or Youth Offending Team, is required.