The Government recognises that strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and that its use must be lawful, necessary, proportionate and subject to robust safeguards, particularly where children and vulnerable people are involved. Use of strip search powers should be on the basis of operational need in line with the legal thresholds. We are considering reforms to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice to strengthen safeguarding, accountability and transparency. The Home Office publishes data on strip searches conducted in custody and following stop and search as part of the annual statistical bulletin Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK, and continues to work with police forces to improve the quality and completeness of this data. This data includes information on self-defined ethnicity, sex, age, search location, supervisory involvement, appropriate adult attendance and safeguarding referrals, helping to improve transparency, scrutiny and understanding of disproportionality. There are currently no present or future obligations for police forces as part of the data collection requirements supporting the publication of this bulletin to send the Home Office additional characteristics of child vulnerability such as child in need status, looked after child status, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities status and medical vulnerabilities status. However, these data may be held directly by individual forces. As part of the annual statistical bulletin, the Home Office also collects and publishes information on the number of strip searches. However, this data is not linked to previous years. The most recent data is available on gov.uk: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69d50cc885ac94fabd46251c/custody-person-data-pivot-tables-year-ending-march-2025.xlsx Published data show that drugs are the most common reason for strip searches. Police may use search powers to search for prohibited items, including drugs, offensive weapons and stolen property, where the relevant legal thresholds are met. Recent increases in arrest rates following stop and search, shown in the Home Office’s annual data publication, suggest that these powers are being used in a more targeted manner. The Government keeps the use of strip search powers under review, informed by published data, inspection findings and stakeholder engagement, including recommendations from the Children’s Commissioner. Operational decisions on the use of police powers, and local recording practices, remain matters for individual chief constables.