Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) identification, (b) investigation and (c) prosecution of stalking; and what engagement she has had with police forces in Wales on this issue.

Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims living in fear every day, and tackling it forms a key part of our mission on to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) over the next decade.

That is why the Home Office is:

- investing £13.1 million next financial year (25/26) to set up a new National Policing Centre for VAWG and Public Protection which will drive consistency in the police response to these crimes;

- introducing provisions for new multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking which will set a robust framework for how agencies such as the police, local authorities and health should work together, including statutory guidance for the police on when they should release identifying information about stalking perpetrators to victims;

- conducting a review of stalking legislation to determine whether the law should be changed and strengthened to take tougher action against perpetrators, and better protect victims; and

- the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are updating their joint protocol on the handling of stalking offences, so police and prosecutors are better equipped to recognise and respond to stalking. The CPS will also shortly launch a revised training module on stalking to support prosecutors.

Home Office officials engage regularly with the police and Welsh Government on this issue to understand how measures to improve identification, investigation and prosecution of stalking will apply to Wales.

In addition, we have established a VAWG Strategy Advisory Board which is feeding directly into the development of the new VAWG Strategy and has representatives from Wales, including the Independent Adviser on VAWG for Wales.