Rape and sex offence specialists introduced to every police force by the end of the year
The PM has sped up the roll-out of the teams by 18 months ahead of the initial September 2029 deadline set by Keir Starmer
Rape and sex rape specialists will be rolled out across police forces up and down the country as the PM vows to "stamp out" violence against women and girls.
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The new teams will be rolled out by the end of the year instead of summer 2029, the original deadline set when the policy was announced by Burnham's predecessor Keir Starmer.
Every police force in the country will be equipped with specialist rape and sexual offence teams as the PM pledged to be "laser focused" on tackling the issue.
“These measures were going to be introduced in 2029, but I think that’s too slow," he said.
"So we’re taking action to accelerate the roll out of specialist rape and sexual offence teams, who will go after perpetrators, enforce strict new protection orders to protect survivors, and invest in programmes to intensively manage offenders to break the cycle of abuse.”
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Funding has also been announced to bolster protection orders, which can be enforced through electronic tagging, exclusion zones and behaviour change programmes.
Up to 10 police forces across England and Wales will receive a share of a £13.3 million pot to help specialist teams improve the enforcement of the orders to better protect victims.
The funding will be met from Home Office budgets.
Domestic abuse protection orders are being rolled out with no maximum duration, meaning victims will not need to repeatedly apply for continued protection.
Under the orders, courts can set conditions for as long as needed to protect victims of all forms of domestic abuse, including physical, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and stalking.
A programme aimed at curbing reoffending by working with abuse perpetrators to address issues such as drug and alcohol misuse, first announced in July last year, is also being expanded.
Safeguarding minister Satvir Kaur said: “We are going further and faster to ensure victims and survivors of these devastating crimes get the protection and support they deserve.
“By ensuring every police force has specialist rape and sexual offence teams sooner, and funding for new protection order teams, we are strengthening our response, relentlessly pursuing perpetrators and helping victims live their life without fear.”
Guidance and training on establishing specialist rape and sex offences teams has been made available to police forces by the Home Office and the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection.
The announcement comes as the Prime Minister faces pressure over the early release scheme to avert prison overcrowding, with campaigners urging him to exclude male perpetrators of violence against women or pause the scheme due to start in October.
Charities have warned him it “directly contradicts” Labour’s manifesto pledge to halve violence against women and girls.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris is due to set out findings of his review of the scheme when Parliament returns from summer recess next week.
The Refuge charity welcomed the earlier implementation of specialist rape and sexual offences teams in police forces and the investment in protection order teams, but said the Government must go further.
Head of policy and public affairs Ellie Butt said the measures “represent only a small portion of what is needed to ensure all survivors can access timely and effective support.
“We hope today’s announcement is the first step of many in the new Prime Minister’s plans to tackle VAWG and provide women and girls with the protections they deserve.
“Protection orders are highly underutilised, and for survivors able to access an order, enforcement is often inadequate. Increased investment in specialist protection order teams is essential, but these professionals must also encourage a shift in internal policing culture. Survivors often avoid reporting the abuse they’ve experienced to the police for fear of being disbelieved or undermined, so for protection order teams to increase uptake of these tools, genuine efforts are needed to build women’s and girls’ confidence in policing and ensure abuse does not go unreported.”