Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce investigation times in cases related to sexual offences.

Rape and sexual offences are among the most harmful crimes in society and can have devastating impacts on victims, their loved ones, and communities. The Home Office has invested £13.1 million to launch the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Public Protection (NCVPP) to improve the national response to violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse.

Through the NCVPP, we are continuing to support Operation Soteria and ensuring that police forces build the strongest possible, suspect‑focused cases to bring perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice. This includes embedding victim-orientated, trauma-informed training at frontline, specialist and leadership levels so that officers are equipped to deliver high-quality investigations, to support victims better, and to build capability across forces in the long term.

We are embedding specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force in England and Wales, to ensure the right expertise is in place to investigate these crimes effectively, and we are working closely with the NCVPP to ensure a consistent national approach.

We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes, bring perpetrators to justice and manage sex offenders.