Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the consequences for her policies of the report Strip search of children in England and Wales – analysis by the Children’s Commissioner for England, published in March 2023.

The Children’s Commissioners report raises several concerns which the Home Office is taking seriously. We are considering all recommendations made for the Home Office, including amendments to the PACE Codes of Practice.

The IOPC are actively investigating several instances of children being strip-searched. Whilst we await their findings and recommendations, we are reviewing whether existing legislation, guidance, data collection and policies remain appropriate and will set out our plans in due course.

The Home Office is taking steps to increase the transparency surrounding the use of strip search. This year, we have made the data collection mandatory for all forces, with increased data collection on strip search under stop and search powers, including the age and ethnicity of those searched.

Detailed Police Custody data was published for the first time on 17 November 2022, including figures on the use of strip search in custody, covering age, gender and ethnicity of the person searched, the number of children detained overnight, and the number supported by an Appropriate Adult. We are working with forces and the NPCC to improve data collection in future years.