Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking in response to the finding by BBC Radio 4's File on 4 programme that an estimated 13,000 children have been strip-searched by police since 2017; what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the use of strip-searching by police; and if her Department will undertake a review of strip-searches of children by police.

Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence. The Government is clear that any use of strip search should be carried out in accordance with the law and with full regard for the dignity and welfare of the individual being searched – particularly if the individual being searched is a child.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice govern how the police should undertake a strip search. The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Stop and Search provides further guidance for the police on the use of strip search. We expect officers to follow the law and the best practice guidance set by the College of Policing in its APP.

To provide more transparency on this issue the Home Office have recently introduced a data collection on strip searches to the Annual Data Requirement. Police forces will be providing this data for 2021/22 on a voluntary basis, and it is due for publication towards the end of 2022. The data collection will include details on the age, sex and ethnicity of persons strip searched by the police in England and Wales.