Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Metropolitan Police Service is taking to ensure (a) timely and (b) adequate responses to reports of sexual (i) assault and (ii) harassment.

We expect sexual violence to be treated seriously by all police forces from the point of disclosure, every victim to be treated with dignity and every investigation and prosecution to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.

Baroness Casey’s 2023 review of culture and standards in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) highlighted a number of areas for improvement, including the MPS’s handling of VAWG. Since the review’s publication, the MPS commissioner has set out his ‘New Met for London’ plan to improve confidence in the force and address the concerns raised in Baroness Casey’s review and other cases of failing in the MPS. The Home Secretary will continue to work with the MPS Commissioner and Mayor for London as they take action to deliver those improvements.