Stop and Search: Demonstrations
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for which stop and search for items related to protest is used much more frequently by some police forces than others.
Answered by Sarah Jones
The Public Order Act 2023 includes stop and search powers for police to search for and seize articles related to protest-related offences.
The Home Office publishes statistics on use of stop and search powers, the latest are at: Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK
While overall numbers are small, the figures show that protest related searches are more concentrated in the Metropolitan Police Service, Surrey and Sussex.
The management of protests is an operational matter for the police. It is for chief constables and their officers to make decisions about the use of stop and search powers in response to local needs.
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