Sexual Offences
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of trauma related sickness and retention challenges in RASSO teams on the work of such teams.
Answered by Natalie Fleet
This Government recognises the profound and lasting impact of violence against women and girls, and we are absolutely committed to improving the police response to these crimes.
We have established the National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP) to raise the profile of VAWG within policing, working directly with all forces across England and Wales to drive consistent practice and deliver local improvements.
This includes ensuring all forces to have the right specialist capability to address sexual offences, through the implementation of specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every force.
These specialist teams will utilise the principles and tools developed through Operation Soteria to ensure victims are supported and suspect-focused investigations are taken forward. The Soteria principles and tools recognise the importance of building a culture where officers working on these cases are supported and their wellbeing prioritised.
In January 2026 we also published the Police Reform White Paper, which outlines the most significant reforms to policing in nearly 200 years, including in respect of workforce capacity, capability and wellbeing.
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