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Stalking

Answer

Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) were introduced in January 2020 to provide early protection to victims of stalking by placing restrictions and requirements on those perpetrating stalking behaviours so as to address the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. The police apply to the magistrates’ court to request that the court issue a SPO

On 28 February 2022 we published a review into how SPOs operated during their first 12 months, and alongside the review, we also published more up to date statistics on SPOs from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, which correspond to the time period of 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2021. Those statistics can be found here: Management information: Stalking Protection Orders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Stalking Protection Orders came into force on 20 January 2020, so none were issued in 2019.

In 2020, 419 Stalking Protection Orders were issued in England and Wales (169 full orders and 250 interim ones). The table below shows the breakdown by police force area. Notes 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 in the ‘Notes’ tab in the first and second embedded documents in the above link apply to these figures. [x] denotes that between one and five SPOs were issued. This is on the basis that disclosing the actual figure would risk identification of the individuals concerned.

Police Force Area	No. of SPOs issued
Avon and Somerset	7
Bedfordshire	0
Cambridgeshire	x
Cheshire	20
Cleveland	x
Cumbria	6
Derbyshire	x
Devon and Cornwall	36
Dorset	0
Durham	0
Dyfed-Powys	x
Essex	23
Gloucestershire	x
Greater London	73
Greater Manchester	16
Gwent	0
Hampshire & Isle of Wight	x
Hertfordshire	x
Humberside	0
Kent	11
Lancashire	x
Leicestershire	14
Lincolnshire	10
Merseyside	x
Norfolk	x
Northamptonshire	x
Northumbria	14
North Wales	x
North Yorkshire	6
Nottinghamshire	17
South Wales	0
South Yorkshire	x
Staffordshire	7
Suffolk	0
Surrey	43
Sussex	52
Thames Valley	0
Warwickshire	x
West Mercia	0
West Midlands	11
West Yorkshire	x
Wiltshire	13

Data is not yet available on the numbers of Stalking Protection Orders issued during 2021.

Data is not available on the numbers of Stalking Protection Orders issued pursuant to applications by each police force which were breached, in 2020 or 2021.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

135606

Session

2021-22

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Protection Police Stalking

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk