Parliamentary Under-Secretary (): For too long police
requests for victims' sensitive records such as medical and
counselling notes have been disproportionate during
investigations. This has been a particular concern in cases
involving rape and serious sexual offences. Unnecessary requests
are distressing for victims and delay the investigative process.
The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 introduced duties mandating
police and other authorised persons to only request victim
information such as medical records when it is necessary and
proportionate, and in pursuit of a reasonable line of enquiry.
These duties also created special protections for victims'
counselling records, reflecting the highly sensitive nature of
these records.
To enable these measures to come into force, the Government has
now defined ‘counselling services' in regulations under section
44A of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and
finalised the accompanying Code of Practice. Stakeholder feedback
informed changes to strengthen the Code.
We have defined counselling services broadly for the purposes of
these duties. The definition is intended to capture all services,
whether remunerated or voluntary, offering psychological,
therapeutic or emotional support aimed at improving the service
user's emotional, psychological and mental health. This means
that a broad-spectrum of victim information will be afforded the
higher safeguards outlined above and is intended to protect the
privacy and dignity of victims within the criminal justice
system. It also supports the government's wider commitment to
halving the incidence of violence against women and girls over
the next decade.
The final Code of Practice to be brought into force, which
includes this definition of counselling services, has been laid
before Parliament as a draft. A copy of the Government response
to the consultation on the Code will be placed in the Libraries
of both Houses and published on Gov.uk.
These new duties will come into force on 12 January 2026.
