The CPS and stalking: what the inspections found

The 2017 joint inspection

1. Phase 1

   HMIC assessed six Police Information Notice cases in each of the 43 forces in England and Wales, nine in Greater Manchester, the Metropolitan Police, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. 270 cases in total, assessed as part of the PEEL effectiveness inspection.

2. Phase 2

   Joint HMIC and HMCPSI fieldwork in six forces and their corresponding CPS Areas. 112 cases assessed jointly, 16 per force and 32 in Greater Manchester. Police and CPS action assessed in the same case files.

3. Phase 3

   Victim research carried out by the University of Worcester with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

4. Phase 4

   Interviews with national leads at the NPCC, CPS, Home Office and victims' groups.

Forces and CPS Areas inspected at phase 2

• Avon and SomersetCPS South West
• DurhamCPS North East
• Greater ManchesterCPS North West
• GwentCPS Cymru-Wales
• HampshireCPS Wessex
• SussexCPS South East

• Cases where victim care was not good enough

  106 of 112

• Cases with no risk management plan found

  68 of 112

• Cases with no referral to specialist support

  55 of 112

• Cases with evidence of an initial risk assessment

  60 of 112

  Of 82 domestic abuse cases, an enhanced risk assessment was completed in 78, but in 34 of the 74 where a DASH was used the supplementary harassment and stalking questions were left unanswered.

• Cases where some crime prevention advice was given

  48 of 112

• Cases with some digital or communications element

  82 of 112

Prosecution figures at the time of the inspection

These figures are from 2016-17 and must not be treated as current

In the year to 31 December 2016, 202,755 harassment crimes and 4,613 stalking crimes were recorded. Harassment was up 53% year on year, though the report notes malicious communications offences were added to the category in April 2015 and the underlying rise was about 19%. Stalking was up 23%.

In 2015-16 there were 12,986 prosecutions for harassment and stalking combined, the highest recorded, but only 1,102 were stalking prosecutions. The previous year was 1,103. Stalking prosecutions were flat while recorded stalking crime rose, so the proportion reaching prosecution was falling.

54% of stalking crimes in the 12 months to 31 March 2016 were flagged as domestic abuse related.

What has changed since 2017

• Stalking Protection Orders were established by the Stalking Protection Act 2019, after this report was written. The report describes them as proposed.
• Police Information Notices have been withdrawn or heavily restricted in most forces. The report recommended their immediate cessation.
• The CPS revised its stalking and harassment prosecution guidance in April 2023.
• The College of Policing published the harassment and stalking Authorised Professional Practice the report was pressing for.
• HMICFRS carried out a super-complaint investigation into the police response to stalking, published 2024, following a complaint by the National Stalking Consortium and Suzy Lamplugh Trust. That investigation expressly put the CPS response outside its scope.

What has not been established is whether the CPS recommendations from 2017 were implemented or what effect they had. The 2024 London examination is the nearest later CPS evidence, and it covered 11 cases in two London Areas. HMCPSI has confirmed that its thematic inspection of CPS stalking handling has been carried out and that it intends to publish the report during 2026. Until then, no current assessment of CPS stalking casework across England and Wales is in the public domain.

The 2024 London examination

The London Victims' Commissioner asked MOPAC to research the Metropolitan Police response to stalking victims. MOPAC's Evidence and Insight team identified 10,436 stalking-related cases on the MPS crime recording system between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021, and deep-coded a random sample of 376. Of those 376, 41 were submitted to the CPS for a charging decision and charges were authorised in 33. CPS decisions were outside MOPAC's scope. HMCPSI examined them separately.

• Police file quality, complying with the National File Standard

  4 of 11 did comply

  4 of 11

  Seven files did not. The stalking or harassment checklist was missing in three cases, key evidence in four, unused material schedules or material in three.

• Application of the Code for Crown Prosecutors

  Fully met in all 11 cases

  11 of 11

• Charge selection

  Fully met in 6 cases, partially met in 3, not met in 2

  6 of 11 fully met

  In one case the police referred a section 4 harassment offence, the CPS authorised the lesser section 2 harassment, and HMCPSI concluded the correct charge was section 4A stalking. In the other, the CPS authorised section 4A stalking and HMCPSI concluded section 2A was correct because the additional element of the more serious offence was not evidenced.

• Appropriate ancillary orders sought

  Fully met in 8 cases, partially met in 1, not met in 2

  8 of 11 fully met

• Victim communication letters (VCL), where required

  Required in 5 cases. 3 were timely. 1 was assessed as high standard.

  5 cases required

A claim this examination did not verify

The London Victims' Commissioner's report stated that the CPS reclassified stalking offences at the point of charge in 25 of the 33 charges, with only 10 resulting in an actual stalking charge. HMCPSI's examination was intended to address whether this reflected police file quality or CPS decisions. Because 27 of the 41 files had been deleted, it could not do so for most of the cases the claim rests on. On the 11 it could see, HMCPSI agreed with the CPS charge in 9. The 25-of-33 figure has not been verified by HMCPSI.

HMCPSI states at paragraph 1.13 that its findings are not representative of the position across the CPS in England and Wales, because every case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police and prosecuted by either CPS London South or CPS London North.

The announced thematic inspection

1. 5 July 2017

   Living in Fear published. The report does not announce a follow-up stalking inspection at this point.

   HMIC/HMCPSI, Living in Fear, 2017

2. December 2024

   The London Stalking Review examination is published. At paragraph 1.14 HMCPSI states it intended to carry out a thematic inspection of the CPS's handling of stalking offences in its 2025 inspection programme.

   HMCPSI, CP001:1319, December 2024

3. 19 December 2024

   The CPS publishes its response to the examination and acknowledges the announced thematic inspection.

   CPS response, 19 December 2024

4. April 2025

   HMCPSI publishes its business plan for 2025-26. Stalking is listed as a thematic CPS inspection with a defined scope: to draw on the December 2024 examination findings to assess the quality of CPS legal decision-making and case management in stalking cases, including the value the CPS adds in identifying the need for, drafting and applying proportionate and clear restraining orders.

   HMCPSI Business Plan 2025-26, CP001:1324, April 2025

5. March 2026

   HMCPSI publishes its business plan for 2026-27. Stalking does not appear among the 15 CPS inspections listed, nor in the section recording inspections carried forward from the previous plan. No explanation is given.

   HMCPSI Business Plan 2026-27, CP001:1336, March 2026

6. 31 March 2026

   HMCPSI publishes its inspection of the CPS's approach to handling knife crime, one of the two other topics listed in the 2025-26 plan and absent from the 2026-27 plan.

   HMCPSI, Inspection of the CPS's approach to handling knife crime, 31 March 2026

7. 21 May 2026

   HMCPSI publishes its inspection of assurance systems for cases subject to custody time limits, the other topic absent from the 2026-27 plan.

   HMCPSI custody time limits inspection, 21 May 2026

8. 1 September 2026

   VNS submits a Freedom of Information request to HMCPSI asking for the recorded basis of the decision not to proceed with the stalking thematic inspection, and the same information for custody time limits and knife crime.

   VNS request to HMCPSI via WhatDoTheyKnow, 1 September 2026

9. 3 September 2026

   HMCPSI responds. It holds no information about a decision not to proceed, because the stalking inspection was carried out and the report is intended for publication later in 2026. The custody time limits and knife crime inspections were also completed and published.

   HMCPSI response to FOI request, 3 September 2026

HMCPSI set out the position in response to a Freedom of Information request from VNS. The stalking thematic inspection was carried out. HMCPSI holds no record of a decision not to proceed because no such decision was taken, and it intends to publish the report later in 2026. The two other inspections that left the 2025-26 plan without appearing in the 2026-27 plan were also completed. Knife crime was published on 31 March 2026 and custody time limits on 21 May 2026. Absence from the later business plan reflected work already finished or under way rather than work abandoned.

What the consultation records show

HMCPSI also disclosed the tables recording responses to its consultations on the 2025-26 and 2026-27 inspection programmes. Stalking appeared on the 2025-26 long list and was supported by the Attorney General's Office and the Shadow Attorney General. Restraining orders appeared as a separate topic on the same list. Stalking does not appear on the 2026-27 long list of 22 topics, which is consistent with the inspection already being under way. One respondent to the 2026-27 consultation asked for a review of how the CPS decides to prosecute stalking offences as harassment, citing the National Stalking Forum, and raised non-domestic stalking specifically.

Sources

• HMIC and HMCPSI, Living in fear: the police and CPS response to harassment and stalking, 5 July 2017, ISBN 978-1-78655-414-7.
• HMCPSI, An examination of cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service included in the London Stalking Review 2024, December 2024, publication CP001:1319.
• Crown Prosecution Service response to the examination, 19 December 2024.
• HMCPSI Business Plan 2025-26, April 2025, publication CP001:1324.
• HMCPSI Business Plan 2026-27, March 2026, publication CP001:1336.
• HMCPSI response to Freedom of Information request from Victim Not Suspect, 3 September 2026, with redacted consultation response tables for 2025-26 and 2026-27.

This page is part of the VNS CPS monitoring section.