FOI Intelligence

National picture, police civil settlements

Data compiled from FOI requests submitted to police forces across England and Wales by multiple researchers and journalists, including Public Interest Lawyers and Byline Times (2023-2025).

2019/20, 41 forces (partial)

£14.2m+

2020/21

£16.8m+

2021/22, highest recorded

£29.3m

2022/23

£22.5m

2023/24, most recent

£18.2m

Five-year aggregate across 41 forces

£79.4m+

Claim types, typical settlement ranges

• Property damage including forced entry: £100 to £5,000 (highest volume nationally)
• Wrongful arrest / false imprisonment: £1,000 to £15,000+
• Data protection breach: £500 to £5,000 (growing as digital evidence expands)
• Assault / excessive force including custody: £2,000 to £30,000+
• Serious misconduct: £10,000 to £50,000+ (fewer cases, highest values)

Stalking Protection Orders, a power that exists on paper

SPOs issued since 2020 across 40 forces (BBC FOI, Jan 2025)

1,439

Full SPOs granted at court in year to March 2023

304

Stalking conviction rate 2022-23 (116,323 offences reported)

1.7%

Of London stalking cases reviewed resulted in an SPO

1.4%

Forces failed to apply for a single SPO in the first 15 months

4

Police cited the application process as complicated and burdensome. Until April 2024, the standard of proof was criminal (beyond reasonable doubt); now civil (balance of probabilities). The Crime and Policing Act 2026 now allows courts to impose SPOs directly at conviction or acquittal, but Claire Waxman OBE (Victims' Commissioner, appointed January 2026 and herself a stalking victim) warns police must not treat conviction as the only trigger point, SPOs should be pursued pre-charge where appropriate.

Restraining orders on acquittal, a falling safety net

Under s.5A Protection from Harassment Act 1997, a court can impose a restraining order on a defendant even when acquitted. FOI data from the MoJ (FOI 231102043) shows this power peaked in 2015 at 2,237 orders and fell to 947 in 2022, the lowest since 2010. The decline is not explained by Covid alone: the fall from 2,237 in 2015 to 1,311 in 2019 predates the pandemic by five years. The 2022 figure is 58% lower than 2015, despite stalking reports rising sharply.

Ask for Angela, a scheme with no enforcement

Running since 2016. 2024 FOI requests to every police force, local council and the Security Industry Authority revealed no mandatory national training standard, no monitoring framework, and no licensing requirement. Implementation, training and budgets show total lack of uniformity. An undercover investigation of ten venues found responses ranging from instant, correct action to outright denial of any training. In November 2025 the scheme's founder resigned from Ask for Angela CIC.