Police requests for third party material
Applies to England and Wales
Download the full outcome
Detail of outcome
This consultation response provides a summary of what respondents told us, and the action that the government is committing to take to ensure that victims feel confident that they can pursue and receive justice.
To complement the qualitative evidence gathered in the consultation the Home Office promised to gather further empirical evidence on the issue of necessity, proportionality and timeliness of third party material requests through a review of police case files.
Original consultation
Consultation description
This consultation explores issues around police requests for personal records such as health, education and social service records (known as third party material) during criminal investigations. Whilst requests for information from organisations such as doctors, social workers or support services can be an essential part of an investigation we realise that they can be highly intrusive, disproportionate or even unnecessary. We want to understand more about this as well as to propose solutions for respondents.
We would like to hear from anyone who has experience of requesting or fulfilling requests for this kind of information, or who has had this kind of information requested about them. This includes:
- those involved in the criminal justice system
- any organisation that holds personal information that could be requested by the police
- victim groups
- victims of crime who have had this kind of material requested about them during an investigation
Documents
Last updated 15 April 2024 + show all updates
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Addition of 'Third party material case file review report' to outcomes area.
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Added Welsh translation of the consultation.
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Government response published.
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Welsh accessible version and privacy notice added.
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Updated privacy notice.
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First published.