Investigators specialising in rape and sex offences will be introduced to every police force in England and Wales by the end of 2027, the government has said.
Ministers are speeding up the rollout of the scheme, previously announced by Sir Keir Starmer’s government, by 18 months as part of efforts to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).
They are also offering more money for some forces to boost protection orders.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the previous plans were “too slow” and ministers should be “laser focused” on tackling such crimes.
One charity has welcomed the measures, but says they represent “only a small portion of what is needed” for victims.
The Home Office initially announced the plans last year and was due to have teams in place by summer 2029.
Burnham said: “The scale of violence and abuse suffered by women and girls in this country is unacceptable.
“We’re taking action to accelerate the roll out of specialist rape and sexual offence teams, who will go after perpetrators, enforce strict new protection orders to protect survivors, and invest in programmes to intensively manage offenders to break the cycle of abuse.”
Up to 10 police forces across England and Wales will also get a share of a £13.3m pot to boost the teams managing protection orders, where offenders are subject to electronic monitoring, exclusion zones and other measures, the Home Office has said.
Minister for Safeguarding Satvir Kaur said violence against women and girls was one of the “most critical challenges of our time” and the government was strengthening its response by “relentlessly pursuing perpetrators and helping victims live their life without fear”.
The charity Refuge welcomed the changes, but suggested the government should go further.
Its head of policy and public affairs Ellie Butt said the measures “represent only a small portion of what is needed to ensure all survivors can access timely and effective support”.
She said the charity hoped the announcement would be the “first step of many” in Burnham’s plans to tackle VAWG, adding that protection orders were “highly underutilised” and “enforcement is often inadequate”.
“Survivors often avoid reporting the abuse they’ve experienced to the police for fear of being disbelieved or undermined, so for protection order teams to increase uptake of these tools, genuine efforts are needed to build women’s and girls’ confidence in policing and ensure abuse does not go unreported,” she added.
In December, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described violence against women and girls as a “national emergency” as she announced plans for the specialist investigation teams.
She told the BBC at the time that the way police forces investigate cases was “too much of a postcode lottery”.
The accelerated rollout comes as the prime minister has been facing pressure over the early release scheme, designed to avert overcrowding in the country’s prisons.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris is expected to reveal the findings of a review of the scheme next week when MPs return to Parliament from their summer recess.
The plans were paused earlier in the summer, and the eligibility for the scheme was also changed, removing the right of those convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming to have their sentences cut.
However, domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs said not excluding domestic abusers was “wrong and puts victims lives at risk”.
She said earlier this month: “It is critical that no abuser is released in October unless I am confident that victims’ safety is not being compromised.”
