New rules on police requesting counselling notes

UKCP was a part of the campaign ‘Keep Counselling Confidential,’ which sought to curtail police routinely asking for the counselling notes of survivors as part of their investigations, violating survivors’ privacy and discouraging them from continuing with their case. Counselling notes have also been used to decide on whether to proceedwith a prosecution, particularly where survivors had disclosed issues with their mental health to therapists. More details about this campaign can  be found on the Rape Crisis website.  

Recently, the campaign has made major progress – the Government has just accepted an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill that will raise the legal threshold for when rape survivors’ counselling notes can be requested by the police. Under this new change, police can only request crime victims’ private counselling notes in special circumstances rather than being able to ask routinely as part of an investigation. This aims to improve the experience of survivors, encourage more to come forward, and ensure survivors receive the privacy they deserve. More information about this legal change can be found on the Government’s website.