Clare's Law: Sharp rise in domestic abuse history requests in Kent

Hundreds of applications were declined by police forces in the South East last year

The number of requests to Kent Police to find out whether their partner has an abusive past has jumped by 54% in a year.

There were 1,003 right to ask applications to the force in 2022-23, up from 653 in 2021-22.

The disclosure scheme, known as Clare's Law, gives people the right to ask if their partner has an abusive past.

Kent Police said it was "routinely" making disclosures "within days" where a "significant threat" was identified.

The number of Clare's Law applications in England and Wales in the last financial year increased to 45,344, a rise of 300% in five years, according to figures from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.

"Right to ask" requests allow a person or third party to ask the police to check whether a current or ex-partner has a violent or abusive past.

The number of applications to Surrey Police also grew by 24% to 451 in the last financial year, while applications to Sussex Police grew by 20%.

Police forces are expected to respond to requests within 28 days.

Det Ch Supt Emma Banks, from Kent Police, said it was "routinely" giving disclosures "within days" of receiving an application.

"Particularly where we recognise quite a significant threat, we will make sure that is disclosed straight away for the right to ask wherever possible."

Disclosure rates for the three forces show that many applications were declined in 2022-23.

Kent's disclosure rate was 53%, while for Surrey and Sussex it was 45% and 49%, respectively.

Ms Banks said that in the majority of cases where no disclosure was made, it was because "there isn't anything to disclose".

She added that there might be other cases where an applicant went through "the wrong route" such as during civil court proceedings.

A BBC investigation found that across England and Wales, thousands of applications were declined and some did not receive a police response for months.

Forces released information in 38% of cases in 2022-23, a drop from 48% in 2018-19.

Sussex Police said it had "significantly improved" its Clare's Law disclosure service. It added that these improvements had meant disclosure rate outcomes were being "recorded more effectively".

"For the year to date, Sussex Police has a disclosure rate of 70%, up from around 56% in 2023," it added.

Surrey Police said if last year's statistics excluded reports where it "did not have the option to provide a disclosure", it would have provided disclosure in 58% of cases.

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