Andy Burnham fast-tracks specialist sex crime police teams across England and Wales

Measures were first announced under Sir Keir Starmer in December 2025 under the last Labour Government's VAWG strategy.

But Mr Burnham slammed his predecessor's deadline as "too slow", bringing it forward 18 months, adding that ministers should be "laser focused on stamping out these vile crimes".

He said: "The scale of violence and abuse suffered by women and girls in this country is unacceptable.

"We must be laser focused on stamping out these vile crimes.

"These measures were going to be introduced in 2029, but I think that's too slow. So 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."

Former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspectors Mike Neville told GB News he was surprised there was not already widespread specialist officers.

He said: "I'm quite amazed because this is a very specialist type of investigation. You need dedicated officers to treat the victims and the specialist facilities to help the victims.

Andy Burnham said measures, introduced under Sir Keir Starmer, were 'too slow'

PA

"I find it quite amazing that this has not happened already and the fact that it was going to wait until 2029, it makes it even worse."

Funding has also been announced to boost protection orders, which can be enforced through electronic tagging, exclusion zones and behaviour change programmes.

Up to 10 police forces across England and Wales will receive a share of a £13.3million pot, met by the Home Office, to help specialist teams improve the enforcement of orders.

Domestic abuse protection orders are being rolled out with no maximum duration, meaning victims will not need to repeatedly apply for continued protection.

A programme aimed at curbing reoffending by working with abuse perpetrators to address issues such as drug and alcohol misuse, first announced in July last year, is also being expanded.

Guidance and training on establishing specialist rape and sex offences teams has been made available to police forces by the Home Office and the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection.

Under the orders, courts can set conditions for as long as needed to protect victims of all forms of domestic abuse, including physical, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and stalking.

But the timing of the announcement has been criticised while the Prime Minister faces pressure over the early release scheme which would free domestic abusers.

Mr Neville said: "What's the point of doing all this when you're going to release rapists earlier from prison? And then they're saying, 'Oh, we'll, use tags'.

"My own research with tags shows that only 23 per cent result of tag breaches result in any sort of action being taken.

Andy Burnham will also introduce measures to tighten enforcement of protection orders

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"So our criminals know that they can just breach these tags, go where they want, and very little will be done about it."

Those convicted of serious sex offences, including rape, were previously exempted from the early release scheme.

Charities have urged the Prime Minister to exclude domestic abusers from the early release scheme - Justice Secretary Alex Norris will set out findings his after the summer recess.

Respect, the UK charity stopping perpetrators of domestic abuse, said the current response when criminals are freed is "alarmingly insufficient", with a failure to engage in multi-agency specialist teams.

"Early release of domestic abuse perpetrators is likely to make a bad situation even worse," it added.

Dame Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has urged the government to exclude domestic abusers, warning their early release "puts victims lives at risk" - with victims bearing the "brunt of the crisis".

Mr Neville told The People's Channel his solution to preventing future VAWG - "they need to be locked up and the keys thrown away".

Safeguarding minister Satvir Kaur said: "We are going further and faster to ensure victims and survivors of these devastating crimes get the protection and support they deserve.

"By ensuring every police force has specialist rape and sexual offence teams sooner, and funding for new protection order teams, we are strengthening our response, relentlessly pursuing perpetrators and helping victims live their life without fear."