Police in England and Wales are leaving people at risk of domestic abuse by refusing to release information on suspected violent partners, the Observer can reveal, with one force declining 95% of requests for checks.
Under Clare’s law – named after Clare Wood, 36, who was murdered in 2009 by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton – people have a right to ask police whether a partner or ex-partner has a history of abusive behaviour.
Public bodies can also apply to warn people who may be in danger.
But an analysis of official data has found dramatic variations in the implementation of Clare’s law, which is officially known as the domestic violence disclosure scheme, with some forces supplying information in up to 75% of cases, while others reject almost all requests.
Out of 43 forces for which data was available, the one that proportionally shared information the least – Essex police – disclosed information for only 5% of the 1,940 Clare’s law applications they received in the two years to March 2023.
Six other forces reported disclosure rates below 30% over the same period.
Across England and Wales, the rate of disclosure has fallen in recent years, from 47.9% in 2019 to 38.5% in the year to March 2023, with 50,686 out of 83,790 applications under the scheme failing to result in disclosure in the last two years alone.
Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said it was “seriously concerning” to see such variation between forces and that “opportunities to protect victims” were “clearly being missed”.
Speaking to the Observer, she said that while information provided under Clare’s law was “potentially life-saving”, rejected or poorly conducted applications could give “a false sense of security which further endangers the victim”.
She added: “I want to see every force review its implementation of Clare’s law, and for poorly performing forces to urgently improve their policies, procedures and training.”
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has separately sent warnings over Clare’s law to three forces in the last three months – Thames Valley, Merseyside and Durham – after inspections highlighted problems including resourcing issues and long delays.
It found that one force, Merseyside, took up to 90 days to disclose information in a Clare’s law request – well beyond the 28-day limit. The inspectorate has warned that such delays could increase the risk of harm to victims.
Another force – Wiltshire – referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct and is conducting an urgent review of 3,500 Clare’s law applications dating back to 2015 after identifying cases where it failed to disclose information “which could have protected those most at risk from domestic violence”.
Catherine Roper, Wiltshire’s chief constable, said she was “truly sorry” for the errors, which were thought to be linked to one member of staff.
Launched by police forces in England and Wales in 2014, Clare’s law includes two parts: the “right to ask”, which enables victims and potential victims of domestic abuse, and their friends and families, to request information; and the “right to know”, which enables police to proactively disclose information to protect a potential victim after receiving it indirectly, from, for example, partner agencies.
Before releasing information, police must be sure that the request is genuine and not malicious; that there is a pressing need for the disclosure; that it is necessary to protect the person from being the victim of a crime; and that the impact on the perpetrators’ rights is necessary and proportionate.
Details that can be shared include information on convictions or allegations of assault, murder, manslaughter and false imprisonment, which may not already be in the public domain.
Experts said there were multiple reasons why police forces could have drastically different disclosure rates, including that some did not prioritise Clare’s law requests, took different approaches to perpetrators’ privacy rights, or applied different standards when assessing whether applications met the threshold.
The prevalence of domestic abuse, and the police’s response to it, also varies by area, meaning some forces may have less intelligence to share.
Prof Sandra Walklate of Liverpool University, an expert on domestic violence, said that in other cases, forces faced resourcing problems. “I am aware of one force who chose to staff a whole unit dedicated to Clare’s law information sharing. Not all forces can do this,” she said.
Rachel Horman-Brown, a leading domestic abuse lawyer, said Clare’s law could be a “really useful tool” but victims often faced delays, were given incomplete information or were required to justify why they needed information.
The forces identified in the Observer’s analysis said they had taken steps to improve their disclosure rates since the latest figures to March 2023, were published.
Essex police said they have launched an extensive review of their response to domestic abuse and now had 20 officers focusing on disclosures, which had led to a sharp increase in the force’s Clare’s law disclosure rate since August 2023.
Thames Valley police, whose disclosure rate was 18.43% in the two years to March 2023, recognised that this was “lower than the national average” and that their work in this area “has not been sufficient”, but that action was being taken to address this, including more officers being trained.
Durham constabulary and Merseyside police said they had increased resourcing and taken other action to improve their handling of Clare’s law since the inspectorate reports.
Last week, the Home Office announced that it would be putting the guidance on which Clare’s law is based into statute. It said this would place a duty on forces to follow the guidance correctly, adding that it would “strengthen the visibility and consistent operation of the [domestic violence disclosure] scheme”.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for domestic abuse, said various improvements had been made to the scheme since its launch but there was “more to do to ensure potential victims receive a consistent service across all forces”.
She said that after receiving requests under Clare’s law, police always aimed to consult relevant safeguarding agencies before disclosing. “Where a victim discloses potential abuse during the process, but no records are held, police look to take steps, with other relevant agencies, to protect them,” she said.
