IOPC Responds to Children's Commissioner Report on Child Strip Searches
Summary
The IOPC published a response to the Children's Commissioner's report on police strip searches of children, welcoming progress noted in the report while highlighting ongoing concerns. The IOPC identified that Black children are almost eight times more likely to be strip searched than White children, and that approximately 30 percent of strip searches involved children who had been previously searched. The IOPC supports the Children's Commissioner's call for legislative updates to better safeguard children and vulnerable adults, noting that its own 10 national recommendations have been mostly implemented.
“Black children almost eight times more likely to be strip searched than White children”
Police forces and custody officers should review strip search policies against the IOPC's 10 national recommendations, particularly procedures for children and compliance with child safeguarding obligations. Although most IOPC recommendations have been implemented, the documented disproportionality (Black children almost eight times more likely to be searched) suggests ongoing monitoring of equality and diversity compliance is warranted.
About this source
GovPing monitors UK IOPC News for new courts & legal regulatory changes. Every update since tracking began is archived, classified, and available as free RSS or email alerts — 20 changes logged to date.
What changed
The IOPC issued a formal response to the Children's Commissioner's report on child strip searches, acknowledging improvements in police compliance and reduced overall search numbers while identifying persistent concerns. Key findings highlighted include racial disproportionality (Black children nearly eight times more likely to be searched) and the fact that nearly 30 percent of searches involved children previously searched. The IOPC endorses the Children's Commissioner's call for legislative updates to enhance protections for children and vulnerable adults, building on the IOPC's own 10 national recommendations from prior investigations.
For police forces and oversight bodies, this response signals continued regulatory attention to strip search practices and disproportionate impacts on racial minorities. Organisations should review their internal policies on child strip searches against the IOPC's 10 implemented recommendations to ensure compliance. While no new compliance obligations are created, this document signals that further legislative change may be forthcoming to strengthen child safeguarding in police custody settings.
Archived snapshot
Apr 22, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
IOPC responds to Children's Commissioner's report on child strip searches
Published: 22 Apr 2026 News
| Andrew Johnson, IOPC Director for Policy, Strategy and Impact, said: “We welcome the latest report from the Children’s Commissioner regarding strip searches of children outside of police custody.
“The report highlights some areas of good progress including an improvement in police compliancy and an overall drop in the number of strip searches taking place.
“However it also identified a number of ongoing concerns we have previously highlighted including disproportionality – with Black children almost eight times more likely to be strip searched than White children - and issues around adultification, with Black children far more likely to have their ‘build’ identified as a reason for force being used.
“It is concerning that the report identified that almost 30 percent of strip searches involved children who had been strip searched previously.
“We support the Children’s Commissioner’s call for legislation to be updated swiftly to better safeguard children and vulnerable adults.
“Our own investigations into incidents involving child strip searches led to a series of 10 national recommendations aimed to improve legislation and policing practice.
“While most of these have been implemented, further progress from those within policing is needed.
“We will continue working to help drive change that will improve policing practice of strip searches and the experiences of children and vulnerable adults involved.” |
Tags
- Home Office
- Race discrimination
Written by
IOPC staff Media team member
Sharing
-
-
Other news from Home Office
IOPC statement in response to Government's White Paper
News
- 20 Feb 2025
IOPC investigation begins following death of man arrested by Border Force officers
News
- 19 Mar 2024
IOPC makes 10 recommendations to improve child strip search practice
News
All news
Related changes
Get daily alerts for UK IOPC News
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from IOPC.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when UK IOPC News publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.