The decision whether to accede to a disclosure request of counselling notes and third-party material should not rest solely on the shoulders of victims, many of whom are vulnerable and traumatised. There is a case for providing independent legal advice for vulnerable victims facing disclosure requests and the Government should consider this further alongside its consultation on third party material. We welcome the work the Government is doing to ensure that disclosure requests are proportionate.

The decision whether to accede to a disclosure request of counselling notes and third-party material should not rest solely on the shoulders of victims, many of whom are vulnerable and traumatised. There is a case for providing independent legal advice for vulnerable victims facing disclosure requests and the Government should consider this further alongside its consultation on third party material. We welcome the work the Government is doing to ensure that disclosure requests are proportionate. Type: recommendation | Number: 21 | Paragraph: 81 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: 30. The Government launched a public consultation on police requests for third party material in June 2022 which closed in August 2022. The Government has considered the responses to the consultation and will shortly publish its response. On the point of providing legal advice, the MoJ carried out a