The Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 5) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/1158), made on Tuesday 3 November by Sarah Jones, Minister of State at the Home Office, bring several parts of the Act into force between 24 November 2026 and 15 January 2027. Two matter to close protection and security professionals who work with people at risk of stalking: stalking protection orders on conviction and on acquittal come into force on Thursday 26 November 2026, and statutory guidance about stalking follows on Monday 7 December 2026.
What the instrument does
Regulation 4 brings section 128 (stalking protection orders on acquittal etc) and section 129 (stalking protection orders on conviction) into force on 26 November. Regulation 6 brings section 131 (guidance about stalking) into force on 7 December, together with section 143 (guidance about honour-based abuse) and section 144 (meaning of honour-based abuse).
The same instrument sets other dates. Section 75, on possession of advice or guidance about creating child sexual abuse images, comes into force on Tuesday 24 November. Section 142, on domestic abuse protection orders, comes into force on Wednesday 25 November, with subsection 142(2) excluded for civil and family proceedings. Section 170 and Schedule 18, on suspension of internet protocol addresses and internet domain names, come into force on Monday 30 November. Sections 116 and 117, on convictions and cautions for loitering or soliciting when under 18, come into force on Friday 15 January 2027.
What sections 128, 129 and 131 say
Section 128 amends the Stalking Protection Act 2019. It defines a stalking protection order as an order that, to prevent a person carrying out acts associated with stalking, prohibits the person from doing anything described in the order or requires the person to do anything described in the order. A new section 2A lets a court make an order where a defendant is acquitted of any offence, a court allows a defendant's appeal against a conviction, or a court deals with a defendant on a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity or a finding that the defendant is under a disability and did the act charged. The court may make the order if satisfied on the balance of probabilities of the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 2(1) of the 2019 Act, which the text applies to this new route. Section 128 also inserts "on the balance of probabilities" into other provisions of the 2019 Act and amends how variations, appeals and notification are handled.
Section 129 inserts a new Chapter 3A into the Sentencing Code. Where a court is dealing with an offender for an offence, it may make a stalking protection order if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the offender has carried out acts associated with stalking, that the offender poses a risk associated with stalking to any person, whether or not that person was the victim, and that the order is necessary to protect that person. The text says the acts may have been carried out in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, and before or after commencement, and that a risk may be of physical or psychological harm and may arise from acts the offender knows or ought to know are unwelcome even if they would otherwise look harmless. An order lasts for a fixed period of at least two years or until further order. A prohibition or requirement applies in all parts of the United Kingdom unless the order limits it to a locality. Breaching an order made on conviction without reasonable excuse is an offence, punishable on indictment by up to five years in prison, a fine or both. The section points to the notification requirements in sections 9 to 11 of the 2019 Act.
Section 131 inserts a new section 7A into the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The Secretary of State must issue guidance about stalking to the public authorities in England and Wales that the Secretary of State considers appropriate, covering the effect of the stalking provisions in that Act, the 2019 Act and the new Sentencing Code chapter, and other matters relating to stalking. The Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate (not for revisions the Secretary of State considers are not substantial) and publish the guidance, and an authority that receives it must have regard to it. "Public authority" excludes courts and tribunals.
What the text does not say
The instrument and the sections do not say how many orders are expected or how courts will use them. Section 131 does not say what the guidance will say, or when it will be published, beyond requiring it to cover the effect of the stalking provisions in that Act, the 2019 Act and the new Sentencing Code chapter, and other matters relating to stalking. It does not name private security providers. We read sections 128, 129 and 131 as text on legislation.gov.uk on 8 November but did not read the territorial extent of each, so check that before applying any of this to a principal outside England and Wales. We did not open the Stalking Protection Act 2019 itself, so the section 2(1) matters are not listed here.
What it means for security professionals
This is The Ops Con's reading, not the Home Office's.
From 26 November a court can make a stalking protection order on conviction or after an acquittal under these powers. The section 129 text makes breach of an order made on conviction an offence; we have not read how breach of an acquittal-route order is dealt with. For teams supporting a principal who is being stalked, the dates to note are 26 November and 7 December. If a client presents an order, ask for a copy and brief the team on its exact terms: the section 129 text requires an order made on conviction to specify its prohibitions, requirements and any local limits, and says an order can be limited to a locality. The guidance in section 131 is addressed to public authorities, so private teams should expect to read it as background to what police and other public bodies are told, once it is published.
