POLICE decisions could be challenged by victims of sexual offences if Labour comes to power in May, the party announced yesterday.

New plans launched by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper would give people the “Right to Review” when police drop sexual offences cases before they have been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The scheme would start with cases of rape and child sexual exploitation where despite a high number of reports, few arrests and prosecutions have been made.

Ms Cooper said: “Right now if the police decide not to pursue a crime, there is little more victims or their families can do.“That’s not good enough.“We’ll change the law so that if the police decide to drop a case after a suspect has been identified, victims will have a new right to challenge their decision.

“It’s time to change the culture, stop these awful crimes being hidden away and put victims in the driving seat.”

Under the plans, if the police fail to pass on a file to the CPS, the victims would be able to request a review at a local level by a prosecutor unrelated to the decision and who would report on it within 10 days.

If the complainants are not satisfied they could then demand an independent audit.

According to police figures, only 5,400 out of 16,300 reported cases in 2012-13 were actually passed to the CPS.

The former head of the National Policing Improvement Agency Peter Neyroud said: “It is critical that victims have a right to review decisions all the way from the duty to record an allegation, through to decisions on whether to pursue a prosecution.”

He added the move would “put the spotlight of accountability on the police.”