One of Britain's most senior police officers today calls for specialist rape squads in every force after admitting conviction rates and reporting levels were "not good enough".

John Yates, who speaks on the issue for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), will tell a police conference that such squads would ensure experts are put in charge from the start of a case to the finish, allowing each force to ensure more cases reach trial.

Only 15 per cent of rape victims report the crime and more than two thirds of those complaints do not make it to court, even though five per cent of women say they have experienced rape, according to the British Crime Survey. The overall conviction rate for rape is just six per cent.

Mr Yates, who is also the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said there had been progress in recent years.

But, challenged about the poor reporting-levels and conviction-rates on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Mr Yates admitted: "It’s not good enough.

"It is, and does remain, one of the most challenging cases and it’s precisely because of that we believe, in ACPO, that specialist, experienced people, credible investigators who know these cases, know the pitfalls, should be dealing with them."

He went on: "What we are not seeing is the whole continuum of the investigation being managed in the best way.

"So what we are calling for today is those task forces that are being set up - they are being set up in about 10 forces now - we want to see that spread right across the country."

Mr Yates is to formally tackle the issue later today, where he will be joined by Vernon Coaker, the Home Office Minister, at a police conference.

Mr Coaker will promise to ensure that standards are applied consistently across different police forces, following complaints of a "postcode lottery". He will also say that the government plans to increase conviction rates by increasing the number of specialist centres for rape victims from 19 to 36 and running a trial scheme of supplying police forces with sexual violence advisers.

The Minister's pledge comes after a women’s equality group complained that women in some areas were five times less likely to see their attacker convicted than in others.

The Fawcett Society produced a map based on official figures this week which they claimed revealed "huge deficiencies in police responses to rape" in many parts of the UK.

The charity said the conviction rate has got worse in 18 out of 43 police areas since it last looked at the figures in detail in 2004.

Mr Coaker said: "Rape is one of the most serious and devastating crimes. We know that it remains under-reported and we are determined to improve this and increase the conviction rate.

"We have made great progress. Specially-trained officers and prosecutors now operate in every area, training and guidance for the police has been updated and a team of experts have visited every force to put together tailored action plans.

"The challenge now is to keep up the focus on this work and ensure that the policies and procedures that have been developed are being implemented consistently.

"Every force has a responsibility to ensure that every single officer who comes into contact with a rape victim is supportive and believes the victim. It may only take the raising of an eyebrow to cause her to lose courage."

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