Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Law Officers have met with (a) Dominic Grieve and (b) the members of the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia to discuss the working group and the definition of Islamophobia.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Law Officers have not met with Dominic Grieve or the members of the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, to discuss the Working Group or the definition of Islamophobia.
The Law Officers have previously met with Dominic Grieve on matters unrelated to the Working Group.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have any staff working permanently outside the UK.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal on her Department.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
In May, the UK concluded a landmark economic deal with the US. This deal protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK. In addition, an estimated 260,000 jobs are supported by the auto industry in the wider economy.
The Government remains focused on making sure British businesses can feel the benefits of the deal as soon as possible.
The Government is continuing discussions on the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal which will look at increasing digital trade, enhancing access for our world-leading services industries and improving supply chains.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how much her Department has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office operates 60% minimum office attendance for most staff and hybrid working. To support staff working at home the department offers a contribution to equipment. The cost to the department in each of the last three years is £284.00 in 2023, £578.32 in 2024, and £214.94 in 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the recording of non-crime hate incidents on the sentencing of individuals in future criminal proceedings.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
All factual matters material to a criminal sentence must be admitted by the offender or proven in a court to the criminal standard using admissible evidence. By definition, the recording of a previous incident as “non-crime” is unlikely to meet that standard.
The Code for Crown Prosecutors sets out the general principles a prosecutor must apply when making a decision as to whether there is sufficient evidence, and whether it is in the public interest, to authorise criminal charges against a suspect. The Crown Prosecution Service has published guidance on bail, the focus of which is on ensuring that the Court is provided with the relevant information to enable it to come to a proper decision as to whether or not to grant bail, with or without conditions. This will be fact specific to the circumstances of the alleged offence and the defendant. The administrative police recording of an earlier incident or allegation, which has previously been determined not to have been a crime, is unlikely to have any relevance to the question of bail.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service uses information about recorded non-crime hate incidents in deciding whether to (a) bring charges and (b) recommend bail conditions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
All factual matters material to a criminal sentence must be admitted by the offender or proven in a court to the criminal standard using admissible evidence. By definition, the recording of a previous incident as “non-crime” is unlikely to meet that standard.
The Code for Crown Prosecutors sets out the general principles a prosecutor must apply when making a decision as to whether there is sufficient evidence, and whether it is in the public interest, to authorise criminal charges against a suspect. The Crown Prosecution Service has published guidance on bail, the focus of which is on ensuring that the Court is provided with the relevant information to enable it to come to a proper decision as to whether or not to grant bail, with or without conditions. This will be fact specific to the circumstances of the alleged offence and the defendant. The administrative police recording of an earlier incident or allegation, which has previously been determined not to have been a crime, is unlikely to have any relevance to the question of bail.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 and Question 19848 on Arms Trade: Israel, if she will take steps to centrally record how many people have been charged with offenses relating to protests against Elbit Systems UK's arms sales to Israel since (a) 8 October 2023, (b) 26 January 2024 and (c) 2 September 2024.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Between October 2023 to September 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service charged 142,221 suspects which reached a first hearing at the magistrates’ court. To determine which offences involved defendants who were taking part in a protest against Elbit Systems UK would require a manual review of each case, which would be at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, If she will publish the redacted sections of her Department’s email to Israel’s Deputy Ambassador entitled CPS/SO15 contact details, published in April 2025.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
It has been routine under successive governments for the Attorney General’s Office to help embassies get in contact with the relevant prosecuting authorities for the purposes of sharing information that could be relevant to a case. Freedom of information requests are considered on a case-by-case basis, and information is disclosed in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many prosecutions for hate crimes have the CPS commenced in each of the last 12 months; and how many and what proportion of these prosecutions resulted in conviction.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
In the year to December 2024 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised the charging of a total of 11,777 suspects in hate crime flagged cases with 87.4% of legal decisions resulting in a suspect being charged.
The below table provides a breakdown of the monthly charge volumes and rate for 2024.
| 24-01 | 24-02 | 24-03 | 24-04 | 24-05 | 24-06 | 24-07 | 24-08 | 24-09 | 24-10 | 24-11 | 24-12 |
Suspects Charged | 852 | 888 | 891 | 937 | 911 | 859 | 1,010 | 1,429 | 974 | 1,039 | 1,005 | 982 |
Charge Rate (% of all legal decisions) | 85.5% | 86.4% | 85.8% | 88.1% | 87.6% | 86.5% | 85.8% | 91.7% | 86.7% | 85.1% | 88.3% | 88.9% |
Over the same period the CPS has prosecuted 14,657 defendants of which 12,614 were convicted, giving a conviction rate of 86.1% for the 2024 calendar year.
The below table provides a breakdown of the monthly completed prosecutions and convictions for 2024.
| 24-01 | 24-02 | 24-03 | 24-04 | 24-05 | 24-06 | 24-07 | 24-08 | 24-09 | 24-10 | 24-11 | 24-12 |
Completed Prosecutions | 1,183 | 1,112 | 1,092 | 1,116 | 1,255 | 1,102 | 1,222 | 1,419 | 1,283 | 1,462 | 1,325 | 1,086 |
Convictions | 1,015 | 976 | 919 | 970 | 1,069 | 931 | 1,039 | 1,257 | 1,108 | 1,259 | 1,140 | 931 |
Conviction Rate (%) | 85.8% | 87.8% | 84.2% | 86.9% | 85.2% | 84.5% | 85.0% | 88.6% | 86.4% | 86.1% | 86.0% | 85.7% |
The volume of prosecution outcomes for a period differs from the volume of pre charge decisions for the same period. Where the pre charge decision is to bring charges many cases will only reach a conclusion in a later period. This will vary according to the outcome type: for example, the legal process is longer where a case is contested or sent to the Crown Court and tried by jury.
Further information can be found in quarterly data published on the CPS website: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how much her Department has spent on (a) social media promotions, (b) influencer marketing and (c) online advertising in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.