Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what recent steps she has taken to help increase prosecution rates for offences relating to female genital mutilation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This Government is dedicated to addressing female genital mutilation (FGM) and all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), aiming to halve VAWG in the next decade. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is actively working to increase FGM prosecutions.
The first conviction in England and Wales for conspiring to commit FGM was obtained in September 2024. In February 2025, I welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision to increase the sentence under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme from four and a half years’ imprisonment to seven years’ imprisonment, reflecting the seriousness of the offender’s crimes.
Each CPS Area has a dedicated FGM lead with expertise in the prosecution of FGM cases to improve the CPS’ response to these cases.
The CPS provides early investigative advice to police in all FGM cases. Under the CPS and National Police Chiefs’ Council joint protocol on FGM, investigators are directed to consult with the CPS at the earliest possible stage. The protocol ensures a robust and consistent criminal justice response, and aims to improve the identification, investigation and prosecution of FGM cases.
The CPS’ prosecution guidance and specialist training on FGM support prosecutors to navigate the complexities and sensitivities of these cases.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what recent steps she has taken to help ensure the effective prosecution of (a) wildlife, (b) heritage, (c) rural and (d) waste crime in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This Government is committed to working with the police and other partners to address the blight of rural crime – broadly classified as any crime and anti-social behaviour occurring in rural areas. We are introducing tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, stronger neighbourhood policing, and robust laws to prevent farm theft and fly-tippers.
We are recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood police and police community support officers across England and Wales.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and partner bodies, can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors work closely with local police officers to tackle farm equipment theft and other rural crime, alongside officers from the National Wildlife Crime Unit to tackle wildlife offences. Fly-tipping can be investigated by police but is usually prosecuted by the local authority rather than the CPS.
The CPS provides legal guidance on Wildlife, Rural and Heritage Crime which is available to all its prosecutors, to assist them in dealing with these cases. That guidance is available here: Wildlife, Rural and Heritage Crime | The Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS also provides specialist training to ensure that its prosecutors have the expert knowledge needed to prosecute these crimes.
West Midlands CPS, within which Newcastle-under-Lyme falls, has a dedicated prosecutor to lead on wildlife, heritage, and rural crime.