Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 28 Nov 2022
Legal Rights to Access Abortion
"Did the hon. Lady really compare a vasectomy with an abortion? Does she see those procedures of equal and like standing, when one involves, as has been described by other Members, a second life, and she herself recognises that there is a point during a pregnancy at which those rights …..."Caroline Ansell - View Speech
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Written Question
Friday 8th July 2022
Asked by:
Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask to the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on the objective of ensuring the number of rape cases being referred by the police and going to court is on track to be at the level reached in 2016 by the end of the Parliament; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
In June 2021, we published the End-to-End Rape Review Report and Action Plan. During that review, we took a hard and honest look at how the entire criminal justice system deals with rape and in too many instances it simply has not been good enough. We apologised at the time for this and committed to delivering real improvements to transform support for victims, and working with the police and the CPS to more than double the number of adult rape cases being charged and reaching court by the end of this Parliament.
Since June 2021, we have made significant progress in delivering actions to change the system for the better. Whilst the majority of actions are on track and have been delivered in the timescales we intended, there is much work still to do to ensure that the actions are having the impact they need to.
We are committed to going further and pushing harder on our actions so that we can drive bigger impacts, deliver wider system change and crucially, deliver justice for victims of rape and sexual abuse. We are:
- Establishing suspect-focused rape investigations – known as Operation Soteria – across five police forces, and will expand this to 14 more by September, with a national rollout completed by June 2023.
- Expanding pre-recorded cross-examination (Section 28) for victims of sexual violence and modern slavery in Crown Courts nationwide – with this vital measure now available in almost half of all Crown Courts (37 locations). The Government is committed to rolling it out nationwide by September.
- Expanding support for victims. This includes creating a national 24/7 support line for victims of rape and sexual abuse, so that every victim can access support whenever and wherever they need it. We are using additional ringfenced funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors (ISVAs and IDVAs) by 300, to over 1000 by 2024/25 - a 43 percent increase over the next three years.
- Publishing the CJS delivery data dashboard quarterly for adult rape which brings together local data from across the system in one place for the first time, allowing us to increase transparency, increase understanding of the justice system and support collaboration, especially at a local level.
- Announcing a pilot of enhanced specialist sexual violence support in the Crown Court. This is aimed squarely at doing better by rape victims, giving them the support they need to stay engaged in the process and get the justice they deserve.
These actions are starting to have an impact on the system, though there is still more progress to be made:
- Rape cases referred by the police to the CPS have increased in the last quarter of 2021 by 76% from the quarterly average in 2019, when the Rape Review was commissioned.
- Rape cases charged by the CPS in the last quarter of 2021 have also increased by 38% from the quarterly average in 2019.
- Rape convictions are increasing: there was a 67% increase in the number of people convicted for rape offences between 2020 and 2021.
The average number of days for adult rape from CPS charge to the case being completed continued to fall by 38 days – roughly 5 weeks - since the peak in June 2021 – down from 457 days to 419 in October - December 2021.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 05 Jul 2022
Oral Answers to Questions
"T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities...."Caroline Ansell - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 05 Jul 2022
Oral Answers to Questions
"I thank my right hon. Friend for his response. For as many years as I have served as Eastbourne’s Member of Parliament, Eastbourne residents have expressed to me their dismay, their outrage even, that foreign national offenders—dangerous criminals—have used the right to family life to frustrate their deportation, a deportation …..."Caroline Ansell - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 18th May 2021
Asked by:
Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
What steps his Department is taking to support victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Domestic abuse is a top priority across Government, and we are determined to transform the response to this abhorrent crime.
We passed our landmark Domestic Abuse Bill on 29 April and our forthcoming Victims’ Bill will further transform victims’ experience of the criminal justice system and we have provided unprecedented funding for domestic abuse since the pandemic began, including £51m boost for specialist support services to support victims through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 25 Apr 2017
Grandparents' Rights: Access to Grandchildren
"My hon. Friend will be dismayed but not surprised to learn that at my last advice surgery I, too, saw grandparents who were suffering in this way. Their plea was for a change in thinking, a change in culture, because they had been advised that their only recourse was through …..."Caroline Ansell - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 25 Apr 2017
Oral Answers to Questions
"Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 is landmark legislation that makes revenge porn a specific offence. In Eastbourne, we have just had a high-profile case in which a serial offender walked free with a caution. One of his victims was a minor, and to add further …..."Caroline Ansell - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 13 Sep 2016
Dangerous Driving: Penalties
"I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this very important debate. It is agony to hear of the suffering of the family in her constituency and the lack of justice.
The debate is also important to my home town of Eastbourne, where Maria and Richard lost their lives just last …..."Caroline Ansell - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 01 Feb 2016
Transitional State Pension Arrangements for Women
"I am happy to rise. I regret that the hon. Gentleman, in an impassioned speech in which he has done good justice to past inequalities suffered by women, has chosen to drag this issue into a political arena, because—[Hon. Members: “This is Parliament!”] A party political arena, I should say. …..."Caroline Ansell - View Speech
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Written Question
Thursday 3rd December 2015
Asked by:
Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training his Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This department has liaised directly with DWP for advice and guidance on applying the Family Test in policy development. Policymakers in this department have been encouraged to attend Family test training on applying the Test and have been made aware of best practice.