Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on implementing the End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has made strong progress on implementing the End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan, published on 18 June 2021, which is focused on improving the system response to rape and ensuring more victims see justice. The most recent six-monthly Progress Report is available here: End to End Rape Review Progress Report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Our progress on implementing the End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan includes:
We are more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/5, up from £41m in 2009/10.
As of September 2022, we have fully rolled out pre-recorded cross examination (Section 28) for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Courts across England and Wales. This is being used in over 150 cases per month.
In December we launched a new 24/7 support line for victims of rape and sexual abuse, meaning every victim can now access free, confidential emotional support whenever and wherever they need it.
The police and Crown Prosecution Service are rolling out a new investigatory model for rape, which focuses on the suspect’s – rather than the victim’s – behaviour, called Operation Soteria. The model is now in operation across nineteen police forces with a national rollout planned to start from June 2023.
Overall, we have delivered on the vast majority of actions set out in the plan and continue to make steady and sustained progress towards this Government’s ambition to return volumes of cases being referred to the police, charged by the Crown Prosecution Service, and going to court to at least 2016 levels by the end of this parliament. The latest data shows that we are on track to meet each of these ambitions ahead of schedule:
In October- December 2022, there were 1,079 total police referrals, more than double the 2019 quarterly average (461) and up by 41% compared to the 2016 quarterly average (766). Over the last quarter, total police referrals went up by 8% (999 to 1,079).
In October – December 2022 we recorded 472 CPS charges, nearly double the 2019 quarterly average (244), 12% below the 2016 quarterly average (538). Over the last quarter CPS charges remained stable (slight fall from 473 to 472).
In October - December 2022 we recorded 509 Crown Court receipts, more than double the 2019 quarterly average (231), 8% below the ambition of 553 per quarter. Over the last quarter, Crown Court receipts increased by 8% (from 473 to 509).