Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of spending on the services and treatment for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of crime have access to the support services they need to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the effects of crime. We will be spending about £96m this year to fund support services for victims of crime. Of this, about £68m is being allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners to locally commission or provide support services for victims of crime, based on their assessment of local need. This includes victims of sexual violence. Further, in 2018/19 we allocated funding of over £7.2 million for rape support services across England and Wales to provide independent, specialist support to female and male victims of sexual violence, including victims of child sexual abuse.
On 25 April, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report. The Report provides an overview of the work undertaken so far and sets out what the Chair and Panel consider to be key emerging themes. The Report also contains recommendations for specific changes to help better protect children from sexual abuse, including establishing the current level and effectiveness of public expenditure on services for child victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in England. The Government welcomes the Report and is considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will introduce proposals to establish the (a) current levels and (b) effectiveness of public expenditure on services for child victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in England in line with the recommendation of the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at Government. This include a recommendation for:
The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will amend the Civil Procedure Rules to ensure that judges presiding over cases relating to child sexual abuse consider the use of protections for vulnerable witnesses.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at Government. This includes a recommendation that:
The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislation in line with the recommendation of the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018 to ensure that victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in civil court cases when they are claiming compensation in relation to the abuse they suffered are afforded the same protections as vulnerable witnesses in criminal court cases.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at Government. This includes recommendation that:
The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in making a civil claim.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at Government. This includes recommendation that:
The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will introduce proposals to revise Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority rules in line with the recommendation of the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018, so that awards are not automatically rejected in circumstances where an applicant’s criminal convictions are likely to be linked to their child sexual abuse.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at Government. This includes a recommendation that:
The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to revise the rules governing the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority with regard to the same roof rule in line with the recommendation of the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at Government. This includes a recommendation that:
The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will commission an inspection of compliance with the Victims Code by relevant Departments in relation to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations, including that the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and Attorney General commission a joint inspection of compliance with the Victims’ Code in relation to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that perpetrators of child sexual abuse have access to rehabilitative programmes.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We are absolutely committed to reducing reoffending and addressing the needs of those individuals convicted of a sexual offence.
Individuals convicted of child sexual abuse who have offence related problems common to other sexual offenders, may be suitable for a sex offender programme, either in prison or community. HMPPS provide a range of accredited programmes for individuals convicted of a sexual offence which are offered according to the level of risk and need of the offender. These programmes draw on the latest international evidence on effective treatment for this cohort of offenders.
In addition to these programmes, HMPPS, and its partners, provide a range of other programmes and services for this complex group of offenders, including strong public protection measures through Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements. These are tailored to address individuals’ risks and needs, and may, for example, include work to address thinking and attitudes, substance misuse, mental health issues, personality disorder, unemployment, unstable housing, and poor relationships. Specialist services may also be included such as anti-libidinal drug treatment.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times s72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 has been invoked in each year since it gained Royal assent.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the definition of the offence provided in statute. Although we can provide information on how many of each of the offences covered by section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 were proceeded against at court overall, we do not have a central record of how many of those offences were alleged to have taken place outside of the UK. This information could only be obtained from the individual court files at disproportionate cost.