Oral Answers to Questions

Sharon Hodgson Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

May I use this opportunity to congratulate North Yorkshire on forging ahead with the superfast broadband programme, which has made astonishing progress? I hear what my hon. Friend says. We are working out the details of how to allocate the next tranche of funding to take superfast broadband to 95% and I will keep him informed.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

What progress has the Secretary of State made to prevent tickets for the 2015 rugby union world cup from being bought up and resold with a great mark-up on the secondary market? There is clearly a great desire that something should be done to crack down on that, so will she confirm that she will introduce the necessary legislation, as we had for the Olympics, and kick the touts into touch?

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Lady brings up an important issue about the supply of tickets. We have it well in hand and we are ensuring that the tickets are released in a way that means we will not fall into the problems she has outlined.

--- Later in debate ---

[Norman Baker]

I cannot give a specific answer, but we obviously do not release anyone who is a danger to the public. That remains our position.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

According to freedom of information requests compiled by Labour, there has been a 33.5% drop in the number of rape cases referred to the CPS for prosecution since 2010. That figure was rising under the previous Government. Given that police budgets have been cut by 20% over the same period, does the Minister accept that the hollowing out of police services has led to more perpetrators of rape and sexual violence getting away with it? What is he going to do about that disgraceful situation, which will inevitably lead to more perpetrators committing rapes, as they feel emboldened to do so with impunity?

[Norman Baker]

I welcome the hon. Lady to the Front Bench, as I understand that this is her first outing.

I do not believe that the issue of funding for the police is in any way connected with this matter, because otherwise—[Interruption.] Otherwise, we would have seen a drop in the number of investigations of murder, homicide or complex fraud, and we are not seeing that. Other factors are at play, I think, including the number of historic allegations that are quite rightly coming forward and the fact that there is more encouragement of people to come forward—[Interruption.] I know that this is the hon. Lady’s first outing, but if she let me answer the question rather than chuntering it would be helpful. This is a serious issue and I want to try to address it properly.

We are taking action on this matter. The figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 9% increase in the number of sexual offences being reported and a 9% increase in the number of rapes recorded by the police in the year to June 2013 compared with the previous year. The number of convictions has changed only marginally from earlier years, because prosecution cases that will not be successful are weeded out at an earlier stage. I have already said that we are concerned about this matter. I want to look into the precise reason referrals have gone down, and it is my intention to ensure that we get as many successful prosecutions as possible.