Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of child abuse that have been reported to police (a) did and (b) did not lead to a prosecution in the last five years.

The Home Office collects recorded crime information from the police, but it is not possible to tell the age of victim for all the offences that could constitute child abuse for all police forces. Therefore, the requested data cannot be provided.

For some offence categories, the offence states the age of the victim or it is clear that the victim is a child (for example, rape of a female child under 16; cruelty to children/young persons). Figures for these offences for the last five year are given in the Table.

The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions; these figures are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.