Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of Operation Soteria on the level of prosecution for rape offences.

Operation Soteria is a significant step-change in Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Police ways of working to ensure national consistency in the approach to handling adult rape cases.

Since the launch of Operation Soteria pilots, the CPS has observed consistent improvements in performance on rape prosecutions.

For example, in CPS London North we have seen significant improvements in our prosecutions flagged as adult rape, with a 24% increase in the calendar year 2022 compared to 2021. Similarly, charging decisions on cases flagged as adult rape have also increased in CPS London North, by 41% in the calendar year 2022 compared to 2021.