Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish (a) plans and (b) a timeframe for reducing the time taken to bring rape cases to court.

This Government is committed to improving victims and survivors of rape’s experience of the justice system. We recognise that rape cases often take longer to progress through the courts, and that delays can have a profound impact on victims’ wellbeing and confidence in the criminal justice process.

To ensure clear communication with victims in the pre-trial period, every Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) area now has at least one dedicated Victim Liaison Officer in its rape and serious sexual offences unit. Pre-trial meetings are offered to all adult victims of these crimes and the CPS have also delivered trauma-informed training to staff as part of their Victim Transformation Programme.

We are also committed to tackling the outstanding caseload to improve timeliness - we have already doubled magistrates’ sentencing powers, so that Crown Courts can focus on the most serious cases, and this year we have funded a record-high allocation of 111,250 Crown Court sitting days. We also commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to propose bold and ambitious measures to deliver swifter justice for victims, including for victims of sexual violence, in his Independent Review of Criminal Courts. We will respond to the recommendations in the first part of the Independent Review in due course.