Question to the Attorney General:

What steps she has taken to increase the number of prosecutions relating to rape and sexual assault.

I am committed to ensuring rape and sexual assault cases are conducted effectively – in fact, I recently successfully referred a point of law to the Court of Appeal to ensure that the law is clear in cases of sexual assault.

I have also engaged closely on CPS rape work, including meeting with CPS South East in December 2020 to discuss how their RASSO unit approaches these complex cases. The CPS and police also published their Joint National Action Plan on rape in January 2021 which shows their commitment to improvement.