Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to investigate and report on how the failures in process which led to the collapse of the trial of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh occurred.

Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General

On 7 October 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service applied to appeal to the High Court by way of case stated, challenging the Chief Magistrate’s interpretation of the law. As these remain active proceedings, you will understand that it would be inappropriate for me to comment further.

It makes sense to await the final resolution of the case before conducting any sort of post-mortem and that also avoids any risk of prejudicing any future proceedings.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2025 to Question 30971 on Armed Forces: Civil Proceedings, whether the Attorney General’s list of conflicts included legacy-related matters under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has an established and rigorous process for identifying and dealing with conflicts, and potential conflicts, that arise from the Law Officers’ past practice. That process sits against the backdrop of every lawyer’s professional obligation to be alert to, and actively manage, any situation that might give rise to a potential or actual conflict.

This rigorous process for identifying and managing conflicts sits alongside the system relating to ministerial interests, overseen by the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. Both the Director General of the AGO and the Independent Adviser were provided with the Attorney General’s list of conflicts following his appointment.

If a Law Officer were to publicly confirm specific matters where they were conflicted, this would infer that legal advice had been requested by the Government on a specific matter, which would risk a breach of the Law Officers’ Convention.

In addition, a lawyer cannot breach a client’s confidentiality in relation to advisory work that had previously not been made public so this would limit the ability of a Law Officer to publish in full their previous caseload and conflicts schedule. In that regard, the Attorney General has been through the same process as previous Law Officers, none of whom have gone as far to proactively disclose their specific conflicts of interest for the reasons set out above.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps her Department is taking to improve prosecution rates for grooming gang offences.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

This Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse and exploitation, including grooming gangs, by stamping out these abhorrent crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will always prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children whenever its legal test is met, regardless of how much time has passed since the offending took place.

Between 2021/22 and 2024/25, the CPS has seen a 25% increase in prosecutions for child sexual abuse. These efforts have been grounded in a commitment to safeguarding victims and holding offenders to account. CPS prosecutors who deal with contact child sexual abuse cases receive specialist training which emphasises a trauma-informed and suspect-focused approach to decision-making.

The CPS has a dedicated national Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit (OCSAU) with highly experienced prosecutors leading on the most complex and high-risk cases of child sexual abuse, including those involving grooming gangs. As of June 2025, OCSAU has secured 85 convictions, with a conviction rate of 82.5%. This includes convictions arising from Operation Stovewood, which is the investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. Each single prosecution represents justice for multiple victims.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of prosecutions for domestic abuse related offences.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Domestic Abuse (DA) causes severe and lasting harm to victims. Bringing perpetrators of these crimes to justice is a top priority for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

In partnership with the National Police Chiefs Council, the CPS launched the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan (DA JJP) in November 2024 to improve their collective response to the investigation and prosecution of DA cases.

The DA JJP sets out how the police and CPS will strengthen joint working – from building stronger cases from the outset to improving victim safeguarding to deliver more timely justice for victims. This coordinated approach is key to breaking cycles of abuse, securing prosecutions, and ensuring that victims are heard, protected, and supported throughout the justice process.

The focused work within the DA JJP has already had a positive impact on most CPS performance metrics. For example, referral volumes from police to CPS have increased by 14% since the DA JJP was launched. Charging pilots have also been launched to improve timeliness, with national rollout set for the end of 2025.

The forthcoming CPS VAWG Strategy, due for publication later this year, recognises the link between DA and VAWG related offending. Through the strategy, the CPS will further strengthen its response to DA through updated prosecution guidance, enhanced training modules and an improved services to victims of DA.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what estimate she has made of the number of additional Crown prosecutors that will be required to help reduce violence against women and girls.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) National Operating Model (NOM) for adult rape prosecutions and the CPS-Police Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan (DA JJP) are central to improving outcomes in cases involving violence against women and girls (VAWG). These initiatives rely on dedicated, specially trained prosecutors working across a range of CPS Units, including Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units, Magistrates Units, and Crown Court Units.

The latest Spending Review settlement for the CPS reflects the Government’s commitment to protecting the public through independent and fair prosecutions. It will provide record investment into the CPS, with total funding reaching £1 billion in 2028-29 to help bring more offenders to justice.

The additional £95.8m over the Spending Review period will allow CPS to increase the number of prosecutors and people on the frontline delivering justice, including in CPS’s specialist Rape and Serious Sexual Offence units, and to improve their services to victims and witnesses. The CPS continues to monitor demand and resource requirements closely to ensure effective delivery of its commitments.

The forthcoming CPS VAWG Strategy, due for publication later this year, sets out to improve prosecution effectiveness and build victim trust, including updated legal guidance, enhanced specialist training, and targeted action plans for specific offence types such as stalking and honour-based abuse. The strategy reflects the CPS’ commitment to supporting the Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the effective prosecution of the perpetrators of winter fuel payment scams targeting pensioners.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recognises the serious harm caused by such scams targeting vulnerable and older people, including those exploiting winter fuel payments. The CPS will prosecute any such cases referred that meet their legal test.

The CPS’ approach to tackling fraud and protecting vulnerable victims is set out in the CPS Economic Crime Strategy 2025 Final Progress Report which was published in May 2025. The CPS continues to engage with Age UK and other civil society partners on a broad range of economic crime issues to understand victims’ concerns and improve support.

Although the CPS cannot disaggregate its Fraud and Forgery Principal Offence Category Data to identify the number of prosecutions specifically related to winter fuel payment scams, since 2021, the CPS has maintained strong performance in fraud prosecutions, securing conviction rates of over 85%.

Over the last five years, more than £458 million has been recovered through CPS-obtained confiscation orders, with £95 million returned to victims by way of compensation.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure effective prosecution for shoplifting.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

This Government’s Safer Streets Mission will drive forward the change we need to crack down on shoplifting – a crime that is blighting our communities.

This Government is putting a stop to the effective immunity for shoplifting of goods below £200 and bringing in a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect those who face unacceptable abuse in their roles serving the public.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes shoplifting cases robustly where the Code of Crown Prosecutors is met. In the financial year 2024/25, the CPS prosecuted 121,216 offences relating to theft from a shop. This was a 39.4% increase from the year before (86,918 in 2023/2024). In the same year, the CPS prosecuted 2,145 attempted shoplifting offences, an increase of 35.6% from the previous year (2023-2024).

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, whether the law officers plans to seek to negotiate reforms of the European Convention of Human Rights at Council of Europe level.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

As the Prime Minister has made clear, the United Kingdom will not withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. To leave would be entirely contrary to this country’s national interest.

We need to work with our friends and partners in Europe to tackle all our major issues from irregular migration to combatting climate change. The solutions to these problems will not be met by isolating ourselves from our allies. But the status quo is not an option, and we are looking at various options to modernise our approach both domestically and internationally to the Convention.

As Chief Legal Advisors to Government, any advice that might be given by the Law Officers would be protected by the Law Officers’ Convention.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Attorney General held discussions with the (a) CPS and (b) Director of Public Prosecutions on the available evidence prior to the decision not to proceed with prosecution in the case on Chinese espionage.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Decisions to prosecute are, rightly, made independently of Government by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Consent was given by my predecessor on 3 April 2024. Following that date, no Law Officer intervened in the case at any stage.

Where a case can no longer proceed because of evidential reasons, as in this case, then the requirement is that the CPS informs the Attorney General of the decision as soon as it is taken.

The decision to offer no evidence was a decision made by the CPS, without any political influence, by the Attorney General or me, as the CPS has already confirmed.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish legal advice provided to the Crown Prosecution Service on the case relating to the alleged breach of Official Secrets Act on behalf of China.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Decisions to prosecute are, rightly, made independently of Government by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Consent was given by my predecessor on 3 April 2024. Following that date, no Law Officer intervened in the case at any stage.

Where a case can no longer proceed because of evidential reasons, as in this case, then the requirement is that the CPS informs the Attorney General of the decision as soon as it is taken.

The decision to offer no evidence was a decision made by the CPS, without any political influence, by the Attorney General or me, as the CPS has already confirmed.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what discussions she has had the Crown Prosecution Service on the adequacy of the number of prosecutions in relation to promoting terrorism.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has a strong record of bringing successful prosecutions in terrorism cases and works very closely with Counter Terrorism policing and partners to help build strong cases.

Cases are prosecuted by the specialist CPS Counter Terrorism Division. Recently published Home Office statistics confirmed that in the year ending 30 June 2025, of the 83 persons who were tried for all terrorism-related offences, 80 were convicted (96%).

There are several offences that can be used to prosecute those who promote terrorism, including offences of disseminating terrorist publications, encouraging terrorism, and for the preparation of acts of terrorism or to assist others in preparation of acts of terrorism.

Found: Can I now draw your attention to what the Attorney-General said when questioned about delegated powers

Found: I was trying to reassure you that, under the DPP’s guidelines, the DPP, together with the Attorney-General

Found: I know you are talking to the Attorney-General tomorrow.

Found: I know you are talking to the Attorney-General tomorrow.

Found: I did inform the Attorney-General of our decision, but the purpose of the meeting was to inform him,

Found: I did inform the Attorney-General of our decision, but the purpose of the meeting was to inform him

Found: However, at the point a decision to offer no evidence was made, the Attorney General was informed, together

Found: However, at the point a decision to offer no evidence was made, the Attorney General was informed, together

Found: However, at the point a decision to offer no evidence was made, the Attorney General was informed, together

Found: The Policy Briefs will also have been forwarded to relevant Ministers (Lord Chancellor, Attorney General

Found: establishing the CPS and the Cabinet Manual make clear that it is the Attorney General

Found: Letter from the Attorney General, relating to the inquiry into ‘Espionage cases and the Official Secrets

Found: The Policy Briefs will also have been forwarded to relevant Ministers (Lord Chancellor, Attorney General

Found: former Solicitor-General, you are not suggesting that the DPP, with the oversight of the current Attorney-General

Found: broader proportion”.117 Shabana Mahmood, then the Justice Secretary and now Home Secretary, and Attorney General

Attendance of the Attorney General at the Bar of the House on the Chinese espionage case

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