Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many prosecutions for hate crimes have the CPS commenced in each of the last 12 months; and how many and what proportion of these prosecutions resulted in conviction.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
In the year to December 2024 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised the charging of a total of 11,777 suspects in hate crime flagged cases with 87.4% of legal decisions resulting in a suspect being charged.
The below table provides a breakdown of the monthly charge volumes and rate for 2024.
| 24-01 | 24-02 | 24-03 | 24-04 | 24-05 | 24-06 | 24-07 | 24-08 | 24-09 | 24-10 | 24-11 | 24-12 |
Suspects Charged | 852 | 888 | 891 | 937 | 911 | 859 | 1,010 | 1,429 | 974 | 1,039 | 1,005 | 982 |
Charge Rate (% of all legal decisions) | 85.5% | 86.4% | 85.8% | 88.1% | 87.6% | 86.5% | 85.8% | 91.7% | 86.7% | 85.1% | 88.3% | 88.9% |
Over the same period the CPS has prosecuted 14,657 defendants of which 12,614 were convicted, giving a conviction rate of 86.1% for the 2024 calendar year.
The below table provides a breakdown of the monthly completed prosecutions and convictions for 2024.
| 24-01 | 24-02 | 24-03 | 24-04 | 24-05 | 24-06 | 24-07 | 24-08 | 24-09 | 24-10 | 24-11 | 24-12 |
Completed Prosecutions | 1,183 | 1,112 | 1,092 | 1,116 | 1,255 | 1,102 | 1,222 | 1,419 | 1,283 | 1,462 | 1,325 | 1,086 |
Convictions | 1,015 | 976 | 919 | 970 | 1,069 | 931 | 1,039 | 1,257 | 1,108 | 1,259 | 1,140 | 931 |
Conviction Rate (%) | 85.8% | 87.8% | 84.2% | 86.9% | 85.2% | 84.5% | 85.0% | 88.6% | 86.4% | 86.1% | 86.0% | 85.7% |
The volume of prosecution outcomes for a period differs from the volume of pre charge decisions for the same period. Where the pre charge decision is to bring charges many cases will only reach a conclusion in a later period. This will vary according to the outcome type: for example, the legal process is longer where a case is contested or sent to the Crown Court and tried by jury.
Further information can be found in quarterly data published on the CPS website: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, If she will publish the redacted sections of her Department’s email to Israel’s Deputy Ambassador entitled CPS/SO15 contact details, published in April 2025.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
It has been routine under successive governments for the Attorney General’s Office to help embassies get in contact with the relevant prosecuting authorities for the purposes of sharing information that could be relevant to a case. Freedom of information requests are considered on a case-by-case basis, and information is disclosed in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 and Question 19848 on Arms Trade: Israel, if she will take steps to centrally record how many people have been charged with offenses relating to protests against Elbit Systems UK's arms sales to Israel since (a) 8 October 2023, (b) 26 January 2024 and (c) 2 September 2024.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Between October 2023 to September 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service charged 142,221 suspects which reached a first hearing at the magistrates’ court. To determine which offences involved defendants who were taking part in a protest against Elbit Systems UK would require a manual review of each case, which would be at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the recording of non-crime hate incidents on the sentencing of individuals in future criminal proceedings.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
All factual matters material to a criminal sentence must be admitted by the offender or proven in a court to the criminal standard using admissible evidence. By definition, the recording of a previous incident as “non-crime” is unlikely to meet that standard.
The Code for Crown Prosecutors sets out the general principles a prosecutor must apply when making a decision as to whether there is sufficient evidence, and whether it is in the public interest, to authorise criminal charges against a suspect. The Crown Prosecution Service has published guidance on bail, the focus of which is on ensuring that the Court is provided with the relevant information to enable it to come to a proper decision as to whether or not to grant bail, with or without conditions. This will be fact specific to the circumstances of the alleged offence and the defendant. The administrative police recording of an earlier incident or allegation, which has previously been determined not to have been a crime, is unlikely to have any relevance to the question of bail.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service uses information about recorded non-crime hate incidents in deciding whether to (a) bring charges and (b) recommend bail conditions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
All factual matters material to a criminal sentence must be admitted by the offender or proven in a court to the criminal standard using admissible evidence. By definition, the recording of a previous incident as “non-crime” is unlikely to meet that standard.
The Code for Crown Prosecutors sets out the general principles a prosecutor must apply when making a decision as to whether there is sufficient evidence, and whether it is in the public interest, to authorise criminal charges against a suspect. The Crown Prosecution Service has published guidance on bail, the focus of which is on ensuring that the Court is provided with the relevant information to enable it to come to a proper decision as to whether or not to grant bail, with or without conditions. This will be fact specific to the circumstances of the alleged offence and the defendant. The administrative police recording of an earlier incident or allegation, which has previously been determined not to have been a crime, is unlikely to have any relevance to the question of bail.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how much her Department has spent on (a) social media promotions, (b) influencer marketing and (c) online advertising in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the guidance issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on the application of the public interest test in cases involving freedom of expression.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
All guidance issued to Crown Prosecutors to assist their decision making is available here: Prosecution guidance | The Crown Prosecution Service. The overarching Code for Crown Prosecutors issued by the Director for Public Prosecutions provides guidance on how to apply the Public Interest Test in all cases that are referred to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Cases involving freedom of expression issues can come in many forms, and so the relevant guidance will be followed by prosecutors depending on the facts and circumstances of the alleged conduct and the relevant statutory provisions.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many Sikhs are employed in her Department; and whether they are recorded as (a) an ethnic or (b) a religious group.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Statistics on religion or belief for the Attorney General’s Office, as at 31 March 2024, are published on the Civil Service Statistics 2024 (Table A3). The Cabinet Office publish the information annually.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many staff network events took place in her Department in May 2025; and what the names of those events were.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
No staff network events took place in my Department in May 2025.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether her Department has updated guidance on the use of single-sex facilities in response to the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We will review and update policy wherever necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements. We aim to ensure appropriate facilities are available for all staff.