Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, with reference to the temporary removal of the Unclaimed Estates list from GOV.UK, how many newly referred estates are awaiting advertisement; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of the list from GOV.UK on entitled heirs; and if she will reinstate the list with (a) verified named‑user access, (b) no bulk downloads, (c) access logging and (d) other enhanced safeguards.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
As of 24 September 2025, up to 153 estates await possible advertising since the temporary removal of the Bona Vacantia unclaimed estates list on 7 July 2025.
The future publication of the list is currently under review.
Estates administered as bona vacantia continue to be published in The Gazette.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals have been (1) arrested, (2) charged, and (3) convicted, under (a) section 137 of the Highways Act 1980, (b) section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986, (c) section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, (d) section 29B of the Public Order Act 1986, and (e) section 9(1) of the Public Order Act 2023, in each year since 2019.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
Management information held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) shows the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced that were finalised between 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2025.
| 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 |
Highways Act 1980 { 137(1) } | 270 | 445 | 412 | 728 | 806 | 435 |
Public Order Act 1986 { 29B(1) and 29L(3) } | 6 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 31 | 30 |
Public Order Act 1986 { 4A(1) and (5) } | 10,490 | 10,349 | 12,212 | 11,029 | 11,161 | 11,876 |
Public Order Act 1986 { 5(1) and (6) } | 8,917 | 8,114 | 8,913 | 7,940 | 7,473 | 7,371 |
Public Order Act 2023 { 9(1) and (3) } | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | ||||||
The figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. The CPS does not hold data showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.
Requests for data on arrests should be directed to the Home Office as the lead government department for the police.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, with reference to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Fylde of 4 September 2025, Official Report, column 435, in which areas the pilot schemes of weekly listing meetings are being run; and if he will make it his policy to publish the outcomes of those schemes.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This Government is working hard to reduce the court backlog through record number of sitting days in courts and record investment as part of the Spending Review.
The following Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Areas have regular meetings with Police Witness Care Units and court centres: East Midlands, North West, South East, West Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside, East of England, London South, Mersey-Cheshire, North East, Thames and Chiltern and SEOCID International, London and South East Division.
These meetings are informal and provide opportunities to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of trials.
The CPS is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and HM Courts & Tribunals Service to identify and potentially scale up best practice and has recently conducted a survey in collaboration with both with the aim of creating a national operating model in the future.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, when the Bona Vacantia list will be made publicly available again on the Government website.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Bona Vacantia unclaimed estates list was temporarily removed from GOV.UK on 7 July 2025. At this time, the number of estates published on the list was 5,770.
The future publication of the list is currently under review.
Estates administered as bona vacantia continue to be published in The Gazette.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many estates are listed on the Bona Vacantia list.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Bona Vacantia unclaimed estates list was temporarily removed from GOV.UK on 7 July 2025. At this time, the number of estates published on the list was 5,770.
The future publication of the list is currently under review.
Estates administered as bona vacantia continue to be published in The Gazette.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on the potential prosecution of British citizens returning to the UK after volunteering or enlisting in the armed forces of Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
Travel advice for Ukraine, issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, makes clear that if a British national travels to Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the war, their activities may amount to offences under UK legislation.
Anyone, regardless of their citizenship, who travels from the UK to take part in conflicts overseas may be investigated by the police on return to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.
The Crown Prosecution Service will consider any information that is referred by the police and any decision to prosecute will be considered on a case-by case basis and in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of prosecutions arising from protest activity by Palestine Action.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Prosecutions relating to Palestine Action arrests are currently ongoing and at different stages of progression.
As such, no Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) costs assessments have been made at this stage, but the CPS continues to keep resourcing under review.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment her Department has made of the number of (a) rape and (b) sexual violence cases that are withdrawn post-charge; and what support is available to victims to help them continue with their cases.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Reducing victim attrition remains a serious concern for this Government. We are committed to improving the experiences of victims of rape and sexual violence and ensuring they receive the support they need to continue with their cases.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recognises that it has a key role to play in ensuring that victims receive better communication and support at both the pre- and post-charge stages, underpinned by timely and high-quality decision making.
Through its Victim Transformation Programme, the CPS is taking action to improve the service offered to all victims of crime. As part of this work, all adult victims of rape now receive an Enhanced Service – which includes access to a dedicated Victim Liaison Officer, as well as the offer of a pre-trial meeting with the prosecution team. Victims are also able to speak with Independent Sexual Violence Advisors, who can answer questions and signpost them towards relevant support services.
More broadly, in May 2025, the CPS published its Victim Service Standards, which publicly set out the expectations CPS staff should meet when writing to or speaking with victims. The Standards make clear that victims can expect consistency, empathy and clarity from the CPS.
The two tables below show the overall volumes of prosecutions conducted by the CPS since 2021 for (1) rape flagged cases, and (2) cases where the principal offence category was ‘sexual offences’ (excluding rape flagged cases to avoid double counting).
For each category, the tables also provide the volume of victim attrition (the number of prosecutions that were stopped because the victim no longer supported, or was unable to support, the prosecution) and the rate of victim attrition (the proportion of total prosecutions that were discontinued for this reason).
Further information is available in the quarterly data published on the CPS website: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-quarterly-data-summaries
Table 1: Victim attrition in rape flagged prosecutions
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan-Mar 2025 |
Prosecutions | 2,409 | 2,526 | 3,533 | 4,317 | 1,120 |
Victim Attrition (volume) | 108 | 154 | 241 | 306 | 98 |
Victim Attrition (rate of all prosecutions) | 4.5% | 6.1% | 6.8% | 7.1% | 8.8% |
Table 2: Victim attrition in prosecutions for Sexual Offences (excluding rape flagged prosecutions)
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan-Mar 2025 |
Prosecutions | 9,016 | 9,701 | 11,064 | 12,832 | 3,712 |
Victim Attrition (volume) | 185 | 230 | 261 | 322 | 93 |
Victim Attrition (rate of all prosecutions) | 2.1% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.5% |
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment the Crown Prosecution Service has made of the adequacy of National Investigation Service investigations.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department for Business and Trade has responsibility for the National Investigation Service, given it is overseen by the Insolvency Service. As a result, the Crown Prosecution has made no assessment of the adequacy of the National Investigation Service.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what the average time taken is from referral to charging decision by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) management information shows that in the most recent 12 months ending March 2025 it took a mean average of 46 calendar days from the first time the CPS received a case, either a request for early advice or a referral for a charging decision, to the decision to charge and prosecute.
For the above metric the median average is two calendar days.
The above timeliness data includes cases where the police have submitted a file for early advice as well as those for charging decision. This data includes cases where the police were required to submit further evidence prior to a decision to charge. This generally includes more than one submission and further investigation.
The timeliness of a charging decision is determined by three key factors: whether the case has been sent to the CPS for early advice during the investigative process; how quickly the police can complete the necessary enquiries; and how quickly the CPS can then review the evidence provided by the police and finalise the charging decision.