Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings or conversations the Crown Prosecution Service has had with (1) Stonewall or other campaigners for transgender rights, and (2) campaigners for the gender critical point of view, in the past three years; and on what policies or practices were these groups consulted during that time.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold a central record of all local and national meetings with stakeholders across all 14 CPS Areas and Central Casework Divisions over the past three years. The level of resource involved in obtaining this information would be disproportionate.
It has been possible to identify the number of meetings the CPS has had with Stonewall at a national headquarters level during the years 2022, and 2023, and this has been answered in PQ 671. The level of resource involved in obtaining the same information from earlier years would be disproportionate.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to place in the Library of the House, for each Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) panel or group that relates to hate crime or violence against women and girls: (1) its name; (2) its current membership; and (3) a description of the process for selecting members and any CPS criteria for the balance of its membership.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The Crown Prosecution Service keeps membership of all local and national external stakeholder groups, panels and forums under review to ensure that they contain relevant expertise and are representative of communities served.
Membership is subject to frequent change based on the nature of the forum or thematic subject being explored at any given meeting.
This material will not be placed in the Library of the House due to the level of resource that would be required to keep such dynamic information up-to-date.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has taken to ensure that people with gender critical beliefs are represented on CPS panels and forums where such beliefs are relevant, such as hate crime panels.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
Members of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) National External Consultation Group on Hate Crime are selected for their expertise in hate crime and are drawn from academia and the third sector.
The CPS keeps membership of all external stakeholder groups under review to ensure that they contain relevant expertise and are representative of the communities the CPS serves.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the propriety of Crown Prosecution Service staff referring to live criminal cases as examples of transphobic hate in published material such as newsletters, and roundtable reports, and what guidance they have issued in this regard.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) emphasises that criminal proceedings in live cases are active and the defendants have a right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
The CPS has published legal guidance on reporting restrictions, it can be found here: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/contempt-court-reporting-restrictions-and-restrictions-public-access-hearings
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Crown Prosecution Service’s assertion that there is a “Global narrative attacking the rights of all protected characteristics” as stated in its Pride Month Hate Crime Roundtable report of 23 June, published on the Crown Prosecution Service website.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The article in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) community newsletter published in June 2023 relates to a Pride month hate crime roundtable event. The roundtable was a local community engagement event held with members of the LGBT community affected by homophobic and transphobic hate crime. The quote represents reportage of discussion amongst external attendees at the event and was not intended to reflect organisational views of the CPS.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Crown Prosecution Service carried out an impact assessment with regards to (1) the protected characteristic of sex, and (2) belief in the immutability of sex, before the 2022 revision of its domestic abuse guidance; and if so, whether they will place a copy of this impact assessment in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
In accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, under s.149 of the Equality Act 2010, a full Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted when the Domestic Abuse Prosecution Guidance 2022 was revised in order to appropriately identify and consider its potential impact in terms of equality. It gave due regard to equality considerations for protected characteristics as detailed within the body of s.149.
The EIA for the Domestic Abuse Prosecution Guidance remains under review and has been updated on several occasions since the guidance was published in 2022. The CPS do not intend to place a copy of the EIA in the Library as it is continuously reviewed and updated. A copy of the document as it appeared in 2022 has been provided.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) consulted individuals or organisations outside the CPS about its plans to revise its domestic abuse guidance in 2022; and, if so, which individuals or organisations.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The Domestic Abuse Prosecution Guidance was revised in 2022 to reflect changes brought in by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (DA Act).
The new legislation created the need for an updated document that accurately reflects the law relating to domestic abuse and appropriately supports prosecutors in their application of it. The revision was necessary, and as such, no external organisations or individuals were consulted as to whether the CPS should revise the Guidance.
External stakeholders were consulted on later revisions of the guidance
The Solicitor General has answered a question regarding the organisations consulted when Annex D of the guidance was being developed (PQ 604).
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has taken to ensure that it operates an inclusive environment for employees with gender critical beliefs and those opposed to those beliefs; and whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of any CPS employee guidance or other documents that bear on this issue.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
All employees are expected to act in accordance with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Values which state, “We will treat everyone with respect. We will respect each other, our colleagues, and the public we serve, recognising that there are people behind every case.”
A member of the National D&I team is a member of the Sex Equality and Equity Network (SEEN) civil service network to ensure that a gender critical perspective is considered when commenting on policy and process change.