End-to-end Rape Review

Debate between Lord Wolfson of Tredegar and Baroness Gale

Tuesday 22nd June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, on funding, we have invested record amounts in support for victims in the last 18 months. We spent more than £70 million on rape and domestic abuse services in the financial year 2020-21, and £27 million on the expansion of the independent sexual violence adviser service—ISVA —which I mentioned earlier. The data is extraordinary, showing that a victim is 49% more likely to stay engaged with the process and see their complaint through to its conclusion if they have that support. That is why we will be consulting on a statutory underpinning for the ISVA role.

My noble friend used the phrase—if I have taken a correct note—“totally unacceptable” to describe the current position. I do not dissent from that. I also agree with her, as I said earlier, that we need to have more focus on investigating the perpetrator and less on investigating the victim.

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Peers, while I welcome the publication of this rape review and the Government’s apology for the failings on rape—and an apology from the Government is to be welcomed—there is very little consolation for the women who have been failed, including the many victims whose cases have not been progressed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

A few days ago, I heard on Woman’s Hour about the case of a woman who had been raped and went to the police, who dealt with her case very well—but the CPS refused to prosecute, as it said that the recording from the CCTV had shown her holding hands with her rapist. Can anyone imagine what this woman felt after all she had been through? Would the Minister agree with me that this should never have happened and that cases like this do nothing to encourage rape victims to come forward?

The review mentioned £70 million spent over the past 18 months on domestic abuse and rape services. Can the Minister say how much of that £70 million is to support victims of rape and how much is allocated to victims of domestic abuse—which is vital but has nothing to do with improving victims’ experience of the criminal justice system or improving rape convictions? Can the Minister explain how much of this funding is to support rape victims in getting justice?

The charity Refuge has called for a total overhaul of the rape criminal justice system—both the police and the CPS—and has said that it cannot accept such monumental failings any more.

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

Thank you. So could the Government urgently provide adequate sustainable funding for specialist rape services, which have been very seriously eroded in the last few years?

I do hope this review will produce positive results for victims and ensure that rapists are answerable for their crime.

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, we can certainly agree on the last point. The focus of the criminal justice system is indeed to make sure that rapists are answerable for their crimes—and they are heinous crimes.

I obviously cannot comment on the particular instance that the noble Baroness mentioned. Of course, the CPS is quite properly an independent agency; decisions to prosecute or not to prosecute cannot and must not be taken by Ministers. But what I can tell the noble Baroness and the House is that the CPS is committed to reversing the negative trend in prosecution volumes seen over recent years. The CPS and the police are putting together a joint plan. The CPS is itself committed to a range of actions to drive forward improvement. This includes consulting and publishing revised rape legal guidance, including new content on challenging rape myths and stereotypes. From what I heard of the example given by the noble Baroness, that is a good instance of “rape myth”, and it behoves everybody engaged in this debate to make sure that the public know the facts and are not distracted by myths.

The noble Baroness asked me a couple of precise questions on funding—in particular, the division of the £70 million figure as between rape victims and domestic abuse. May I please write to her on that point, together with the other point on funding which she put to me?

Criminal Justice Review: Response to Rape

Debate between Lord Wolfson of Tredegar and Baroness Gale

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, I will not quibble over the adjectives we use. The present position is entirely unsatisfactory. We need dramatic improvement, and it is my hope and that of the whole Government—particularly my honourable friend Mr Malthouse—that we will see that improvement.

On the specific point about data, we recognise the need for all partners across the criminal justice system to be held accountable for their part in improving outcomes for victims of rape and sexual violence, as well as for delivering on the action plan in the review. We will look for ways to address this. As Mr Malthouse said in terms in the other place yesterday,

“transparency is one of the key themes that we have been looking at … There will be an announcement, when the plan comes”,—[Official Report, Commons, 25/5/21; col. 267.]

as to how we will approach and publish the reporting of data.

[Baroness Gale (Lab) [V]]

Is the Minister aware that an analysis of Home Office figures published this week by the Guardian revealed this:

“While there were 52,210 rapes recorded by police in England and Wales in 2020, only 843 resulted in a charge or a summons—a rate of 1.6%.”?


Does the Minister agree that this figure indicates that there is very little sign of justice for victims, with most perpetrators just getting away with it? Is the Minister confident that, when it is finally published, the review will encourage victims of rape to come forward, give them all the support they need and mean that they can have confidence in the justice system—that is, that the perpetrator will be brought to justice?

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, I am absolutely aware of the figures referred to by the noble Baroness and recognise the need to do more to drive up the number of prosecutions and convictions. That is why this matter is a major focus for the Government and the CPS as we work to reverse what has been a negative trend over the past few years. It is fair to say that, if you look at the very recent history over the past quarter or two, the volume of prosecutions and the proportion of suspects charged have increased. However, progress is too slow and we need to do far more. I know that the CPS is working hard to continue the current trend.

We are putting in significant extra funds. I referred earlier to the independent sexual violence advisers. We have also put in an extra £51 million to increase support for rape and domestic abuse victims. However, more needs to be done, and the Government and I are determined that more will be done.