Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the guidance issued by the Crown Prosecution Service on 4 November 2021 entitled Gang related offences - Decision making in, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect of the guidance on the use of the term gang by prosecutors during proceedings.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance urges caution about the use of the word ‘gang’, explaining how it can properly be deployed in a prosecution, where substantiated by the evidence and relevant to a matter in issue in the proceedings. In drafting the guidance, the CPS assessed the potential effect of using ‘gang’ in proceedings and identified that the term is used in legislation and by criminal justice partners. The guidance clearly sets out that, given the negative connotations of the term ‘gang’, prosecutors should not refer to a group as a ‘gang’ in proceedings unless there is evidence to support the assertion. However, prosecutors must also ensure that where there is admissible evidence of gang membership, the case is put on a basis that reflects the often very serious gravity of the offending.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of young adults aged 18-25 who are charged by the CPS have received a maturity assessment prior to charge in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Crown Prosecution Service (‘CPS’) does not hold data on the number of young adults aged 18-25 that have received a maturity assessment prior to charge.
However, the CPS recognises the importance of considering a suspect’s age and maturity when making a decision. This is included in the Code for Crown Prosecutors and relevant legal guidance, and is included in training for specialist youth prosecutors.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions the Director of Public Prosecutions was informed of a failure to comply with custody time limits in April 2020.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Director of Public Prosecutions is only informed of a custody time limit failure if it is deemed to be the responsibility of the CPS following review of the case. In April 2020, the Director of Public Prosecutions was informed of one custody time limit failure. This failure occurred in December 2019.
The CPS has made efforts to prioritise cases with a custody time limit during the pandemic, including via the interim charging protocol effective from 1 April.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the use of the powers contained in the Coronavirus Act 2020.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I regularly meet ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues, including the Covid-19 outbreak. I am unable to talk about any legal content of those discussions because whether or not the Law Officers have given advice, by convention, is not disclosed outside Government.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many apprenticeships have been created in the Law Officers' Departments in each region in each of the last five years; and how many participants in those apprenticeships subsequently secured a job within the Civil Service.
Answered by Robert Buckland
In light of the Government’s manifesto commitment to achieve three million new apprenticeship starts in England by the end of the Parliament, the Cabinet Office will be centrally collecting data on apprenticeships to allow the Civil Service to report on its contribution towards the national target.
Crown Prosecution Service employed 491apprentices, 194 apprentices have secured a permanent post prior to the 2016 intake of Apprentices.
Serious Fraud Office employed 19 apprentices, 12 apprentices have secured a permanent post.
Government Legal Department employed 9 apprentices; all have been or will be offered a permanent post.
Attorney General’s Office and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecutions Inspectorate have had no apprentices over this time.
LOD | LOCATION | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
CPS | CASEWORK DIVISIONS | 0 | 4 | 28 | 11 | 22 |
EAST MIDLANDS | 7 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 12 | |
MERSEY CHESHIRE | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
NORTH EAST | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
NORTH WEST | 15 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 12 | |
SOUTH EAST | 4 | 3 | 22 | 0 | 12 | |
SOUTH WEST | 6 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 7 | |
CPS DIRECT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7 | |
LONDON | 0 | 12 | 35 | 0 | 19 | |
WALES | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 6 | |
WESSEX | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 4 | |
YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 5 | |
THAMES & CHILTERN | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | |
EAST OF ENGLAND | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
WEST MIDLANDS | 12 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 6 | |
CENTRAL LONDON | 0 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 4 | |
OVERALL TOTAL | 53 | 43 | 195 | 59 | 141 | |
GLD | CENTRAL LONDON | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
SFO | CENTRAL LONDON | 4* | 0 | 5* | 3* | 7* |
*N.B. Serious Fraud Office has calculated this by financial year as this is how their data is recorded.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the Government's ability to prosecute criminals who have left the UK.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Government's position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
Through participation in the European Arrest Warrant, the UK is able to extradite foreign suspects and bring suspects back to the UK more quickly and economically. Since April 2011, it has enabled us to transfer around 5,500 suspects out of the UK and to bring back around 650 to face justice here.