Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Robert Buckland

Thursday 8th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

1. What steps the Government are taking to increase the number of prosecutions for modern slavery.

[The Solicitor General (Robert Buckland)]

We have the strongest legal framework in the world, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which came into force in July last year. The Law Officers are supporting the Prime Minister’s taskforce on modern slavery, and the Crown Prosecution Service continues to see a year-on-year increase in the numbers of prosecutions.

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[Andrew Stephenson]

One of the main areas of modern slavery that we are uncovering in Lancashire is the trafficking and subsequent sexual exploitation of women. Often these victims will not come forward because they are being controlled through fear and violence. What more can my hon. and learned Friend do to support vulnerable women through the process?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that issue. The CPS has been instrumental in developing special measures to help people with vulnerabilities to give evidence, such as the pre-recording of cross-examination, ground rules hearings that are held ahead of the trial in order to avoid inappropriate questions, and evidence via remote link. All such measures help to increase confidence that support will be there for victims.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Robert Buckland

Thursday 21st July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

10. What recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on the prosecution of hate crime.

[The Solicitor General (Robert Buckland)]

I discuss this matter regularly with the DPP, and the Government will publish their hate crime strategy very shortly.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor General]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the community work he does in his constituency. Hate crime of any kind, whether it is on the grounds of disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity, has absolutely no place in our society. We are utterly committed to tackling hate crime.

[Andrew Stephenson]

A Member of the other place recently received a vile racist letter containing white powder, as did a number of mosques and Islamic centres representing a large Pakistani heritage community in Pendle. The long-term rise in Islamophobia is a serious concern. Will my hon. and learned Friend join me in condemning these racist incidents and advise me whether he believes that the separate recording of Islamophobia as a hate crime is likely to help to bring about successful prosecutions?

[The Solicitor General]

The incident that my hon. Friend describes is despicable and shameful, and we must stand together against such hate crime and ensure that it is stamped out. Religious hate crime has been recorded separately since April of this year, at the request of the Prime Minister in her former role as Home Secretary. That will give us a greater understanding of the nature of hate crime.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Robert Buckland

Thursday 14th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

The hon. Lady may already know that revised guidance to prosecutors and Crown Prosecution Service staff about victim and witness care in the courts is already being rolled out. There are also more staff in the court system to help and support witnesses and victims through the process. More work is being done and will be done to ensure that the objectives that she and I share are met.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

Will the Solicitor General join me in welcoming the recent violence against women and girls statistics, which show that more cases than ever before are being charged, prosecuted and convicted?

[The Solicitor General]

I certainly welcome those statistics. Importantly, they make the point that, when it comes to people’s lives, more and more individuals are finding that their cases are being heard and that justice is being done on the perpetrators of these appalling offences.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Robert Buckland

Tuesday 6th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

5. What steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking to ensure that prosecutors are able more effectively to prosecute stalking and harassment cases.

[The Solicitor-General (Mr Robert Buckland)]

Most recently, a joint police and CPS protocol on stalking was launched in September last year. The CPS legal guidance has also been revised to reflect this development, and training has been provided to prosecutors on the new stalking offences. Prosecutions for these offences have increased by more 20% in the last year.

[Andrew Stephenson]

My constituent, Jane Clough, a nurse at Blackpool Victoria hospital, was murdered in 2010 by her stalker, Jonathan Vass, who stabbed her 71 times and then slit her throat in the hospital car park. Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that stalking is a serious offence that often leads to even more serious crimes?

[The Solicitor-General]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend, and I pay tribute to him for his work with Mr and Mrs John and Penny Clough, Jane’s parents. In fact, their work on the Justice for Jane campaign and the dignity with which they have conducted themselves in order to achieve important changes in the law is a real exemplar of how to achieve something positive from something so appalling.