Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help tackle pay disparities for disabled people.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Tackling pay disparities for disabled people is a major focus, hence bringing forward measures to address them in the King’s Speech.

In March, we launched a consultation on proposals to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting for large businesses.

Through the upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, we will make the right to equal pay effective for disabled people. Our Call for Evidence, launched in April, seeks views on this.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates in cases of violence against women and girls.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. A key part of this will be delivering effective prosecutions, and we continue to see improvements in the prosecution of VAWG offences.

As Solicitor General, I superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is continuing to transform its approach to adult rape prosecution through the implementation of its new national operating model, based on robust evidence from Operation Soteria. Through this work, the CPS has seen substantial increases in referral, charge, and prosecution volumes for adult rape.

These improvements have also informed the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan with policing which launched in November 2024. Better partnership with policing has already led to modest initial increases in domestic abuse referrals, setting a strong foundation for future improvements. Pilots are now underway in three CPS areas, to improve timeliness of investigations, efficiency of charging decisions and communication throughout cases.

To address the increasingly complexity of VAWG offending and the holistic needs of victims, the CPS will also begin implementation of its 2025-30 VAWG strategy. This will ensure prosecutors have the right skills and tools to prosecute VAWG effectively.