Oral Answers to Questions

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Tuesday 10th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

I hesitate to answer the right hon. Gentleman’s question, given that my boss is a former barrister—I say that we cannot have too many.

Only last week I discussed the adequacy of numbers of legal professionals in the Crown court with the chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Mary Prior, and I will be working with the profession to ensure not only that we are recruiting sufficient barristers to work in the courts, but that we are retaining barristers at the criminal Bar.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

Our team in Newport East are trying hard to raise the issue of how long cases are taking for constituents—we inherited those delays from the Conservatives—but even the CPS is taking months to answer basic queries about where the delays are in cases. Will the Minister urge the CPS to respond faster?

[Heidi Alexander]

I will take that away and do that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Shabana Mahmood]

I have committed to the review, because that is the appropriate way, and I will not make early promises that might not be kept. I have committed to both transparency and a review. We will publish all the data on a quarterly basis and I will return to the House with the results of the review and the approach that we will take at that point.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

T5. The Minister will understand that, often for very personal reasons, victims of sexual assault, such as my constituent, do not always feel comfortable reporting their attack to the police. She then found it extremely difficult to access specialist support services at what was clearly a very distressing time. What can we do to improve the accessibility of support services for those victims of sexual assault who do not report it to the police? Will she meet me to discuss this case further?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

The victims code sets out the services and support that victims of crime are entitled to receive from the criminal justice system in England and Wales. That includes the right to access support, which applies regardless of whether they decide to report the crime to the police. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further.