Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment her Department has made of the number of (a) rape and (b) sexual violence cases that are withdrawn post-charge; and what support is available to victims to help them continue with their cases.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Reducing victim attrition remains a serious concern for this Government. We are committed to improving the experiences of victims of rape and sexual violence and ensuring they receive the support they need to continue with their cases.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recognises that it has a key role to play in ensuring that victims receive better communication and support at both the pre- and post-charge stages, underpinned by timely and high-quality decision making.
Through its Victim Transformation Programme, the CPS is taking action to improve the service offered to all victims of crime. As part of this work, all adult victims of rape now receive an Enhanced Service – which includes access to a dedicated Victim Liaison Officer, as well as the offer of a pre-trial meeting with the prosecution team. Victims are also able to speak with Independent Sexual Violence Advisors, who can answer questions and signpost them towards relevant support services.
More broadly, in May 2025, the CPS published its Victim Service Standards, which publicly set out the expectations CPS staff should meet when writing to or speaking with victims. The Standards make clear that victims can expect consistency, empathy and clarity from the CPS.
The two tables below show the overall volumes of prosecutions conducted by the CPS since 2021 for (1) rape flagged cases, and (2) cases where the principal offence category was ‘sexual offences’ (excluding rape flagged cases to avoid double counting).
For each category, the tables also provide the volume of victim attrition (the number of prosecutions that were stopped because the victim no longer supported, or was unable to support, the prosecution) and the rate of victim attrition (the proportion of total prosecutions that were discontinued for this reason).
Further information is available in the quarterly data published on the CPS website: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-quarterly-data-summaries
Table 1: Victim attrition in rape flagged prosecutions
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan-Mar 2025 |
Prosecutions | 2,409 | 2,526 | 3,533 | 4,317 | 1,120 |
Victim Attrition (volume) | 108 | 154 | 241 | 306 | 98 |
Victim Attrition (rate of all prosecutions) | 4.5% | 6.1% | 6.8% | 7.1% | 8.8% |
Table 2: Victim attrition in prosecutions for Sexual Offences (excluding rape flagged prosecutions)
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan-Mar 2025 |
Prosecutions | 9,016 | 9,701 | 11,064 | 12,832 | 3,712 |
Victim Attrition (volume) | 185 | 230 | 261 | 322 | 93 |
Victim Attrition (rate of all prosecutions) | 2.1% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.5% |