Rape Trials

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede Excerpts

Tuesday 25th January 2022 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase the proportion of rape allegations that go to trial.

[The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Stewart of Dirleton) (Con)]

My Lords, the rape review action plan has committed to transforming the criminal justice system to tackle systemic failures on rape. In that, we demonstrate our commitment to transparency and public accountability throughout. Our aims are to improve victims’ experience of the criminal justice system, to increase the numbers of victims who stay engaged in the process and to build better and stronger cases so that more people are charged and, ultimately, more rapists go to prison.

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. I will just remind the House how appalling the statistics are: only 1.6% of reported rape allegations result in a court case. As the Minister said, the Government’s response has been to put in place the rape review action plan. On 22 January the CPS published its latest statistics regarding the handling of rape. Five categories of data were published; they showed either a flatlining of the data or a modest improvement. Is the Minister happy with that improvement, or does he think he should put in place some targets?