Female Genital Mutilation

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

The noble and learned Lord the Attorney-General mentioned the NHS and also FGM protection orders. The facts are these: in the first quarter of this year alone, the NHS reported over 2,000 patients who were the victims of FGM, of whom 970 were newly recorded victims. In the same quarter, the Ministry of Justice tells us there were only 21 female genital mutilation protection orders made. For over 20 years, health professionals and teachers have been under a mandatory legal duty to report FGM, so that sisters and cousins can be protected. Will the noble and learned Lord tell the House what steps the Government are taking to ensure this mandatory duty is enforced in practice? When will we see an increase in the number of young girls actually receiving the legal protection they deserve?

[Lord Hermer (Lab)]

It is going to be fatal to the young girls that we all want to protect if we turn this into a political issue—I am not suggesting that the noble Lord was doing that. He has given the most recent figures, and he is right to do so because those are the figures that we need to focus on, but I am not going to go through the figures for the past 14 years because we need to focus on outcomes. Work is going on across the board, including at the CPS, where we are updating guidance, training and cross-co-ordination with other agencies, and I am due shortly to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss what more we can do. Again, I stress that this not a problem purely for the criminal justice system; it is a problem that needs to be addressed across government.