Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Crown Prosecution Service's complaince with legislation and guidance relating to the avoidance of unnecessary prosecution of children and young people who have been groomed, exploited or trafficked as part of county lines criminal activity.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The exploitation, grooming, and trafficking of children and young people is abhorrent. The CPS takes great care to ensure the right people are prosecuted for the right offences in county lines cases, by training prosecutors to have an increased awareness of gang-associated exploitation and to scrutinise the evidence. This builds on clear CPS guidance which recognises the principle of non-prosecution of victims of trafficking or slavery.
Early identification by investigators is essential, in order to avoid the criminalisation of victims. On 1 October 2019, the Home Secretary announced a surge of activity to crack down on county lines drugs gangs. The package of measures, underpinned by £20 million of Home Office investment, will intensify law enforcement efforts to disrupt the county lines model, including the provision of specialist support to victims and families in order to help children and young people exit their involvement in county lines.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what support he is providing to the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that Modern Slavery Act 2015 provisions and associated guidance relating to the avoidance of unnecessary prosecution of children and young people who have been groomed, exploited or trafficked as part of county lines criminal activity is followed in full.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Law Officers superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS is the principal prosecuting authority in England and Wales with responsibility for charging decisions in criminal cases.
The CPS has published clear legal guidance which recognises the principle of non-prosecution of victims of trafficking or slavery. It has delivered training on the steps to be taken, where there is a reason to believe that a suspect or defendant in a criminal case might be a victim. In those circumstances, the prosecutor will consider what further evidence or information might be required and will review whether the prosecution should proceed or not. The guidance sets out that where there is sufficient evidence that the accused is a victim and the conditions provided for in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 are met, the case should not be charged or proceeded with.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the Government’s policy is on the bringing of criminal charges against children who (a) are awaiting a National Referral Mechanism decision and (b) have a National Referral Mechanism decision, where the charges concerned are linked to the exploitation in relation to which the referral was made; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Buckland
No criminal charges can be brought for any offence unless they satisfy the two stage test contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors: there must be sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and a prosecution must be in the public interest.
Where a child is awaiting a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision, a prosecutor may at that stage decide not to bring a prosecution if there is other independent evidence of their trafficked status and if the offence is not so serious as to require a prosecution. If there is no other independent evidence of their trafficked status, the prosecutor will await the NRM decision and re-review the evidence in light of the decision. If the case is awaiting hearing at court, an adjournment will be requested until the NRM decision has been made.
Where a child has an NRM decision in their favour, a prosecutor will consider this to be persuasive evidence of their trafficked status and will not bring a prosecution unless there is other strong evidence to the contrary and the offence is so serious as to require prosecution.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many journeys Ministers of the Law Officers' Departments have made using the Government Car Service; and how many such journeys were for the transportation of a red box.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The Law Officers have the use of one day and one evening car provided by the Government Car Service. The Attorney General's Office do not keep a record of the number of car journeys undertaken by the Law Officers, or of the number of journeys made specifically for transporting a red box.