Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matthew Patrick and Lucy Rigby

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General (Lucy Rigby)]

Earlier this month, we marked International Women’s Day, and it was very moving to hear the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), again record in this House the names of women and girls who were killed in the past year. The scale of violence against women and girls in this country is completely intolerable, which is why, under our plan for change, this Government have already taken concrete steps to tackle it, including the introduction of Raneem’s law to put domestic abuse experts into 999 control rooms.

[Matthew Patrick]

I thank the Solicitor General for her answer. Yesterday, I spoke to one of my constituents. When she was 14, she was raped by an adult whom she should have been able to trust. She woke up to him raping her. She has been carrying that with her for decades. Two years ago, she reported what happened to her and she has been fighting for her day in court all of that time. Can the Solicitor General please set out what the Government are doing to fix the broken system that is failing to deliver justice, and will she meet me to discuss how we can better support victim survivors such as my constituent?

[The Solicitor General]

I am very sorry to hear of the case that my hon. Friend raises. As he knows, this Government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis with a record Crown court backlog, meaning that far too many victims such as his constituent are waiting too long for their day in court. As part of the domestic abuse joint justice plan, in his local area the Crown Prosecution Service is trialling an enhanced partnership between Merseyside and Cheshire police and CPS prosecutors, to ensure that charging decisions, including in rape and serious sexual offence cases, are made more swiftly and stronger cases are brought from the outset, with a view to quicker and more successful prosecutions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Matthew Patrick and Lucy Rigby

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his kind words, and I look forward to appearing before his Committee on 15 January. He is right to say that we need to be doing much more to support victims. He alluded to the review of the Crown courts; he will also know that the Lord Chancellor is taking steps to reduce the Crown court case load by increasing funding for sitting days, and further sitting days were announced yesterday—an extra 2,000, I believe.

[Matthew Patrick (Wirral West) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates in cases of violence against women and girls.

[The Solicitor General]

This Government have pledged to halve violence against women and girls within a decade as part of our plan for change, and securing prosecutions will be key to that. Our commitment to tackling violence against women and girls in this way is unprecedented, and it will require a wholesale change in how we think about and deal with these kinds of offences. Only through a truly cross-Government effort can it be achieved. As Solicitor General, I will work with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office to ensure that we deliver on that commitment.

[Matthew Patrick]

May I welcome my hon. Friend to her place? I know she will do a fantastic job. Crown Prosecution Service guidance recognises that perpetrators of economic abuse harm their victim-survivors not just during a relationship, but long after it has finished. When will CPS guidance be updated to reflect post-separation controlling and coercive behaviour being made a criminal offence, and what training on recognising such abuse is offered to the CPS?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has been working on this issue with survivors of economic abuse, and I know that he cares about it very deeply. Domestic abuse can take many insidious forms, and we must do everything we can to ensure that we are equipped to spot it and tackle it. The guidance to which he refers was updated earlier this year and is under regular review. I can also confirm that the CPS will take part in a further knowledge-sharing event on economic abuse, which will be delivered for police and prosecutors as part of the domestic abuse joint justice plan.