Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what information his Department holds on the number of people that have been prosecuted for facilitating forced marriages in each year since 2010 and broken down by local authority area.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Offences relating to forced marriages are created by s121 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which came into force in June 2014. Section 121 was further amended in February 2023 when s121(3A) was inserted making it an offence to force a child under the age of 18 into a marriage.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds management information from 2015 which shows the number of offences charged by way of s121 (forced marriage) in which a prosecution commenced. Table 1 below shows the number of these offences from 1st April 2015 to 30th September 2025.
The figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data are held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.
In addition to the offence-based data, management information is held showing the number of defendants flagged with the forced marriage monitoring flag who were prosecuted from 1st April 2010 to 30th September 2025. Table 2 shows the number of flagged defendants prosecuted during this period.
The CPS forced marriage monitoring flag applies to any person who commits an offence under the law of England and Wales if he or she (a) uses violence, threats, or any other form of coercion for the purpose of causing another person to enter into a marriage, and (b) believes, or ought reasonably to believe, that the conduct may cause the other person to enter into the marriage without free and full consent.
Table 1 - Offences charged and reaching a magistrates' courts hearing | ||||||||||
2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 | |
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 { 121(1) and (9) } | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 { 121(3A) and (9) } | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 { 121(3) and (9) } | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | ||||||||||
Table 2 - Completed defendant prosecutions - forced marriage monitoring flag applied | ||||||||||
Financial Year | Finalised | |||||||||
2010-2011 | 41 | |||||||||
2011-2012 | 42 | |||||||||
2012-2013 | 41 | |||||||||
2013-2014 | 45 | |||||||||
2014-2015 | 46 | |||||||||
2015-2016 | 53 | |||||||||
2016-2017 | 44 | |||||||||
2017-2018 | 50 | |||||||||
2018-2019 | 12 | |||||||||
2019-2020 | 8 | |||||||||
2020-2021 | 8 | |||||||||
2021-2022 | 33 | |||||||||
2022-2023 | 20 | |||||||||
2023-2024 | 27 | |||||||||
2024-2025 | 30 | |||||||||
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | ||||||||||
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what information his Department holds on the number of people that have been prosecuted for honour-based offences broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) category of offence in each year since 2010.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The CPS define ‘honour’ based abuse as an incident or crime involving violence, threats of violence, intimidation coercion or abuse (including psychological, physical, sexual, financial, or emotional abuse) which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the honour of an individual, family and/ or community for alleged or perceived breaches of the family and/or community's code of behaviour. These data are accurate only to the extent that the flag is accurately applied.
Management information is available from 2010 which shows the number of prosecuted defendants flagged with the so-called honour-based abuse monitoring flag. The number of prosecuted defendants last year were at their highest level for seven years.
Table 1 (below) shows this information from 1st April 2010 to 30th September 2025, and Table 2 provides the same information by the Principal Offence Category allocated to the defendant at the conclusion of the prosecution proceeding.
Table 1 – Prosecuted defendants charged with ‘honour’ based abuse monitoring flag
| 2010- 2011 | 2011- 2012 | 2012- 2013 | 2013- 2014 | 2014- 2015 | 2015- 2016 | 2016- 2017 | 2017- 2018 | 2018- 2019 | 2019- 2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021- 2022 | 2022- 2023 | 2023- 2024 | 2024- 2025 |
Prosecutions | 234 | 172 | 200 | 206 | 225 | 182 | 171 | 127 | 72 | 61 | 53 | 76 | 68 | 80 | 95 |
Table 2 – Prosecuted defendants by principal offence category and flagged with the ‘honour’ based abuse monitoring flag
| 2010- 2011 | 2011- 2012 | 2012- 2013 | 2013- 2014 | 2014- 2015 | 2015- 2016 | 2016- 2017 | 2017- 2018 | 2018- 2019 | 2019- 2020 | 2020- 2021 | 2021- 2022 | 2022- 2023 | 2023- 2024 | 2024- 2025 |
A Homicide | 13 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
B Offences Against the Person | 152 | 119 | 121 | 154 | 183 | 143 | 146 | 93 | 64 | 45 | 45 | 58 | 61 | 65 | 84 |
C Sexual Offences | 9 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 |
D Burglary | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
E Robbery | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
F Theft and Handling | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
G Fraud and Forgery | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
H Criminal Damage | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
I Drugs Offences | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
J Public Order Offences | 13 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
K All Other Offences (excluding Motoring) | 15 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
L Motoring Offences | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Other (Not specified) | 8 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Data source: CPS Case Management Information System
The CPS collects data to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions through its Case Management System (CMS). The CPS does not collect data that constitutes official statistics as defined in the Statistics and Registration Act 2007.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) prosecutions brought and (b) successful prosecutions in relation to offences contrary to Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 in each year since 1995.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The table below shows the number of offences charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) by way of section 4A (intentional harassment, alarm or distress) in which a prosecution commenced from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2024. These figures relate to the number of offences charged and not the number of individual defendants.
The CPS does not hold data showing the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted of offences created by the Public Order Act 1986, including section 4A. To establish the number of defendants charged pursuant to and convicted under section 4A would require a manual review of case files and this would be at disproportionate cost.
Calendar Year | Public Order Act 1986 { 4A(1) and (5) } |
2004 | 4,524 |
2005 | 5,349 |
2006 | 6,077 |
2007 | 6,651 |
2008 | 6,892 |
2009 | 7,151 |
2010 | 8,329 |
2011 | 8,278 |
2012 | 8,140 |
2013 | 8,269 |
2014 | 9,790 |
2015 | 10,878 |
2016 | 11,038 |
2017 | 11,969 |
2018 | 11,620 |
2019 | 10,882 |
2020 | 9,616 |
2021 | 12,299 |
2022 | 11,560 |
2023 | 10,797 |
2024 | 11,693 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what industrial disputes are ongoing within (a) their Department and (b) each of the arm’s length bodies connected to their Department; how many (i) staff and (ii) contractors are involved in each dispute; what the form of industrial action is in each dispute; which recognised trade union is involved in each dispute; what the substantive matter is that is being disputed in each case; and what steps he plans to take to end each dispute.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are no ongoing industrial disputes within the Attorney General’s Office, Government Legal Department, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Serious Fraud Office, or Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether she plans to decolonise the (a) artwork and (b) heritage assets in (i) the Attorney General's Office and (ii) each of its arm’s length bodies.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
There has been no change in the Attorney General’s Office’s management of artwork or heritage assets since the previous administration.
As separate entities, the responsibility for creating policy and guidance for artwork sits with each individual Arm’s Length Body, rather than with the ministerial department.