Offences Against Children Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Attorney General

Offences Against Children

Oliver Heald Excerpts
Wednesday 20th November 2013

(11 years ago)

Ministerial Corrections
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Diana Johnson Portrait Diana Johnson
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

To ask the Attorney-General how many referrals have been made to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police regarding child sexual offences in each of the last five years.

[Official Report, 1 November 2013, Vol. 569, c. 609-10W.]

Letter of correction from Oliver Heald:

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) on 1 November 2013.

The full answer given was as follows:

Oliver Heald Portrait The Solicitor-General
- Hansard - -

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of referrals made to the CPS by the police for allegations of child sexual offences. The CPS does identify, by way of a monitoring flag, the number of pre-charge decisions made against suspects alleged to have been involved in the sexual abuse of children. The following table sets out the number of such decisions in each of the last five years:

Pre-Charge Decisions

2008-09

11,094

2009-10

12,691

2010-11

13,018

2011-12

11,613

2012-13

9,381



The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and allegations or crimes perpetrated by both adults and offenders aged under 18.

The correct answer should have been:

Oliver Heald Portrait The Solicitor-General
- Hansard - -

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of referrals made to the CPS by the police for allegations of child sexual offences. The CPS does identify, by way of a monitoring flag, the number of pre-charge decisions made against suspects alleged to have been involved in the abuse of children. The following table sets out the number of such decisions in each of the last five years:

Pre-Charge Decisions

2008-09

11,094

2009-10

12,691

2010-11

13,018

2011-12

11,613

2012-13

9,381



The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and allegations or crimes perpetrated by both adults and offenders aged under 18.