Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what meetings he has had with the (a) Crown Prosecution Service and (b) the police in relation to the recommendations in HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate's report entitled A Thematic Rape Inspection Report: An inspection of early advice and pre-charge decision making in adult rape cases, published on 15 July 2025.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has accepted all eight recommendations set out in His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate’s (HMCPSI) report, along with the implementation timeframe proposed by the Inspectorate. The CPS full response to the report is published on its public website and includes the projected implementation date for each recommendation. The latest of these dates is July 2026: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/crown-prosecution-service-response-hmcpsi-inspection-early-advice-and-pre-charge.

Following his recent appointment as Secretary of State for Justice, the Deputy Prime Minister looks forward to meeting with the Attorney General, the CPS and the police, to discuss their progress on implementing the recommendations made in the HMCPSI report.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 75145 on Rape: Criminal Proceedings, by what date his Department plans to implement the recommendations of the HMCPSI report.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has accepted all eight recommendations set out in His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate’s (HMCPSI) report, along with the implementation timeframe proposed by the Inspectorate. The CPS full response to the report is published on its public website and includes the projected implementation date for each recommendation. The latest of these dates is July 2026: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/crown-prosecution-service-response-hmcpsi-inspection-early-advice-and-pre-charge.

Following his recent appointment as Secretary of State for Justice, the Deputy Prime Minister looks forward to meeting with the Attorney General, the CPS and the police, to discuss their progress on implementing the recommendations made in the HMCPSI report.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he next plans to meet with representatives of the Council of Europe to discuss reform of the ECHR.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Deputy Prime Minister has already reached out to a number of European member States and will also be holding meetings with Council of Europe representatives, to discuss reform. Governments across Europe face the same pressures as us and conversations on reform are necessary to ensure the Convention remains strong and relevant.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has a target date for acquiring adequate numbers of electronic tags to accommodate the provisions of the Sentencing Bill.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are continuing to assess the likely impact of the Sentencing Bill on demand for Electronic Monitoring and will order the required numbers of tags in line with those assessments and contractual requirements.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many electronic tags his Department has acquired in the context of the Sentencing Bill.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are continuing to assess the likely impact of the Sentencing Bill on demand for Electronic Monitoring and will order the required numbers of tags in line with those assessments and contractual requirements.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the longest projected length of time between charge and trial is in cases of domestic abuse yet to be heard in court.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not carry out projections for length of time between charge and trial for specific offences.

The Ministry of Justice does publish end-to-end timeliness data each quarter, which enables users to calculate average length of time at various stages of the process. Data is only published for the average.

However, it is not possible to separately identify cases of ‘domestic abuse’ in the published data because the information held centrally is related to the offence in law for which a defendant is convicted. Domestic abuse related offences can be prosecuted under a wide range of legally defined offences.

In line with the Independent Sentencing Review recommendation, we will be introducing a domestic abuse identifier at sentencing in criminal cases. This will enable police, prisons, and probation to consistently identify domestic abuse offenders and improve support for victims, whether the perpetrator is in the community or in custody.

The Ministry of Justice commissioned Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts to tackle the outstanding caseload and to improve timeliness across the board – including for domestic abuse. We are considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and will issue a response in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average projected length of time is between charge and trial in cases of domestic abuse yet to be heard in court.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not carry out projections for length of time between charge and trial for specific offences.

The Ministry of Justice does publish end-to-end timeliness data each quarter, which enables users to calculate average length of time at various stages of the process. Data is only published for the average.

However, it is not possible to separately identify cases of ‘domestic abuse’ in the published data because the information held centrally is related to the offence in law for which a defendant is convicted. Domestic abuse related offences can be prosecuted under a wide range of legally defined offences.

In line with the Independent Sentencing Review recommendation, we will be introducing a domestic abuse identifier at sentencing in criminal cases. This will enable police, prisons, and probation to consistently identify domestic abuse offenders and improve support for victims, whether the perpetrator is in the community or in custody.

The Ministry of Justice commissioned Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts to tackle the outstanding caseload and to improve timeliness across the board – including for domestic abuse. We are considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and will issue a response in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the next data on assaults against prison officers will be published.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Safety in Custody publication is published every quarter, including figures for assaults on staff. The next quarterly publication will be on 30 October 2025. The annual assaults tables include more detailed breakdowns, including the number of assault incidents on prison officers. The annual assaults tables are published in April each year, with the figures for 2025 due to be published on 30 April 2026.

The statistics are available at the following link: Safety in custody statistics - GOV.UK.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the longest projected length of time between charge and trial in any single case of rape which has yet to be heard in court.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not carry out projections for length of time between charge and trial for specific offences.

The Ministry of Justice does publish end-to-end timeliness data each quarter, including for rape. Data is published for the average duration for the process.

Link to publication: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685c1091c07c71e5a870984f/timeliness_tool.xlsx.

The Ministry of Justice commissioned Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts to tackle the outstanding caseload and to improve timeliness across the board – including for rape and other sexual offences. We are considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and will respond in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the average projected length of time between charge and trial in cases of rape which have yet to be heard in court.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not carry out projections for length of time between charge and trial for specific offences.

The Ministry of Justice does publish end-to-end timeliness data each quarter, including for rape. Data is published for the average duration for the process.

Link to publication: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685c1091c07c71e5a870984f/timeliness_tool.xlsx.

The Ministry of Justice commissioned Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts to tackle the outstanding caseload and to improve timeliness across the board – including for rape and other sexual offences. We are considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and will respond in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to publish the strategy to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is.

We are working tirelessly across Government to deliver the VAWG Strategy. It is vital that we get this right, and we are committed to publishing the Strategy as soon as possible.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have committed three separate offences within three months and not received a custodial sentence, in each of the last three years.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

This Government takes prolific offending extremely seriously and we are determined to ensure that the criminal justice system has the right tools to deal with them.

We are expanding the availability of Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the causes of prolific offending. We know these problem-solving approaches cut crime, with a 33 percent decrease in the rate of arrests compared to offenders who receive standard sentences. We are also introducing new orders to hit offenders where it hurts – limiting their freedoms in the community and ensuring punishment outside of prison does exactly that. These will include banning offenders from attending pubs, bars and clubs, as well as public events such as football matches and concerts.

For more serious prolific offending, we are clear that custody has a crucial role to play as a robust backstop, within the maximum penalties set out in statute. Previous convictions are a statutory aggravating factor and Sentencing Guidelines are clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions.

The information requested is provided in the tables attached and includes further notes.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with five or more previous convictions were convicted of shoplifting and avoided a custodial sentence in the last 12 months.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

This Government takes prolific offending extremely seriously and we are determined to ensure that the criminal justice system has the right tools to deal with them.

We are expanding the availability of Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the causes of prolific offending. We know these problem-solving approaches cut crime, with a 33 percent decrease in the rate of arrests compared to offenders who receive standard sentences. We are also introducing new orders to hit offenders where it hurts – limiting their freedoms in the community and ensuring punishment outside of prison does exactly that. These will include banning offenders from attending pubs, bars and clubs, as well as public events such as football matches and concerts.

For more serious prolific offending, we are clear that custody has a crucial role to play as a robust backstop, within the maximum penalties set out in statute. Previous convictions are a statutory aggravating factor and Sentencing Guidelines are clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions.

The information requested is provided in the tables attached and includes further notes.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the longest projected length of time between charge and trial in a single case of sexual assault which is yet to be heard in court.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not carry out projections for length of time between charge and trial for specific offences.

The Ministry of Justice publishes end-to-end timeliness data each quarter, including for sexual offences, which enables users to calculate average length of time at various stages of the process. Link to publication: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685c1091c07c71e5a870984f/timeliness_tool.xlsx.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the average projected length of time between charge and trial in cases of sexual assault which are yet to be heard in court.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not carry out projections for length of time between charge and trial for specific offences.

The Ministry of Justice publishes end-to-end timeliness data each quarter, including for sexual offences, which enables users to calculate average length of time at various stages of the process. Link to publication: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685c1091c07c71e5a870984f/timeliness_tool.xlsx.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his planned timetable is for reducing the Crown Court backlog in absolute terms.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog. The last government promised to reduce the Crown Court backlog to 53,000 by March 2025. Instead, the backlog increased to 76,957 by March 2025.

We have taken immediate action including funding a record-high allocation of 110,000 Crown Court sitting days this financial year to mitigate the backlog. We committed to investing up to £92 million more a year in criminal legal aid solicitors and boosted Magistrates’ sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months.

However, such steps can only mitigate the growth of the backlog. More fundamental reform is necessary to see the backlog reduce in absolute terms. That is why the Government asked Sir Brian Leveson to propose once-in-a-generation reform that will improve timeliness in the courts and deliver swifter justice for victims.  We are committed to creating a more stable and sustainable criminal justice system, in which victims and the public can have confidence.

Part one of the Independent Review of Criminal Courts has been published. We are considering Sir Brian’s proposals and will publish a government response in short order . Part two of the Review, considering how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, is expected to be finalised later this year. We intend to introduce legislation in the second session as soon as parliamentary time allows to implement the necessary reforms.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings she has had with representatives from the Council of Europe since 19 June 2025.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

There have not been any further meetings with Council of Europe representatives since 19 June 2025. UK Government officials have continued discussions with their counterparts on matters raised in the previous Lord Chancellor’s speech delivered on 18 June 2025 to the Committee of Ministers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report by the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate entitled An inspection of early advice and pre-charge decision making in adult rape cases, published in July 2025.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

This Government is committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls, including rape. The HMCPSI report examines early evidence and pre-charge decision-making in adult rape cases. The Ministry of Justice works with criminal justice agencies, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), to ensure that the court system and victim support services are equipped to meet rising demand as more rape cases reach court.

The CPS remains resolute in its determination to continue to increase the number of rape cases taken to court each year – so that more victims, irrespective of their background and circumstances, can see justice done.

The CPS has welcomed the publication of the HMCPSI report and accepted its recommendations; immediate action is being taken to address the concerns raised, working with partners in policing and the voluntary sector.

This includes ensuring that the National Operating Model for Adult Rape Prosecution is fully and consistently embedded at both national and local levels, and taking proactive steps to strengthen the quality of rape casework. These improvements will be driven by a new Rape Action Plan focussed on providing enhanced assurance of legal decision-making, supporting and upskilling CPS staff, and increasing public confidence in charging.

Conduct of the Hon. Mr Justice Jay

Found: these cohorts immediately attracted political controversy, with the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick

Found: these cohorts immediately attracted political controversy, with the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick

Found: _NC4 Robert Jenrick Dr Kieran Mullan Mike Wood Jack Rankin Mr Richard Holden .

Found: _NC4 Robert Jenrick Dr Kieran Mullan Mike Wood Jack Rankin Mr Richard Holden .

Found: _NC4 Robert Jenrick Dr Kieran Mullan Mike Wood Jack Rankin Mr Richard Holden 5 REPORT STAGE Thursday

Found: _NC4 Robert Jenrick Dr Kieran Mullan Mike Wood Jack Rankin Mr Richard Holden .

Found: _NC4 Robert Jenrick Dr Kieran Mullan Mike Wood Jack Rankin Mr Richard Holden 5 REPORT STAGE Tuesday 9

Found: _NC4 Robert Jenrick Dr Kieran Mullan Mike Wood Jack Rankin Mr Richard Holden .