Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory paediatrician review for children who present to A&E or Child Assessment Units more than three times within a three‑month period with similar symptoms, in line with escalation requirements under Jess’s Rule.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Jess’s Rule is a primary care patient safety initiative. It asks general practice teams to reflect, review, and rethink when a patient presents three times with the same or escalating symptoms or concerns, particularly where symptoms remain unexplained or an existing treatment plan is not working.
Accident and emergency, NHS 111, and child assessment units operate in secondary care under their own clinical governance, assessment, and escalation arrangements, including access to paediatric services, where appropriate.
Martha’s Rule provides a separate escalation route in secondary care where a patient’s condition is deteriorating, and concerns are not being responded to. There are therefore no current plans to extend Jess’s Rule to any secondary care service, including accident and emergency departments or child assessment units.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has identified gaps in escalation pathways between GP services operating under Jess’s Rule and urgent or emergency paediatric services where no equivalent trigger exists for repeated presentations.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Jess’s Rule is a primary care patient safety initiative. It asks general practice teams to reflect, review, and rethink when a patient presents three times with the same or escalating symptoms or concerns, particularly where symptoms remain unexplained or an existing treatment plan is not working.
Accident and emergency, NHS 111, and child assessment units operate in secondary care under their own clinical governance, assessment, and escalation arrangements, including access to paediatric services, where appropriate.
Martha’s Rule provides a separate escalation route in secondary care where a patient’s condition is deteriorating, and concerns are not being responded to. There are therefore no current plans to extend Jess’s Rule to any secondary care service, including accident and emergency departments or child assessment units.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will extend Jess’s Rule to cover NHS 111, A&E departments and Child Assessment Units, where repeated attendances may indicate an undiagnosed underlying condition.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Jess’s Rule is a primary care patient safety initiative. It asks general practice teams to reflect, review, and rethink when a patient presents three times with the same or escalating symptoms or concerns, particularly where symptoms remain unexplained or an existing treatment plan is not working.
Accident and emergency, NHS 111, and child assessment units operate in secondary care under their own clinical governance, assessment, and escalation arrangements, including access to paediatric services, where appropriate.
Martha’s Rule provides a separate escalation route in secondary care where a patient’s condition is deteriorating, and concerns are not being responded to. There are therefore no current plans to extend Jess’s Rule to any secondary care service, including accident and emergency departments or child assessment units.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many requests she has received to refer a point of law to the Court of Appeal under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972 in each of the last five years; and how many of those were granted.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office does not routinely record the total number of requests received to refer a point of law to the Court of Appeal under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972.
In the last five years, Attorneys General have exercised this power on one occasion in the case of Attorney General's Reference No. 1 of 2022.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if she will publish the advice and papers on which her decision of 1 September 2026 not to refer the case of Aria Thorpe to the Court of Appeal was based.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
My deepest sympathies remain with Aria Thorpe’s family and loved ones. The loss of a nine-year-old child is profoundly tragic. The circumstances of Aria’s death were considered at trial, which ultimately concluded with an acquittal.
A reference under section 36 Criminal Justice Act 1972 was not possible in this case because there was no point of law which required further determination by the Court of Appeal. Such references cannot be used to alter the verdict, overturn the acquittal, or order a retrial.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the petition on the case of Aria Thorpe.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The request for a reference to the Court of Appeal on a point of law (under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972) could not be made, as the law is already clearly stated and does not require further clarification.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what criteria she applies when deciding whether to make a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972; and whether those criteria are published.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Each request for a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972 is considered on its facts, applying the statutory framework and relevant case law.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service raised concerns about the judge’s draft directions to the jury on unlawful act manslaughter in the trial of the case of Aria Thorpe in the context of the decision in Grey [2024] EWCA Crim 487.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Judge circulated her draft directions to all parties in writing. Leading Counsel for the Prosecution and Defence subsequently provided the Judge, on two occasions, with a joint document setting out proposed amendments. Those amendments included a request by the Prosecution that the summing-up should make clear that the unlawful act relied upon, for the purposes of unlawful act manslaughter was an assault, and that the relevant mens rea for that assault included recklessness. Leading Prosecution Counsel also made oral representations in open court reiterating that submission.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent steps the Crown Prosecution Service has taken to ensure prosecutors check draft jury directions against existing case law on unlawful manslaughter; and if she will ask His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate to review the handling of the Aria Thorpe case.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The process for jury directions and consultation with advocates is clearly set out in the Crown Court Compendium. It stipulates that ‘All written directions for the jury must be discussed, and preferably agreed, with the advocates well before they are provided to the jury’. This requirement is reiterated in the CPS policy Instructions for Prosecution Advocates which is incorporated into every prosecution brief and states ‘Advocates must also ensure that appropriate judicial directions are given in accordance with the Crown Court Compendium.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many Crown Court acquittals in homicide cases in each of the last five years have been followed by an acknowledgement that the jury was misdirected.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The CPS does not hold data that would identify, for each of the last five years, the number of Crown Court acquittals in homicide cases in which it was subsequently acknowledged that the jury had been misdirected.