Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls in North Warwickshire and Bedworth constituency; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the rate of prosecutions brought against perpetrators of domestic abuse in North Warwickshire.

The downward trend in domestic-abuse related prosecutions across England and Wales, including in Warwickshire and Bedworth, since the year ending March 2017 is deeply concerning. I am committed to working with all justice partners, including the police and the CPS, to improve this and, in doing so, provide justice to more victims and hold more offenders to account.

The Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. In our first four months in Government, we have committed to fast-track rape cases through the criminal justice system and ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes. Further, we have announced that we will introduce domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms from early next year and launch a pilot of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders this November to provide more protection for victims. These are just some of the first steps we are taking to tackle VAWG and improve the justice system response to domestic abuse across England and Wales.