Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many times he has been asked to consent to a prosecution; and in how many of those cases he (a) granted and (b) refused consent in each of the last five years.

The Law Officers have received 705 applications for consent since 1 January 2013. Consent has been declined in 33 applications. Consent was declined on 14 occasions as there was insufficient evidence and on 19 occasions because a prosecution was not in the public interest.