Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what steps the CPS is taking to increase the rate of prosecution of people who are responsible for forced marriages.

The CPS takes the prosecution of forced marriage allegations very seriously. Each CPS Area has an identified prosecutor to lead on or deal with these cases. The CPS keeps its legal guidance under review to assist prosecutors to meet these challenges. This will shortly be revised to address cases where the victim lacks capacity to consent to marriage because of a condition affecting their mental functioning. At a national level there exists a joint police and CPS forced marriage working group, which has developed a protocol for investigations and prosecutions as well as training for prosecutors.