Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the wellbeing of victims of sexual assault of undergoing cross-examination during the court process.

In the Government’s first ever cross-government Victim’s Strategy, we committed to make the court environment more victim friendly and to improve access to special measures.

Victims may be provided with a wide range of special measures to help them give their best evidence in court. The measures available include the power for a court to order arrangements for live video links, video recorded evidence in chief, and screens around the witness box, and from this summer an additional special measure - pre-recorded cross-examination - will be will be available for witnesses who are adult complainants in sexual offences, in three courts - Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston upon Thames. This marks delivery of another commitment in the Victims Strategy published in September 2018.