Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve (a) charge rates of people accused of crime and (b) support for victims of crime.

The Home Office recognises that charge volumes and rates have been persistently low for too long. That’s why we have set out our Safer Streets mission to rebuild confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.

The Home Office is working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to improve criminal justice outcomes and to support collaboration between the two agencies in order to increase the number of cases being charged and prosecuted, and reduce the time taken to reach this point.

The Government is committed to ensuring victims of crime have the information and support they need. That is why we will implement the reforms in the Victims and Prisoner Act 2024; making sure that victims know about their rights in the Code and that agencies deliver them and placing greater responsibility on local commissioners to collaborate on funding for support services.

The Ministry of Justice provides funding for vital victim and witness support services, to help victims cope and recover from the impact of crime, through a mix of local and nationally commissioned services.