Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Lord Hermer on 23 February (HL14709), why they do not hold any data which shows the number of defendants prosecuted, referred, acquitted, or convicted of offences created by sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) collects data to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions. This data is derived from structured data fields completed by front line staff on individual case records held in the Case Management Information System (CMS) and reported in the Management Information System (MIS).

Within CMS management information (MI) is recorded at the level of defendants in a set of proceedings rather than against the individual offence or offences a defendant may be charged. This includes defendants charged with offences of s58 and s59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and s1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. To identify the prosecution outcomes of offences would require a manual review of case records which would be at disproportionate cost.

The CPS is replacing its current Case Management System. This replacement provides opportunities to design improved management information capabilities to meet future reporting requirements.