Written Evidence May. 23 2024
Inquiry: Non-contact sexual offencesFound: NCSO0007 - Non-contact sexual offences Home Office Written Evidence
Mentions:
1: Constance, Angela (SNP - Almond Valley) The bill does that through the creation of a new national sexual offences court. - Speech Link
2: Nicoll, Audrey (SNP - Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) offences court, which would have the power to deal with a wide range of serious sexual offences, including - Speech Link
3: Swinney, John (SNP - Perthshire North) I am concerned that such changes will make it more difficult to obtain convictions in sexual assault - Speech Link
4: Adam, Karen (SNP - Banffshire and Buchan Coast) Sexual offences are among the most serious crimes that are dealt with by our courts and a sexual offences - Speech Link
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports were made of (a) rape and (b) other serious sexual offences by an alleged perpetrator under the age of 18 in (i) each police force area and (ii) the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of rape and sexual offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, and their investigative outcomes, including the number of charge/summons. This information is published by Police Force Area on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office does not hold information on perpetrators under the age of 18. Statistics on convictions in England and Wales, including rape and sexual offences by perpetrator age, are published by the Ministry of Justice, in the release Criminal Justice System Statistics Quarterly, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly
Scotland have a different method of recording sexual offences to England and Wales but information on crimes and offences recorded by the police, including clear ups of crimes, can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2022-23/
Information on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Northern Ireland, including investigative outcomes, can be accessed here:
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many charges have been brought against alleged perpetrators under the age of 18 for (a) rape and (b) serious sexual offences in each of the last five years (i) nationally and (ii) by police force area.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of rape and sexual offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, and their investigative outcomes, including the number of charge/summons. This information is published by Police Force Area on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office does not hold information on perpetrators under the age of 18. Statistics on convictions in England and Wales, including rape and sexual offences by perpetrator age, are published by the Ministry of Justice, in the release Criminal Justice System Statistics Quarterly, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly
Scotland have a different method of recording sexual offences to England and Wales but information on crimes and offences recorded by the police, including clear ups of crimes, can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2022-23/
Information on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Northern Ireland, including investigative outcomes, can be accessed here:
May. 20 2011
Source Page: Table showing the conviction rate and average custodial sentence length for each type of sexual offence in each region for the years 2005 to 2009. 2 p.Found: Table showing the conviction rate and average custodial sentence length for each type of sexual offence
Jun. 20 2024
Source Page: Court prosecutions, convictions and out of court disposals in Northern Ireland 2023Found: Court prosecutions, convictions and out of court disposals in Northern Ireland 2023
Found: clauses and new Schedules to be taken on day 2 , including on the creation of content ( purported sexual
Mentions:
1: Roger Gale (Con - North Thanet) Offences Act 2003 (c. 42)33 An offence under any of the following provisions of the Sexual Offences - Speech Link
2: None The specified offences, which are listed in the new schedule, include drugs offences, sexual offences - Speech Link
3: None That includes online child sexual exploitation and abuse offences. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Mackay, Rona (SNP - Strathkelvin and Bearsden) What I am trying to do is to break the impasse in the problem with convictions in sexual crime cases - Speech Link
2: None We wish to mirror those provisions in the bill and the sexual offences court. - Speech Link
3: Dowey, Sharon (Con - South Scotland) What training would you expect parties involved in the sexual offences court to undertake? - Speech Link
4: Mackay, Rona (SNP - Strathkelvin and Bearsden) Will the sexual offences court alleviate that problem? - Speech Link
5: Constance, Angela (SNP - Almond Valley) The proposed new sexual offences court is separate from the pilot. - Speech Link
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not collect or hold information on the criminal convictions of its civil servants.
The department does require that, prior to commencing employment, individuals have cleared the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). This includes a check for live convictions and is the minimum level of clearance for all people working across the Civil Service. These checks are also carried out for existing civil servants moving into the department.
If checks highlight convictions, the department will consider the appointment if a conviction relates to any of the following: life sentences, arson, sexual offences, hate and terror offences, the department will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role (the department also undertakes an internal fraud database check, which identifies civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned).
The department is engaged in the ‘Civil Service Prison Leavers’ scheme but has not yet made any appointments. This scheme ensures that if an individual is a prison leaver, then having a criminal conviction is not a barrier to joining the Civil Service. The department only asks about criminal convictions once a job offer has been made and excepted and the BPSS checks completed.
The department expects its civil servants to abide by the Civil Service Code of Conduct and the departmental standards of behaviour. Employees must inform their manager if they are arrested, are charged and released, refused bail, or convicted of any criminal offence. If they fail to do so, the department will take disciplinary action for non-disclosure.