Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
increase the proportion of rape allegations that go to trial.
The Advocate-General for Scotland ( of Dirleton) (Con)
My Lords, the rape review action plan has committed to
transforming the criminal justice system to tackle systemic
failures on rape. In that, we demonstrate our commitment to
transparency and public accountability throughout. Our aims are
to improve victims’ experience of the criminal justice system, to
increase the numbers of victims who stay engaged in the process
and to build better and stronger cases so that more people are
charged and, ultimately, more rapists go to prison.
(Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. I will just
remind the House how appalling the statistics are: only 1.6% of
reported rape allegations result in a court case. As the Minister
said, the Government’s response has been to put in place the rape
review action plan. On 22 January the CPS published its latest
statistics regarding the handling of rape. Five categories of
data were published; they showed either a flatlining of the data
or a modest improvement. Is the Minister happy with that
improvement, or does he think he should put in place some
targets?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, I acknowledge the data that the noble Lord has placed
before the House. I suggest that it is not so much a matter of
imposing targets as one of following through on the Government’s
approach, which will see an increase in spending over the
lifetime of this Parliament and involve more special training for
police officers and prosecutors in this area. Finally, although,
as I have said, I acknowledge the statistics that the noble Lord
has placed before your Lordships, it is important to recognise
that the data is necessarily retrospective and relates to times
before the Government’s actions, as set out in the action plan,
commenced.
(CB)
My Lords, will the Minister assure the House that, in the
Attorney-General’s regular meetings with the Director of Public
Prosecutions, she will hold the director to account for the
chilling effect of recent changes in CPS charging guidance in
relation to rape? Surely it is in the hands of the DPP that the
awful statistics can be improved and victims given a proper
hearing.
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, I can give the noble Lord that assurance. I remind the
House that, of course, as the noble Lord is well aware, we are
dealing not simply with the role of government but with
necessarily independent bodies, upon which our constitution
relies—it relies on the independence of the judiciary and of
prosecutors—but I can give the noble Lord the assurance that he
seeks.
(LD)
My Lords, the End Violence Against Women Coalition reported that,
as a result of funding cuts in recent years, two-fifths of police
forces in England and Wales no longer have a specialist rape and
serious sexual offences unit, thereby losing vital expertise in
investigating and prosecuting sexual violence. At a time when
rape prosecutions remain at their lowest level on record and rape
survivors face some of the longest delays to their cases reaching
trial of any victims of crime, are the Government serious about
prioritising tackling sexual violence against women and girls?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, this Government are indeed serious about addressing the
matters that the noble Baroness has placed before the House. I am
able to give the noble Baroness some assurances in relation to
figures. We are on track to recruit a further 20,000 police
officers by the end of this Parliament. Over 100 prosecutors have
undertaken induction training on rape and serious sexual
offences—RASSO as it is known—while 674 prosecutors have been
trained in a suspect-centred approach; that means focusing the
investigation on the suspect and shifting away from the idea that
it is the function of the police somehow to challenge the
complainer’s account of events. Furthermore, by the end of this
financial year, 176 prosecutors will have been trained and
skilled in the assessment of the impact of trauma on memory. All
these measures will enhance the ability of the system to address
these extremely serious crimes.
(Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for acknowledging the
issue of resources in relation to sexual offences, in particular,
and for the other commitments that he has made, but does he agree
that the culture of misogyny in our police service is leading
women not to have the confidence they need to come forward? I
refer noble Lords to reporting overnight of the case of the
Nottingham academic who was strip-searched in police custody in
circumstances that can be described only as a sexual assault.
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, the expression “misogyny”, and the extent, meaning and
parameters of that expression, are currently under consideration.
Beyond that I do not intend to provide any further answer.
(CB)
My Lords, what are the chances of investigating and prosecuting
serious sexual offences when 70% of victims are regarded at the
time of the attack as vulnerable, sometimes due to alcohol and
sometimes to age or mental illness? This means that the
prosecution decisions can be quite difficult when the account of
the victim is regarded as inconsistent. We never know how juries
accept their evidence, and we never have any research into how
juries reach their verdicts. I wonder whether this area is
something on which the Government would consider instigating
proper research to find out what it is that influences a jury. It
is not always the things that we believe make a difference.
of Dirleton (Con)
I can tell the House that there is work currently under way by
the Law Commission to address misconceptions in this field. The
expression often used is “rape myths”, although I am not sure
that I am especially fond of that. I think “misconceptions”
better addresses and refers to the topic raised by the noble
Lord.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, does the Minister accept that modern technology has,
ironically, made rape a more difficult crime to investigate
because it depends on victims having confidence in the process?
Many young women are not prepared to allow their cell phones to
be seized and trawled through for months on end by the police.
What are the Government doing to address this dilemma without
compromising justice?
of Dirleton (Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord makes an extremely important point. In
relation to the end-to-end review and action plan, which the
Government have published, we have set up a means by which people
coming forward with complaints of rape can be confident that they
will receive mobile telephones, so they will not be deprived of
their use or their contacts and data. At the same time, we will
be doing our best to strengthen the investigation of crimes so
that complainers do not feel that their personal lives are being
unduly pried into or that their rights to privacy are disturbed.
(Lab)
My Lords, would the Minister like to have another go at answering
the question put to him by my noble friend Lady Chakrabarti,
leaving aside the question of misogyny but answering the question
about culture?
of Dirleton (Con)
The culture of the police is an extremely broad topic. I regret
if I seemed to have ducked the point raised by the noble
Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, but these are extremely wide issues,
which lie beyond the remit of my ability to answer today.
