Recommendation 32

The actions the CPS is taking to drive up the number of rape prosecutions are positive and to be welcomed. However, given the continued low volume of rape prosecutions, and the concerns we heard around the gap between policy and practice, we would suggest that the CPS publish the outcomes of its assessment of the organisation’s progress against the success measures set out in RASSO 2025 on a regular basis. The recent publication of the Rape Strategy update is a welcome step toward this end. We would further suggest that the CPS and the police publish progress against delivery of the Police-CPS Joint National RASSO Action Plan (JNAP) on an annual basis on both the CPS and NPCC websites as initially promised. We would also like to see a reviewed and updated version of the JNAP as soon as possible, following the publication of the End-to-End Rape Review and the findings of Phases One and Two of the joint thematic inspection of the police and the CPS’s response to rape. This should not be published any later than the Summer of 2022 as has now been promised. We believe acting on these suggestions will be important in building public confidence, if it can be demonstrated that actions taken have positively affected the volumes of rape prosecutions. (Paragraph 162) Rape offences and the courts