Eighth Report - Investigation and prosecution of rape

The government committed an additional £5 million this financial year to continue Operation Soteria in five pathfinder forces and expand it to a further 14 police force and CPS areas, with the aim of developing a new national operating model by June 2023.

The government has accepted the recommendation, committing an additional £5 million this financial year to expand Operation Soteria into 14 more police force and CPS areas, with a new national operating model due in June 2023.

The CPS already publishes annual data on VRR receipts and outcomes broken down by principal offence category. They are working to enhance VRR data and plan to publish it more frequently in the next financial year, but do not specifically commit to all requested breakdowns like gender, ethnicity, or reasons for review decisions.

The government confirms that the Crown Prosecution Service published its updated pre-trial therapy guidance on 26 May, aligning with the publication of the Attorney General’s Disclosure guidelines, thus fulfilling the recommendation.

The Ministry of Justice's legal support consultation explored enhancing victims' access to legal advice regarding requests for personal information, and the Home Office launched a consultation on police requests for third-party material, directly addressing the recommendation for support related to counselling records.

The government acknowledges inconsistent pre-trial therapy provision and commits to considering interventions. It also outlined an additional £6.6 million for vital support services, a £20 million increase in NHS funding, and policy changes through the Victims Bill and Funding Strategy to improve access to support services.

The government committed to continuing to work with partners to map specialist sexual violence and abuse services, explicitly stating this will include joint working with the NHS and DHSC to consider and strengthen counselling and therapy provision.

The CPS published a Rape Strategy Update in February 2022, and the CPS and NPCC committed to providing regular updates against key strategies. The refreshed Police-CPS Joint National RASSO Action Plan (JNAP) was soft-launched in June and formally published in Summer 2022, as recommended.

The government is rolling out section 28 nationally to all Crown Courts for sexual offence and modern slavery complainants and is engaging with criminal justice stakeholders, including counsel, to address implementation obstacles. The Ministry of Justice is also consulting on changes to the legal aid fee scheme to reflect section 28 work.

The government acknowledges the unacceptably low volumes of rape prosecutions, announcing the expansion of Operation Soteria into 14 more police force areas. It commits to continued publication of progress updates and data dashboards, and to writing to the Committee every six months.

The government committed to addressing inconsistent pre-trial therapy, launched a draft Victims Bill requiring integrated support commissioning, published a Victims Funding Strategy for multi-year funding, announced £6.6m in additional funding for support services and training, and launched a consultation on enhancing legal advice for victims on disclosure requests.

The government committed to improving victim experience and evidence quality by updating CPS guidance on special measures (Section 25), commencing automatic eligibility for special measures under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, sharing a 'Best Practice Framework' with Crown Courts, and rolling out pre-recorded cross-examination (Section 28) nationally to all Crown Courts.

The CPS published Pre-trial Therapy Fundamental Principles in February 2022 and updated its pre-trial therapy guidance in May 2022, following a public consultation and review of the Attorney General's Disclosure Guidelines, to address concerns about therapy notes disclosure.

The government acknowledges the backlog concerns, stating its commitment to reduce waiting times, ongoing judicial prioritisation, and launching pilots of enhanced sexual violence support in specific Crown Courts to tackle the backlog.