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Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: My Lords—
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Rooker): My Lords, we are well into the eighth minute.
Suicide: False Rape Allegations
2.44 pm
Lord Campbell-Savours asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): My Lords, such cases are tragic but extremely rare. A recent analysis of reported rape cases indicated that approximately 3 per cent were false allegations, none of which went beyond the investigative stage. Deaths in prison custody are investigated by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, including individual circumstances and contributory factors. During 2006, data will be collected for the first time on suicides of offenders under community supervision, including post-release.
Lord Campbell-Savours: My Lords, does my noble friend accept that suicide among men falsely accused of rape is some indicator of the scale of miscarriages of justice? Surely any review of rape law must take into account the number of occasions where women have withdrawn an allegation of rape after the accused has been sentenced. Should we not now have an audit of the incidence of false rape accusations?
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, I agree with my noble friend that the withdrawal of a rape allegation on the basis that it was falsely made initially is a matter of real importance. However it is very difficult to look at the scale of miscarriages of justice on the basis of those who commit suicide. The figure of 3 per cent relates to those who have withdrawn the allegation, as recent studies make clear. There is a lot of work for us to do. I certainly agree with my noble friend that the consultation is an opportunity for us to look at these issues much more closely.
Lord Dholakia: My Lords, a little while ago there was a very critical report by the Police and Crown Prosecution Inspectorate about the prosecution and investigation of rape cases. Since then a rape action plan has been considered in terms of stocktaking. Can the Minister indicate why the success rate in
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convictions for rape is so low and whether there is any intention to measure the situation relating to people who are falsely accused of rape?
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, it would be right to say that the real issue is the under-reporting of rape. We know that a huge number of women are put off and frightened by the process of coming forward. We have taken that very seriously indeed and it is one of the reasons why the consultation is going to look at this matter more closely. But we have done a great deal to address this issue. We have introduced specialist rape prosecutors in every CPS area. We have overhauled the law, as noble Lords know, on sexual offences. We have created special measures to enable people to give evidence more easily. We have limited the circumstances in which the victim's previous sexual history is admissible in court and we have clarified and expanded the circumstances where evidence of the defendant's bad character is admissible. Now there is the issue of what amounts to consent and how we should deal with it. All those matters have to be looked at for us to get the best and fairest system, not only for the accused but for the victim.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon: My Lords, is the anonymity of the accused as well as the accuser taken into account in this consultation?
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, it is. Noble Lords will know that the accused is not identified prior to charge. During the arrest period, anonymity is maintained. We have debated the whole question of whether anonymity should be continued throughout the trial on a number of occasions and noble Lords will know that all the reports we have had indicate that the current balance is the fairest one.
Lord Campbell-Savours: My Lords, has my noble friend seen the research by a Dr Eugene J Kanin of Purdue University in the United States of America, whose paper False Rape Allegations found that 41 per cent of forcible rape allegations were false following admissions by the complainants when they were questioned? Is that not a startling figure and does it not suggest that the figure given by my noble friend of 3 per cent may well be a gross underestimation?
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, I have certainly heard of that research but I respectfully say to my noble friend that our own research—many noble Lords will have seen it—called A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases, undertaken by Liz Kelly, Jo Lovett and Linda Regan, has looked at this very issue. They looked at the figures that were apparent in this country and, in examining those figures, they came up with 3 per cent They interrogated the cases that had been identified by the police as false allegations. I have to say, we still live in an environment where people are very sceptical about
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these allegations and are quite rigorous in the way in which they approach them before cases are brought forward. That is an issue which we have to look at, too.
Lord Tebbit: My Lords, the noble Baroness referred to the victim and the accused. Would it not have been more even-handed to have referred to the accuser and the accused? Until the trial is complete and it is discovered whether the allegation is true or false, there is no victim, there is only an accuser.
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, of course I accept the noble Lord's nicety of language, but I have to tell him that there are many rape victims who never have the courage to come forward and who are never able to get the justice they need. They remain victims, irrespective of whether their perpetrator is or is not charged and properly convicted.
Bovine Tuberculosis
2.51 pm
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): My Lords, in recent months the Government have introduced pre-movement testing in England to help reduce the geographical spread of TB, implemented a new system of compensation to avoid overpayment and speed up the removal of reactors, and consulted on the principle and method of badger culling to control TB in the high-incidence areas in England. We continue to work closely with our stakeholders on all elements of the TB programme, which is very complicated.
Baroness Byford: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. Does he agree that the figure of 3,653 new herd incidents recorded in Great Britain is a disgrace? That was a 9.1 per cent increase on 2004. This disease is out of control. Does he support the comments made by Ben Bradshaw on 20 April about international experience suggesting that leaving the reservoir of wildlife untouched will prevent us containing and eradicating bovine TB?
Lord Rooker: My Lords, this is an incredibly complex issue, which I have not had the opportunity of examining. I certainly cannot comment on what Ben Bradshaw said. At the moment we are looking at the results of the consultation that took place over 12 weeks and finished on 10 March. We will conclude our deliberations as quickly as possible.
I have obviously looked at the figures, coming back fresh to this serious issue after seven years—it was an area I was responsible for a few years ago. However, it goes back: in 1980 Lord Zuckerman chaired a committee looking at the issues of bovine TB; after that was Professor Dunnett; and now we are operating on the basis of Professor Krebs's original report. In the
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last week some figures have been published about a reduction in incidence, although we do not know the reason, even though more tests have been taken. It is an incredibly complicated and sensitive issue. It is important from the point of view of public confidence that it does not get out of control.
Lord Grantchester: My Lords, one of the statutory aspects of the TB situation concerns cattle taken as reactors that subsequently prove negative at culture and negative at slaughter. With the current rather incomplete compensation scheme, everyone loses. Can the Minister tell us how many false positives to TB there are, what percentage of the total this is and what the Government are doing to improve the science of the tests?
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I cannot give the figure that my noble friend has asked for. In 2005, 30,000 cattle were slaughtered. That was a 30 per cent increase on 2004. As I said, we have just changed the compensation system to avoid overpayments. It is not perfect and has only just changed; it is early days yet and the Government are paying for the first testing anyway. We need to speed up reactor removal. I will check on the compensation issue for those cattle later found not to have TB, but I suspect that that is a minority of the figure that I have just cited.
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