Nearly three-quarters of recorded rapes of adults and children in England and Wales are not referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision on whether to charge a suspect, a report by the inspectorate of constabulary revealed on Thursday.



Data released by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) gathers together for the first time information on rape complaints collected by a number of organisations across the criminal justice system.

Figures from the 43 police forces in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice and the CPS have been complied to increase understanding of how rape allegations are treated.

The data reveals the number of recorded rapes, where a complainant has made an allegation which is recorded as a crime, which are referred to the CPS for a decision on charging. In 2013-14, police across England and Wales recorded 12,952 reports of adult rape and 7,775 child rape allegations, involving someone under 16. The number referred to the CPS for a charging decision, was 5,850 – 28% of all recorded rape.

This is in the context of a huge rise in rape allegations since the Jimmy Savile revelations. The report shows there was a 53% increase in recorded rapes between October 2012, when the Savile scandal emerged, and September 2014.

The data reveals how complainants are more likely to have their reports of rape “no-crimed” – where the record of an offence is removed – in forces including Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. Across England and Wales 9% of rapes – both adult and child reports – were no-crimed in 2013-14. But in Leicestershire one in five reports (20%) of rape were no-crimed , in Bedfordshire 19% were no-crimed, and Derbyshire and the West Midlands police no-crimed 6% of recorded rapes.



Greater Manchester police no-crimed 10% of recorded rapes, and forces including Thames Valley, the Metropolitan police, Surrey and Northamptonshire no-crimed less than 10%. A police source said much of this disparity had to do with how police recorded the initial offence, with some forces immediately recording the offence as rape, while others carried out initial investigation before the crime was recorded.



Victim Support said the reasons behind the statistics were not clear in the report, but the charity said it was concerned at what appears to be a postcode lottery for rape victims. “Everybody who has suffered this terrible crime deserves justice and where they live should never determine how the police respond,” said Mark Castle, chief executive of the organisation.

“It is extremely concerning that in some parts of England and Wales a rape allegation is four times more likely to be rejected by the police than in others. While there can be legitimate reasons to record a rape allegation as ‘no crime’ these figures suggest an unacceptable culture of disbelief continues to exist in some parts the police.

“Victims need to have confidence in the police and the criminal justice system that they will be believed when they come forward and given the respect they deserve and the support they need, wherever they are in the country.”

Nationally the number of recorded rapes being no-crimed is falling, with police officers most often choosing to strike out a record of a crime if, for example, it was committed outside their area and transferred to another force, if the crime was part of another crime which had already been reported or if additional verifiable information was available that indicated no notifiable crime had been committed.

The percentage of rape reports that end in a conviction remains at about 6% but HMIC said that single figure should not dominate the debate.

HMIC said: “There are many reasons why a reported rape does not continue to conviction: the police do not record the incident as a crime; the victim does not wish for the case to be taken forward; the CPS advises that no further action be taken; the offence is changed to something other than rape; and importantly, the defendant is acquitted by a jury following a trial.

“At any time victims may withdraw … By trying to capture this entire process in a single set of figures, other potential indicators such as the victim experience are ignored.”



The report gave examples of the significant increase in recorded rapes since the Savile revelations, where many survivors may have contacted police “with a low expectation of a judicial outcome but for the first time many were provided with an opportunity to discuss the offending, and were listened to and believed”.

An Association of Chief Police Officers spokesman said police and the CPS recognised the concern around the number of cases not being referred and established a rape scrutiny panel in early 2014 to address this.

“Central to this was acknowledging that the rape myths and stereotypes that exist across society can also be present in police and prosecutors. We have since developed new guidance and training that makes clear that investigators and prosecutors should focus the steps that the defendant has taken to seek consent and how they knew that the complainant had the freedom and capacity to give consent.”

Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, national policing lead for adult sex offences, said there were caveats to the data which had been released. “There are still inconsistencies between forces and there always will be within a 43-force structure, but we are working hard to reduce them,” he said.



“We have worked with the CPS on an action plan that aims to increase reports to the police, referrals to the CPS and convictions in court as well as improving our service to victims. We have provided toolkits to help police investigators, supervisors, prosecutors and advocates and forthcoming authorised professional practice from the college of policing will help us achieve greater consistency around the country.”

