Speeches by Munt.

“That would be handy. The latest data published by the CPS notes that receipts for adult rape outnumber finalisations by a rate of over two to one. How worried are you by those figures? Does that suggest that success in police referrals is outpacing the CPS and the courts’ capacity to resolve those cases?”

“I am Tessa Munt, the Member for Wells and Mendip Hills. I have a full declaration as required, but point out that I am the vice-chair of WhistleblowersUK.”

“Can I volunteer Bristol for one of your pilots?”

“My point was marginally flippant. When you are running your pilot, could I offer a conversation with Bristol first, please? I think they are feeling the pinch. If there was a way of easing some of their troubles, it would be good.”

“Yes, if I may. I understand that it takes an average of 125 days from police referral of a rape case to a CPS charging decision. Would you agree with that?”

“Thank you. Would you like to correct me?”

“Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend, and I will come on to some of those issues. Sophisticated business entities are probably the intended target of the legislation, so there is good news for people who have divided their property assets, and bad luck for those who jointly own their property investments, which is a terrib…”

“Non-qualifying leaseholder status gets slapped on a property in perpetuity long after the required safety works are completed. That status means that it is almost impossible to acquire a mortgage—solicitors advise very strongly that purchasers steer clear of such properties, which are very often flats—and the status is…”

“I associate myself with the remarks of the Deputy Prime Minister and my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) in recognising the pain, grief and hurt caused to so many connected to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, in which 72 lives were lost. I have heard the sombre comments in this debate and mean…”

“I have constituents who live on the Somerset levels who are 90 years young. They have limited mobility and do not have mobile phones. Three months ago BT cut them off in the process of changing their landline to digital—something they did not request. They do not even have broadband, and they lost access to their emerg…”

“Success in the transition to electrical vehicles is vital for the west country and Somerset in particular, with the new Agratas battery plant that is coming to Somerset and the port of Bristol, through which go 500,000 vehicles a year. Will the Secretary of State please act to support consumers and consumer confidence …”

“They don’t, no, but you can watch them.”

“I get the difficulties; I will leave it with you.”

“Very often, it is victims who want precisely that information. It should be possible, since it is on Zoom or whatever the equivalent is, to release the information as a recorded file to the victim. Then the victim can choose whether they wish to have it transcribed themselves using AI or whatever. In terms of access—”

“I want to ask about a middle stage before we get to full transcripts using AI. I am aware that, for example, in the employment tribunals in some cases there has been guidance that says that they should be open and people can now watch those cases. Is it not possible to release a recording? I know that some cases do not…”

“Thank you, Baroness Carr.”

“I think the official figures were produced in December 2023 for the outstanding cases in the Crown court. It was up at 67,500 and a bit. When are the next set of figures? What do you think is going to happen?”

“No; it’s fine. Exactly—you have probably answered the question.”

“Has anyone done some work on what those costs might be? I was thinking about post-2025 cases that are going to be shunted.”

“Thank you for mentioning Bristol, which is in my part of the world. People go to Bristol or to Taunton because there is nothing in between. There is very little flexibility. People very often have to leave the day before if they are using public transport to get to court for 10 o’clock. It is fairly desperate. You ment…”