Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the effectiveness of provisions available to the police in respect of dealing with potential false accusations.

The Government’s policies on crime are designed to deliver better justice for all be that for victims, witnesses or defendants. The police are required to investigate all cases that are referred to them – and all cases should be treated equally in terms of their approach to investigation.

The Government’s policies should not, therefore, have a negative impact on the ability of the police to investigate, or for the courts to deal with, such false accusations.