Just over one per cent of rape reports in Oldham resulted in someone being charged last year, damning data has revealed.

Shocking figures, obtained by The Oldham Times under the Freedom of Information Act, show that from January to December last year there were 296 reported rapes in the borough and just three resulted in a suspect being charged – 1.1 per cent.

The number of charges has dropped significantly in recent years, despite reports of rape rising.

In the same period in 2017, 254 rapes were reported and 19 resulted in a charge.

The stark fall in charges is reflected across the country.

In the year to September 2021, reported rape offences in England and Wales reached an all-time high at 63,136 but only 1.3 per cent resulted in a suspect being charged, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The figures have thrown into sharp focus the difficult process victims face to get justice.

Anne Stebbings, the chief executive of Greater Manchester Rape Crisis which supports victims across the region, has called the statistics “indicative of the need for a serious overhaul in how rapes cases are handled.”

Rape victims are being let down by “inadequate investigations” and “risk-averse decision making”, according to Ms Stebbings.

She added: “One of the key issues we see is that police are pre-empting the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to take on the case.

"A credible account from a complainant can and should form the basis of a criminal prosecution, yet police are often ‘no further actioning’ cases they believe don’t meet the evidential threshold."

Long wait times and a lack of support is also leading to victims dropping their cases.

A report published by the Home Affairs Select Committee last week, found that between July and September last year 63 per cent of adult rape investigations were dropped because the victim no longer wanted to continue with the process.

The report has called for reforms to focus on the experience of victims seeking justice, with the committee urging greater support for long-term counselling and for more victims to be given independent legal advocates.

Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, has backed calls for independent advocates to be fully funded to “draw up a support package to meet the victims’ needs, represent them in dealing with agencies and support them at every step of a trial”.

She said: “For too long, victims and their families have too often been overlooked, even ignored.”

Echoing her comments, Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon said: “Many survivors feel the system is working against them, not for them, and that is completely the wrong way round.”

Ashton and Failsworth MP and Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner added: “Rape victims deserve better. We need a full system change to ensure that there is proper support for rape victims."

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has admitted that the charge rates are ‘pitifully low’.

The authority has endorsed the recommendations of the government’s End-to-End Rape Review Report, which recommends that the justice system should return to 2016 prosecution levels by 2024, in its 10-year Gender-Based Violence strategy, launched by mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham last year.

A GMCA spokesperson said: “While increased reporting of rape to the police could reflect greater willingness and confidence of victims to report it, we are clear that charge and conviction rates for rape are pitifully low.

"Too often those offended against tell us that engaging with the criminal justice system causes them further trauma.”

The Greater Manchester Gender-Based Violence Board, chaired by the deputy mayor for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, Baroness Bev Hughes, is meanwhile developing a joint action plan with GMP and the CPS to improve GMP’s response and performance.

A GMP spokesperson said: “We will continue to work closely with the CPS in the early stages of an investigation which should result in stronger cases and lead to faster charging decisions.”

The spokesperson added: “Whilst the increase of rape reports in Oldham is understandably worrying, we want to reassure local communities that we are working tirelessly to both reduce offending and the gap between reports and convictions.

“Our commitment to reducing rape and to also reducing violence against women and girls, is enshrined within Operation Lioness – the GMP plan to prevent violent attacks and predatory behaviour towards women whether it be in the home, in public spaces or online.”

The force added that in Oldham, and across GMP’s nine other districts, there are appointed Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) leads who oversee all sexual offences cases “to ensure best practice”.

In response to the data, a Government spokesperson said: “We recognise much more needs to be done to deliver the increase in prosecutions and better support that rape victims deserve.

"That is why we are overhauling how these sickening crimes are dealt with – recruiting 20,000 police officers and making the process less intrusive to give victims the confidence their cases will be rigorously pursued with support available at every stage.

“At the same time, we are investing almost half a billion pounds to deliver swifter justice, consulting on a Victims’ Law to hold justice agencies to account and boosting funding for victims’ services to £185 million a year.”