Expenditure data

The Crown Prosecution Service is the Government Department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by the police and other agencies in England and Wales.

As the principal prosecuting authority in England and Wales, we are responsible for:

• advising on cases for possible prosecution;
• reviewing cases submitted by the police and other agencies;
• determining any charges in all but minor cases;
• preparing cases for court;
• presenting cases at court.

In delivering public prosecutions the CPS resources and expenditure are analysed between Administration Costs and Crown Prosecutions and Legal Services.

Administration represents the costs of running the Department and includes only those costs not attributed to front line services directly associated with the prosecution of criminal cases. Administration includes staff salaries, other staff related expenditure, accommodation and related costs for administrative staff based in CPS Headquarters. Costs are also incurred in relation to legal and other advice on the extension of PFI contracts, leadership training and the costs of dealing with staff grievances.

Crown Prosecutions and Legal Services cover the direct and indirect costs of taking cases to court. After the cost of front line staff salaries, most of the expenditure is associated with the costs of the more serious cases, which are heard in the Crown Court and comprise the costs of employing barristers as advocates, paying allowances and expenses to prosecution witnesses who attend court, the cost of expert testimony and a number of other less significant costs associated with the prosecution process.

Staff expenditure accounts for around 55% of CPS expenditure. Other Administration costs represent 22% of costs and other Programme costs the remaining 23%.

CPS invoice transactions over £25,000 by month

The CPS, like all central government departments and agencies, publishes details of its expenditure.

The files below show CPS invoice transactions over £25,000 by month. These files are in .csv format.

The data is also published on the data.gov.uk website.

Notes

1. Any enquiries should be directed to enquiries@cps.gsi.gov.uk
2. The CPS does not hold supplier VAT registration numbers.
3. If a single invoice has been coded to multiple expense types and/or expense areas the value shown is the amount paid against each individual expense type/expense area combination, even where each entry at this level may be less than £25,000.
4. The CPS does not reclaim VAT. Therefore the gross payment is published as this represents the full cost of the transaction to the department.
5. Payments to the barristers listed in these data represent gross fee payments, which is not the same as income. From their gross fees all self employed barristers have to deduct the costs of running their practices. They also have to make their own provision for holiday, sickness and pension provision. Payments shown are inclusive of VAT, which barristers have to repay to the government.
6. Click here to access a glossary of CPS Account Codes.

Exceptions to spending moratoria applied for by the Crown Prosecution Service

All government departments, including the CPS, have been required by the Government to limit spending, and since 24 May 2010, there have been moratoria in place on spending in specific areas, namely:

• A freeze on all new ICT spend above £1 million
• A freeze on all new advertising and marketing spend
• A freeze on all new consultancy spend
• Increased control over new property leases and lease extensions and
• A freeze on Civil Service recruitment

Under certain circumstances, exceptions to these moratoria can be applied, for example in order to maintain critical services. The Excel document exceptions to spending moratoria applied for by the CPS lists the exceptions applied for by the CPS in relation to the spending moratoria introduced by the Government in May 2010.

CPS Workforce Management Information

The following data shows staff numbers for the CPS (both payroll and non-payroll staff) expressed in Full Time Equivalents by Civil Service Grade in addition to payroll costs during the relevant periods.

Data is provided to show the position at 31 March 2011 (with cumulative payroll costs from 1 April 2010 and staff numbers in post at period end) and then monthly updates covering each respective month. This data is published as part of the Government’s drive for transparency within the public sector.

Users should note:

1. These figures are not Official Statistics. They are internal workforce management information published in the interests of transparency.

2. These figures have not been reconciled centrally with any National Statistics. Where differences appear between the monthly information and National Statistics, clarifying comments are provided.

3. The ONS quarterly public sector employment survey continues to provide an official headline measure for comparing the overall size of employment in central government organisations with other sectors of the economy at the relevant quarterly reference point.

4. Given the wide range of organisations covered, caution should be exercised when drawing inferences from the figures and care should be taken when making comparisons between organisations. Users of this management information should refer to any additional commentary and notes where these are provided.

Non-consolidated performance-related pay data

The data below shows the non-consolidated Performance Related Payments (PRP) made to employees for the performance year 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. This data is published in accordance with the Government's commitment to open up Government-held data to the public.

Information on GPC card expenditure over £500

The data below shows all Government Procurement Card spend over £500 at the CPS for the 2010-11 financial year onwards.