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Minutes Of The CPS Board Meeting On 15 November 2004

Present:

Ken Macdonald (Chair)
Jim England
Richard Foster
Neil Franklin
Philip Geering
John Graham
Claire Hamon
Deborah King
Peter Lewis
Angela O'Connor
Philip Oliver
Portia Ragnauth
Dru Sharpling
Seamus Taylor
Moira Wallace

Secretariat:

Gary Cox
Nicol Harlow

Apologies

Anjali Arya
Judith Hunt


    Introduction

  1. The Director welcomed everyone to the first meeting under the new CPS governance arrangements. The Board and its Committees are the Service's main decision-making bodies through which all key decisions will flow. Board and Committee arrangements will be kept under review throughout the year and will be considered at the Autumn Senior Managers' Conference in 2005 prior to a formal review by the end of 2005.

    2. Board terms of reference and 'statement of powers'

  2. The Board considered proposals for the Board terms of reference, an outline forward agenda for Board business and a draft 'statement of powers' on the circumstances where Committees must seek Board approval for decisions.
  3. The following points were made in discussion:
    • Board term of reference should be aligned to those of the Committees;
    • the statement of powers should, include that issues identified by the Board will be delegated to the appropriate Committee to take forward;
    • Each Committee be invited to report to the Board in January with their agreed terms of reference; the key business issues they will be addressing; proposals for the groups they want to sponsor below the Board and Committee structure to help consider and develop those business issues..
  4. The proposals were approved subject to those comments.

    5. Addressing Sickness Absence

  5. The Board considered actions to address sickness levels within the CPS. Cabinet Office figures just released for 2003 show an average of 9.2 days lost per CPS employee. This is just below the average for the Civil Service as a whole. The CPS is addressing sick absence rates through a range of measures including improved data from new HR systems, better monitoring and improved guidance and training for managers.
  6. The People and Equality Committee was invited to consider further ways in which sickness absence might be addressed.

    7. Advocacy Strategy

  7. The Board considered progress on the Higher Court Advocates (HCAs) pilots in Hampshire and Isle of Wight and Hertfordshire. HCAs are undertaking 40% of all non-contentious cases and starting to undertake trials. Early indications are that increased in-house advocacy would provide an opportunity for existing staff to fulfil their potential as advocates and encourage talented lawyers to join the Service, and is backed by a strong value for money case.
  8. The progress made in the two HCA pilots was encouraging. The Delivery & Change Committee was invited to develop proposals to extend the use of HCAs, drawing on the evaluation and experience from the pilots and the opportunities provided from the merger of administration and prosecution cost budgets.

    9. Progress on Charging

  9. The Board considered the current position on the rollout and delivery of the charging initiative. Statutory charging is now being provided to the police in all Priority Areas, with an out-of-hours service being provided by CPS Direct. The Board noted proposals to review implementation and delivery in Priority Areas and to assess implementation plans in other Areas, who were currently providing a 'shadow' charging service.
  10. The Board expressed appreciation for the huge effort made across the Service in preparing for and delivering the charging arrangements.
  11. The Board recognised the support that CPS Direct has provided with out-of hours coverage to Priority Areas and asked for further work to consider how the Service could maintain a high quality out-of hours service as other Areas introduced the statutory charging arrangements.

    12. SOCA Prosecution Services

  12. The Board considered a presentation by the SOCA Team on the review of how the Service conducts serious, sensitive and complex cases. The proposals are for serious casework to be conducted through three central casework divisions and for some categories of cases to be devolved both to the 42 Areas and to proposed 'Regional Clusters'.
  13. The Board agreed with the proposed approach and invited the SOCA Team to carry out further work to develop more detailed implementation proposals and to consider how the Special Casework Lawyer cadre would be included in the overall proposals to conduct these cases.

    14. CJS Delivery and Reform

  14. The Board welcomed a presentation by Moira Wallace, Chief Executive of the Office of Criminal Justice Reform, which set out the structure and work of the OCJR in supporting CJS agencies to work together to deliver PSA targets; to introduce CJS reform through a 5-year strategic plan for the CJS; and to provide an improved service to the public.
  15. In discussion the Board considered ways that joint working is being more firmly embedded across the CJS, particularly through the work of the Local Criminal Justice Boards; the added value of having OCJR representation on the CPS Board (and on the Board of the Department of Constitutional Affairs); and on the challenges the CJS and CPS faced in jointly delivering PSA targets and the 5-year strategy.

    16. Freedom of Information

  16. The Board noted work to prepare the Service for the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which come into force in January 2005.

    17. Budget Position and Forecast Outturn

  17. The Board noted the budget position at the end of September and the forecast year-end outturn. The new Finance Committee will be considering what financial information should come to the Board in future taking account of the Treasury's financial performance management framework.
  18. The Board noted the scale of the risks and that all Areas and HQ Directorates had to step up their efforts to manage expenditure. The Finance Committee was invited to report on the budget position and forecast outturn at the next Board meeting.

    19. Agenda for January 2005 Board Meeting

  19. The agenda for their next Board meeting on 15 January 2005 was agreed.

    20. Any Other Business

    Spring Senior Managers' Conference

  20. The Board noted the feedback from the Autumn Senior Managers' Conference and that senior managers are to be canvassed for proposals for the next Conference scheduled for April 2005. The conference programme will be developed through the Delivery and Change Committee.

    21. Board Away Day

  21. The Chief Executive suggested a future Board meeting might be an away day to take stock of the way the new Board and its supporting Committee structure is working and to identify key issues for the Board for 2005-06.

    22. NAO Report

  22. The NAO report, Facing Justice: Tackling defendants' non-attendance at court' was published on 18 November and would be the subject of a Public Accounts Committee hearing on 1 December 2004.

Strategy Planning & Change Division
November 2004