Crown Prosecution Service Annual Report 2004 - 2005

Director's Letter to the Attorney General

I am pleased to report to you on the performance and reform of the Crown Prosecution Service during 2004-05. This has been a year where the CPS has continued to make progress towards our shared vision of becoming a world class prosecuting authority and valued public service.

Ken Macdonald QC

During the year the CPS prosecuted over 1.25 million cases, with over 943,000 defendants convicted in the magistrates' court and almost 72,000 convicted in the Crown Court.

In bringing these cases to court, the CPS has continued to work closely with police colleagues, operating as a prosecution team to improve the investigation and prosecution of offenders at home and abroad; to improve joint case management in bringing the strongest possible case before the courts; to improve the services provided to victims and witnesses of crime; and to recover the proceeds of crime.

These and other partner relationships with the courts and the voluntary sector are entirely proper and are an appropriate development for the Service. They can create challenges in maintaining CPS independence in charging advice and decision-making.

But these are challenges of practice not principle. Engaging with criminal justice partners is fundamental to the CPS contributing more effectively to the CJS.

As part of this prosecution team working, we have continued the implementation of the charging programme, where CPS prosecutors select the charge in all but the most minor cases. These statutory charging arrangements are now operating in 15 of the 42 CPS Areas and account for some 60% of all CPS prosecutions. The remaining Areas are already operating 'shadow' charging arrangements with police colleagues. They will all have moved to the statutory scheme on schedule, by March 2007.

These new charging arrangements have been well supported by CPS Direct, an out-of-hours telephone service that allows prosecutors to provide the police, in those Areas operating under the statutory arrangements, with any charging advice required through the night and at weekends. This enables the CPS to provide a 24/7 prosecution service.

The CPS is also working with the police and Witness Support to deliver the No Witness, No Justice initiative which is improving the services, information and support provided to victims and witnesses of crime. Over 80 witness care centres are now open across England and Wales, with at least one in each Area. This initiative is helping to put victims at the centre of the CJS.

A major development for the CPS this year has been to introduce an advocacy strategy so that we may routinely conduct our own, high-quality advocacy in all Courts. Two Higher Court Advocacy pilots, in Hertfordshire and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, where CPS prosecutors regularly prosecute cases in the Crown Court, are showing what a move to more Crown Court advocacy will mean for the CPS. All Areas are now looking at ways of increasing the use of Higher Court Advocates. We are continuing to draw on the skills and experience of designated caseworkers to prosecute guilty plea cases in magistrates' courts.

In-house advocacy is a proper role for the CPS as a public prosecuting authority.This initiative will make available an untapped reservoir of talent and experience in the Service, offer wider opportunities for staff who wish to develop their careers as designated caseworkers and prosecutors, help increase the Service's attractiveness as the major legal employer and help to attract ambitious graduates and experienced prosecutors from outside the Service to join us.

During the year, the Service has completed a fundamental review of how it conducts serious, sensitive and complex cases. I have decided to create three new central casework divisions to be known as Organised Crime Division, Counter-Terrorism Division and Special Crime Division. My aim is to have the new structures and operating arrangements in place by October 2005. We shall be ready to provide the best possible prosecution services to the new Serious and Organised Crime Agency and across the full range of our serious casework.

The CPS is leading the way in electronic case management in the CJS. More and more casework is managed through the COMPASS Case Management System. CPS staff are able to securely email CJS colleagues including the Bar and defence solicitors. And the Service is starting to explore the potential to link up with other CJS systems, particularly through a pilot in Humberside which is looking at the scope for police and the CPS to communicate and exchange case management information electronically.

We are proud to say we have a diverse workforce that not only represents our community but actively works for it. Our equality and diversity programme has gone from strength to strength. This year we produced an Equality and Diversity Policy statement and Strategy, in consultation with the wider community, which will contribute towards our goal of becoming an employer of choice for all communities.

The Service continues to develop leadership training and development for its current and aspiring leaders through our 'Transform' programme. We are starting to develop the potential of e-learning across the organisation. We continue to develop our approach to programme and project and risk management to ensure we are able to bring about the sought for benefits from our reform programme, secure value for money and deliver the efficiency savings sought by HM Treasury in the 2004 Spending Review.

I am proud of our achievements during 2004-05 and thank all of my staff for their hard work, commitment and professionalism. We have earned the respect and confidence of our partners within the CJS and beyond.

I am sure we will build on this success over the coming year and continue to work to become a world class prosecuting service. Above all, this will be a prosecution service that earns and deserves the confidence, respect and trust of the communities it serves. I want communities everywhere and members of those communities, to see us as their prosecution service acting on their behalf with independence, integrity, firmness, clarity and vigour.

Ken Macdonald QC
Director of Public Prosecutions