Criminal Justice System Performance
PSA Targets
PSA targets were set for the CJS in the Spending Review 2004 (SR 2004) for 2005-08. The targets, reported on at pages 9-10, are the responsibility of the Home Office, DCA and the CPS.
Efficiency Savings
SR 2004 also requires the CPS to deliver £34 million efficiency savings by March 2008 (pages 11-12). The CPS has no workforce reduction target in SR 2004, but has set a target of relocating 20 posts by 31 March 2008.
SR 2004 Progress on Delivery PSA Target 1:
Improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.25 million by 2007-08.
An offence is said to have been brought to justice when a recorded crime results in an offender being convicted; cautioned; issued with a penalty notice for disorder; given a formal warning for the possession of cannabis or having an offence taken into consideration by the court.
Performance Measure
Increase the number of offences for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.25 million by March 2008.
Latest Outturn
Ahead.
Latest performance on offenders brought to justice is 1.399 million [note: Data are provisional and subject to change, contains estimates for missing data] in the year ending December 2006. This is 39.6% above baseline. Performance must be maintained but provisional data shows that we are already ahead of the 2007-08 target level.
SR 2004 Progress on Delivery PSA Target 2:
Reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB), and building confidence in the CJS without compromising fairness.
Public confidence in the CJS and the satisfaction of victims and witnesses is assessed using the BCS and the Home Office Citizenship Survey (HOCS). [note: HOCS is now The Citizenship Survey following the transfer of Communities Group from the Home Office to the Department of Communities and Local Government].
Responsibility for the three assurance elements of the target lies with the Home Office. The three confidence elements, reported on below, are shared between the Home Office, DCA and the CPS.
Performance Measures
Improve the level of public confidence in the CJS.
This is determined using questions in the BCS which ask whether the public believes the CJS is effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice.
Latest Outturn
On Course
- Baseline (BCS 2002-03): 39%
- Target (BCS 2007-08): An increase
- Annual Outturn (BCS 2005-06): 44%
- Latest Outturn (Year to December 2006): 42%
Performance Measures
Reduce the number of people in ethnic minority communities who believe the CJS would treat them worse than people of other races.
This is determined using questions in the HOCS which ask whether people from a black or minority ethnic background believe the CJS would treat them worse than people of other races.
Latest Outturn
On Course
- Baseline (HOCS 2001): 33%
- Target (The Citizenship Survey 2007): A reduction
- Latest Outturn (HOCS 2005): 31%
Performance Measures
Increase satisfaction of victims and witnesses.
This is measured using BCS questions on victim and witness satisfaction with the CJS.
Latest Outturn
On Course
- Baseline (BCS six months to March 2004): 58%
- Target (BCS 2007-08): An increase
- Annual Outturn (BCS 2005-06): 59%
- Latest Outturn (Year to December 2006): 60%
Delivering Efficiencies
Introduction
SR 2004 set a new efficiency target for the CPS to deliver savings of £34.1 million in 2007-08. To achieve this overall target, the CPS has set interim plans of £20.1 million in 2005-06, £26.6 million in 2006-07 and £34.1 million in 2007-08.
The table below shows the efficiency targets per year (in £millions), along with the discrete year savings made to date for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Workstream |
2004-05 CPS Plan | 2004-05 Actual | 2005-06 CPS Plan | 2005-06 Actual* | 2006-07 CPS Plan | 2006-07 Actual* | 2007-08 SR 2004 Target | Cashable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charging Programme |
10.0 |
15.6 |
15.0 |
19.2 |
17.5 |
22.8 |
20.0 |
10.0 |
Productive Time |
1.3 |
2.4 |
3.8 |
33.8 |
6.1 |
50.2 |
8.1 |
4.3 |
Procurement |
0.3 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
4.3 |
2.5 |
2.1 |
Corporate Services |
- |
- |
0.8 |
1.1 |
2.0 |
2.9 |
3.5 |
1.1 |
Total |
11.6 |
18.6 |
20.1 |
56.6 |
26.6 |
80.2 |
34.1 |
17.5 |
* Data are provisional and may be subject to minor revision. The figures quoted here were correct at 6 July 2007.
In 2006-07, the CPS had achieved efficiency savings of £80.2million. This represents a positive result with the realised savings significantly higher than originally anticipated. The increased savings have primarily come through greater savings being realised through the Productive Time workstream from the Compass Programme and Advocacy Programme. The continued success of the CPS Efficiency Programme has been recognised, with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) agreeing that the CPS is on course to successfully deliver the efficiency target.
The targets have been, and will be, delivered through planned efficiencies, broadly covering:
- The implementation of the Charging programme, designed to improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of the criminal justice process; is measured by success in terms of the improvement in the guilty plea rate, reductions in discontinuance and reductions in the proportion of cases that do not result in a conviction;
- Improvements in productive time, measured through a survey of users of the Compass Management Information System and in the deployment of HCAs and DCWs;
- Savings through HQ rationalisation, relocation and corporate services reorganisation, where service levels and process quality have been measured and benchmarked and serve as quality performance measures. These are measured through the number of staff redeployed, overhead cost comparison, and transaction processing costs; and
- Improving procurement practices, which focuses on reducing the costs of goods and services and is developing a structured specification for goods and services for a range of suppliers whilst ensuring the quality of goods and services is maintained.
The CPS expects productive time efficiencies to account for around 64% of planned savings by 2007-08, with another 27% coming from the Charging programme and the remainder through improved efficiency in the provision of corporate services and savings delivered through more effective procurement practices. Cashable savings are being re-invested in Charging, Compass and the Case Management System (CMS), and meeting new workload pressures on frontline staff.
Actions taking place to deliver efficiencies
- All 42 CPS Areas are now operating under the new Statutory Charging arrangements which were introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
- The structural reorganisation of Service Centres has been completed, including reducing the number of Service Centres to deliver services to Areas as efficiently and effectively as possible.
- The Compass Programme completed an OGC-led Gateway Review 5 on benefits realisation. The Compass Benefits Annual Report for 2005-06 was published in July 2006.
- All Areas are implementing local plans to increase the use of HCAs and DCWs as part of a strategy to increase CPS in-house advocacy. Targets for HCA and DCW deployment for future years have been set in the light of experience to date.
- Procurement initiatives have been implemented with the savings achieved exceeding the 2006-07 target of £1million.
- There is no target for workforce reductions in the CPS efficiency plan. The CPS has set a target of relocating 20 posts by 31 March 2008. Good progress is already being made with the CPS recording 43 posts relocated out of London and the South East as at the end of 2006-07.
Plans for delivering efficiencies over the next 6-12 months
- Following the rollout of the Statutory Charging programme to all 42 Areas and the completion of post-implementation reviews across all 42 Areas, monitoring of benefits realisation will continue.
- The Service Centre Review project will complete the programme of redeploying all displaced staff. New Business Centres will have service level agreements in place with Areas and with HQ.
- The Advocacy Strategy Programme will review HCA and DCW targets for 2007-08 and beyond, with the aim of accelerating in-house advocacy deployment at a greater rate than originally planned.
- Review and re-negotiation of supplier contracts will continue to ensure that challenging efficiency delivery targets for procurement are met.
