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Crown Prosecution Service Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2007 - 2008

Resource Accounts

Management Commentary

Introduction

The Accounts report the resources that have been consumed working to deliver the Department’s aim and objective. This report has been prepared in accordance with the guidance set out in the Government’s Financial Reporting Manual (FReM).

Spending Review 2004

The Government spending plans for the CPS for the three years from 2005-06 to 2007-08, which were announced in July 2004 as part of the 2004 Spending Review represent an average increase in real terms of 3 per cent a year.

The new spending plans required the CPS to:

  • Deliver more challenging Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets. Further details on performance against current PSA targets can be found within the body of the Annual Report under the heading: Criminal Justice System Performance.
  • Complete the rollout of full statutory charging across England and Wales by March 2007;
  • Improve the handling of victims and witnesses, promote their needs, ensure that victims’ views are represented and enable both victims and witnesses to give evidence effectively; and
  • Deliver significant efficiency savings that amount to £34 million in 2007-08. Further details can be found within the body of the Annual Report under the heading: Criminal Justice System Performance.

Departmental Report

The CPS Departmental Report is presented to Parliament as part of the Law Officers’ Departments Departmental Report. The report for 2007-08 was published in May 2008 and can be found on the CPS website: www.cps.gov.uk

The coverage of the report includes the following main elements:

  • Progress on delivering public services, including departmental objectives, PSA targets and modernising government;
  • Recent developments in the CPS, including reorganisation and other new legislative and working practice initiatives;
  • An analysis of expenditure over the previous five years and the expenditure plans for the next three years; and
  • CPS performance and achievements.

The Autumn Performance Report 2008 will be published in December 2008 and provides supplementary performance information on PSA targets and progress on the key initiatives being undertaken by the CPS and other CJS agencies. Autumn Performance Reports are available at www.cps.gov.uk

Operating and Financial Review

a) Operating Review

(i) CPS Business Strategy for 2005-08

The CPS Business Strategy for 2005-08 focuses on how to deliver the PSA targets which represent the Government’s key objectives in criminal justice, and the basis on which funding for the Service is provided.

The CPS Vision to become a world class prosecution authority and the supporting business strategy has been developed with regard to a number of business drivers and changes across the CJS and to wider Civil Service reforms.

The Business Strategy sets out a challenging reform agenda for the CPS over the three years to 2008. The changes set out in the Strategy are part of the wider reform of the CJS and are essential if the CPS is to play its full part in a more efficient and effective CJS and become more accountable to local communities.

The planned changes, which are described in detail in the body of the Annual Report, will mean a more confident, strong and independent CPS that is better equipped to bring more offenders to justice and to prevent offenders profiting from their criminality. It will mean that people will be more secure from anti-social behaviour and crime, communities will be safer places to live and work and the public will have more confidence and trust in the CPS and in the CJS as a whole.

(ii) Key Strengths

The Board believes the key strengths of the CPS include:

The department has clear, strong direction and leadership that has transformed the organisation’s role, performance and reputation in recent years. The vision has enthused and raised the ambitions of many staff and has attracted more high quality recruits. The CPS employs 2,973 prosecutors, 989 are Higher Court Advocates able to present cases in the Crown Court and in the Higher Courts. The department also employs 438 Associate Prosecutors able to present cases in the magistrates’ courts. Both groups are representative of the increasing professionalism of the CPS.

The CPS has made good progress in building positive and effective working relationships with its partners and becoming an influential voice within the Criminal Justice System.

The CPS has a proven track record for successfully planning, resourcing and delivering major change initiatives including assuming the responsibility for determining the appropriate charge in all but the most routine cases, implementation of joint Witness Care Units with the police to provide a single point of contact for witnesses and the successful implementation of national Case Management and Witness Management Systems based on up to date IT infrastructure provided through a PFI between the CPS and Logica.

The 2008-09 Main Estimate for the CPS has been approved and no changes are anticipated.

(iii) Future Factors
CSR2007

In October 2007 the Government concluded the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (CSR2007) which determined the spending plans and performance targets for all departments for financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11. CSR2007 has delivered a long term and fundamental review of government expenditure. As part of the settlement the CPS has agreed the following new departmental strategic objective: To bring offenders to justice, improve services to victims and promote confidence by applying the Code for Crown Prosecutors, by adopting a proportionate approach to determine which offenders should be charged and which should be diverted from court, and by firm and fair presentation of cases in court.

In addition the CPS will be working with the other Criminal Justice System agencies to contribute to the delivery of the following PSAs over the CSR period:

  • Make communities safer;
  • Deliver a more effective, transparent and responsive Criminal Justice System for victims and the public; and
  • Reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from international terrorism.

The Government has recognised the increasingly important role the CPS plays in supporting counterterrorism activities and provided an additional £8 million per annum over the CSR2007 period.

In line with many departments the CPS will be expected to deliver efficiency savings of 3.2 per cent per year with a focus on cashable savings to free up resources to meet the challenges ahead. In addition the administration budget for the Department will be reduced by 5 per cent per year in real terms over the CSR2007 period, releasing additional resources for reallocation to frontline service delivery.

In January 2008 the CPS published the Department’s CSR2007 Value For Money Delivery Agreement that explains how the efficiency savings targets will be achieved and which can be found on the CPS website: www.cps.gov.uk. The main themes are focused on delivering the Department’s frontline activities more efficiently through more effective working with other CJS agencies and the adoption of lean service delivery techniques, maximising the efficiency opportunities provided by information technology, improved procurement and other corporate services and through increasing the role of the Department in presenting cases at court.

(iv) Summary of Performance

The CPS has continued to make substantial progress in its reform programme in 2007-08 and in working to achieve the SR2004 PSA targets. Full details of performance and achievements during the year and comparisons with achievements in previous years can be found within the body of the Annual Report under the heading: Criminal Justice System Performance.

The CPS’ Business Strategy for 2005-08 together with the CPS Business Plan for 2008-09 focus on how the PSA targets will be delivered and are available on the CPS website: www.cps.gov.uk

(v) Sustainability
Environmental Matters

The key CPS objectives to incorporate sustainable development and social and community issues are discussed in the body of the Annual Report under the heading Sustainable Development. The CPS, along with the other Law Officers’ Departments, have agreed the Law Officers’ Departments Sustainable Development Action Plan which will be published on the CPS website: www.cps.gov.uk

b) Financial Review

The CPS net Request for Resources (RfR), as voted by Parliament, for the period to 31 March 2008 was £648 million. Our outturn on expenditure as shown in the 2007-08 Accounts, Statement of Parliamentary Supply, was £633 million.

As part of the 2000 Spending Review plans, HM Treasury created a criminal justice reserve which set aside funding to provide for unforeseen pressures and trilaterally agreed new initiatives. The Attorney General, the Home Secretary and the Lord Chancellor agreed to allocate £76 million from the reserve in 2004-05 to the CPS to continue the reform of the Service. The investment has enabled the Service to direct additional resources to the more serious cases, progress the implementation of the charging initiative, bring more offences to justice, provide better support for victims and to implement the recommendations of Speaking up For Justice. The reserve became part of CPS baseline funding from 2005-06.

Note 2 to the Accounts analyses expenditure within the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) by the Department’s two functions, Administration 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. Overall the CPS administration outturn was £52 million compared to net provision of £57 million. The underspend of £5 million reflects, in part, continuing efficiency savings made during the year by HQ Directors to support the decision of the CPS Board to freeze HQ staff numbers and budgets from 2005 - 06 and, in part, some slippage in recruiting staff. The balance comprises the remaining reserves held as a contingency against unforeseen pressures.

Crown prosecutions and legal services cover the direct and indirect costs of taking cases to court. Following 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, reimbursing the costs of prosecution witnesses who attend court, and a number of other less significant costs associated with the prosecution process.

Expenditure on Crown prosecutions and legal services was £581 million compared with provision of £591 million representing an underspend of £10 million. Over £49 million of CPS provision for programme costs is provided by way of costs awarded against defendants and collected by the magistrates’ courts on behalf of the CPS and through the collection of receipts in respect of confiscated criminal assets.

Within the overall expenditure position, expenditure on fees paid to counsel was £3 million higher than originally planned for the year as explained above. The additional expenditure was offset by a reduction in expenditure on other areas of the service.

The CPS and Ministry of Justice use versions of a graduated fee scheme to calculate counsel fees in the majority of Crown Court cases. The concept of broad parity continues to create some upward pressure on the fees the CPS pays for the longer, more complex, cases that have been historically outside the graduated fee scheme. About 40% of Crown Court cases involved indictable-only offences - the most serious cases of all - compared with 33% in 2000-01 and only 18.2% in 1991-92. There are further reasons for the increase in costs. The extension of recovery of criminal assets, the increasing requirements of disclosure, the conclusion of some extremely large cases, terrorism related prosecutions falling out of intensive activity by secret services and the police, and the increased use of information technology have all meant longer and more complex cases.

CPS costs have faced further upward pressure as Crown Court finalisations increased from 122,522 defendant finalisations in 2004-05 to 131,478 in 2007-08, an increase of 7.3% over three years.

Defendant finalisations increased by about 8,000 in the last year alone. These extra Crown Court finalisations have cost the Service around an additional £10 million in prosecution costs expenditure although the use of CPS Higher Court Advocates (HCAs) has helped to offset this pressure.

From October 2005 the graduated fee scheme was extended to include Crown Court cases that had cracked on the day of trial, cases where the defendant gave a guilty plea and cases that were expected to last between 25 and 40 days in court .Further measures are to be taken, in particular the further extension of the deployment of HCAs to help manage these cost pressures.

Capital expenditure in the CPS is focused on improving the Department’s estate and office environment and investment in IT through the PFI arrangement with LogicaCMG.

Reconciliation of resource expenditure between Estimates, Accounts and Budgets (£thousands)
Description
2007-08
2006-07
.
£000
£000
Net Resource Outturn (Estimate)
648,432
621,342
Resource Budget (Estimate)
648,432
621,342
Adjustments to additionally include:
Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts in the OCS
(164)
(2,059)
Unallocated Resource
(15,554)
(5,065)
Net Operating Cost (Accounts)
632,714
614,218

The Department spent a total of £3 million on the purchase of fixed assets. This was £4 million less than the budget. The underspend was caused substantially by slippage in planned projects for improvements to leasehold properties and the replacement of office equipment. The Department’s net cash requirement outturn was £627 million against an estimate of £649 million.

During 2007-08 debtors due within one year decreased by £1 million from £59 million to £58 million and debtor days decreased from 234 to 187 days. Debtors effectively represent the outstanding value of cost awards due to the CPS that are collected by the magistrates’ courts on our behalf. Repayment arrangements agreed with defendants by the courts mean that collection can occur over an extended period of time. The introduction of income in respect of recovered criminal assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act incentivisation scheme has increased the total income for the Department and reduced the proportion accounted for by cost awards.

In the same period creditors increased from £59 million to £76 million and creditor days reduced slightly from 53 days to 51 days. The increase in creditors is due to the ‘amounts issued from the Consolidated Fund for supply but not spent at year end’ figure rising from £2 million last year to £22 million this year.

Management

Sir Ken Macdonald QC was appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions in November 2003. The Chief Executive supports the Director. The Chief Executive has responsibility for finance, human resources, performance management, IT and business and administrative processes, allowing the Director to concentrate on prosecution and legal processes. Peter Lewis was appointed as the Chief Executive on 15 January 2007. The Remuneration Report provides detail of service contracts and salary and pension entitlements for senior officials of the Department.

CPS Board

The CPS Board supports the Director and Chief Executive. It is collectively responsible for the delivery of the CPS public service outcomes, targets and our contribution to the Criminal Justice System Public Service Agreements.

Following the publication of the Capability Review report the CPS undertook a review of corporate governance in Summer 2007. This resulted in revised committee arrangements that came into effect from September 2007, with a subsequent change in January 2008.

Revised membership of the Board from September comprised the Director, Chief Executive, Finance Director, Chief Operating Officer, three Non-executive Directors (NED) and the Acting Chief Executive of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR). The Board meets bi-monthly. In addition to changes in the Board, the supporting committee structure was also changed. The Delivery and Change Committee (DCC), Strategy Policy and Diversity Committee (SPDC) and People Equality and Resources Committee (PERC), were disbanded, and Corporate Delivery and Management Group and Group Chairs Group were established in their place. The Audit Committee remained unchanged. The total number of supporting Committees was reduced from four to three. A single secretariat function provides streamlined and co-ordinated support and ensures that links between committee workstrands are identified and managed effectively. The effectiveness of the new governance arrangements and membership of the Board and Committees will be reviewed in 2008-09.

The membership of the CPS Board and attendance during 2007-08 are as follows:
Board Member Title Attendance (out of 8 meetings) Notes
Sir Ken Macdonald QC DPP 7  
Peter Lewis Chief Executive 8  
John Graham Director, Finance 7  
Roger Daw Director, Policy 4 (out of 4)  
Steve Przybylski Acting, Business Development Director 4 (out of 5)  
Mike Kennedy Business Development Director 2 (out of 2) Appointed Chief Operating Officer in November 2007
Claire Hamon Business Information Systems Director 3 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Ros McCool Human Resources Director 4 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Séamus Taylor Equality and Diversity Director 3 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Dru Sharpling CCP, London 3 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Judith Walker CCP, South Yorkshire 4 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Neil Franklin CCP,West Yorkshire 4 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Portia Ragnauth CCP, Durham 2 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Adele Clarke ABM, Northumbria 3 (out of 4) Left the Board after the July 2007 meeting
Gerard Lemos Non-Executive Director 6  
Philip Oliver Non-Executive Director 6  
Rob Sykes Non-Executive Director 7  
Ursula Brennan Chief Executive, OCJR 0 (out of 1) Left the Board after the May 2007 meeting
Jonathan Sedgwick Acting Chief Executive, OCJR 6 (out of 6) Joined the Board at the May 2007 meeting

In April and October each year CCPs, ABMs and key managers in Headquarters meet together at conference to debate strategic issues and key operational problems.

The appointment and termination of staff who are members of the CPS Board, excluding the NEDs who are not employed by the CPS, is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code. Where appropriate their remuneration, details of which can be found in the Remuneration Report, is determined by reference to the Senior Salaries Review Body. In the rare event of members holding company directorships or having any significant interests that conflict with their management responsibilities, these are declared and a record kept by the single secretariat. No specific action was required at Board level due to a declaration of interest in 2007-08.

The role of the Board is to:

  • Ensure CPS continues to become world class and provides a fair and effective prosecution service;
  • Demonstrate visible and effective leadership across the organisation to inspire confidence in staff, CJS and other stakeholders and the public;
  • Determine the vision, role, direction and priorities of the CPS;
  • Ensure effective allocation and management of CPS staff and financial resources;
  • Monitor and improve the CPS performance; and
  • Protect and enhance the CPS reputation as an organisation that is becoming a world class prosecution service.

Examples of business covered by the Board include:

  • New CPS Vision;
  • Strategic and Business Plan 2008-11;
  • People Strategy; and
  • Management Review.

Corporate Delivery and Management Group

CDMG contributes to the development and delivery of the CPS Vision and Strategy, cross-CJS PSAs, CPS public service outcomes and other priorities.

Work undertaken

  • HQ Review (ongoing);
  • Approved 2008-09 resource allocations; and
  • Performance Management Framework.
Members of the Corporate Delivery and Management Group:
CDMG Member Title Attendance (out of 6 meetings) Notes
Peter Lewis Chief Executive (Chair) 6  
John Graham Finance Director 4  
Mike Kennedy Business Development Director 4 Appointed Chief Operating Officer in November 2007
Gail Lamb Acting Business Information
Systems Director
5 (out of 5)  
David Jones Business Information Systems Director 1 (out of 1) Appointed Business Information Systems Director in February 2008
Ros McCool Human Resources Director 5  
Séamus Taylor Equality and Diversity Director 6  
Philip Oliver Non-executive Director 5  
Karen Sawitzki Senior Business Manager 2 (out of 2) Joined CDMG at January 2008 meeting
Dru Sharpling CCP London 1 (out of 2) Joined CDMG at January 2008 meeting

Group Chairs Group

GCG contributes to the development and delivery of the CPS Vision and Strategy, cross-CJS PSAs, CPS public service outcomes and other priorities.

Work undertaken

  • HCA Progression Framework; and
  • Approved 2008-09 resource allocations.
Members of the Group Chairs Group:
GCG Member Title Attendance (out of 6 meetings) Notes
Peter Lewis Chief Executive (Chair) 5  
Mike Kennedy Business Development Director 3 Appointed Chief Operating Officer in November 2007
Paul Whittaker Group Chair Merseyside and Cheshire 4  
Neil Franklin Group Chair West and North Yorkshire 5  
Martin Goldman CCP CPS Direct 5  
Dru Sharpling CCP London 4  
John Holt Group Chair Manchester 5  
David Blundell Group Chair West Midlands 6  
Nicola Reasbeck Group Chair North East 4  
Nigel Cowgill Group Chair South Yorkshire
and Humberside
6  
Bob Marshall Group Chair North West 5  
Chris Woolley Group Chair Wales/Cymru 4  
David Archer Deputy Group Chair Wales/Cymru 1  
Barry Hughes Group Chair South West 2  
Nick Hawkins Group Chair Wessex 5  
Roger Coe-Salazar Group Chair South East 4  
Baljit Ubhey Group Chair Thames and Chiltern 6  
Ken Caley Group Chair Anglia 5  
Judith Walker East Midlands 6  
Alison Saunders Casework Divisions 5  

Audit Committee (AC)

The AC supports the Accounting Officers in their responsibilities for issues of risk control and governance by reviewing the comprehensiveness of assurances in meeting the CPS Board and Accounting Officers’ assurance needs and reviewing the reliability and integrity of these assurances. The AC’s role and responsibilities remained unchanged throughout the year.

Work undertaken

  • Reviewed the systems and process of internal control and governance, including reviewing reports by Internal Audit and management on the effectiveness of systems for internal control, governance and risk management;
  • Reviewed the Statement of Internal Control and Annual Resource Accounts for 2006-07 including the observations by NAO;
  • Approved and monitored the Internal Audit programme for 2007-08, reviewed the findings from such activity and action taken by management on audit recommendations;
  • Reviewed and endorsed the Head of Internal Audit’s Annual Report for 2006-07; and
  • Reviewed the external auditors’ strategy and plan for the 2007-08 Resource Accounts.
Members of the Audit Committee:
AC Member Title Attendance (out of 2 meetings) Notes
Rob Sykes Non-executive Director (Chair) 2  
Linda Fox ABM, Hertfordshire 2 Left the CPS on 15 February 2008.
David Judd Non-executive Director 2  
Paula Abrahams CCP, Essex 2  

From September DCC, SPDC and PERC were replaced by CDMG and GCG.

Strategy, Policy and Diversity Committee

SPDC determined the Service’s overall vision and strategic direction and developed prosecution policies to deliver that vision whilst integrating all aspects of equality and diversity.

Members of the Strategy, Policy and Diversity Committee:
SPDC Member Title Attendance (out of 4 meetings) Notes
Philip Oliver Non-executive Director (Chair) 2 (out of 2)  
Roger Daw Director of Policy 4 Left the committee after September 2007 meeting
Elizabeth Howe CCP Kent 1 (out of 1) Left the committee after June 2007 meeting
Charles Ingham CCP Hertfordshire 3  
Alison Saunders Head of Organised Crime Division 4  
Séamus Taylor Director of EDU 2  
Chris Woolley CCP South Wales 3  
Denise Bailey ABM Hampshire and Isle of Wight 0 (out of 1) Joined the committee at January 2008 meeting
Gerard Lemos Non-executive Director 0 (out of 1) Joined the committee at January 2008 meeting

Delivery & Change Committee (DCC)

DCC managed the Service’s change programme to ensure the delivery of PSA and other targets; reviewed and revised the existing change programme in order to integrate new legislative, policy or delivery objectives; and monitored progress so that it became ‘business as usual’.

Members of the Delivery & Change Committee
DCC Members Position/Role Attendance (out of 1 meetings) Notes
Gerard Lemos NED (Chair) 1  
Jean Ashton ABM Greater Manchester 1  
John Graham Director, Finance 1  
Claire Hamon Director, Business Information Systems 1  
Nick Hawkins CCP, Hampshire &Isle of Wight 1  
Robert Stevenson Deputy Director of Business
Development
1  
Clare Toogood Sector Business Manager, London South 1  
Judith Walker CCP, South Yorkshire 1  

People, Equality & Resources Committee (PERC)

The PERC ensured that the CPS has the capacity and capability to deliver the agreed business strategy, by allocating resources and agreeing supporting strategies for people, equalities, finance and ICT; and ensured that these supporting strategies maximised efficiencies, delivered value for money and enabled the business strategy and PSA targets to be achieved against a background of increasing resource pressure.

Members of the People, Equality & Resources Committee
PERC Members Position/Role Attendance (out of 2 meetings) Notes
Peter Lewis Chief Executive (Chair) 2  
Lesley Burton ABM, London 1  
John Graham Director, Finance 2  
Claire Hamon Director, Business Information Systems 1  
Ros McCool Director 2  
Philip Oliver NED 1  
Steve Przybylski Acting Director ofBusiness Development 2  
Baljit Ubhey CCP, Thames Valley 1  

Pensions

The Accounting Policy Note 1.8 describes the CPS policy on how pension liabilities are treated and the accounting treatment is detailed in Note 7 and in the Remuneration Report.

Equal Opportunities

The CPS has a strong commitment and increasingly positive reputation on equal opportunities. The Service reviewed and refreshed its policy commitments on equal opportunities in 2005 and in its refined policy statement states:

‘We are committed to taking account of the diversity of the population we serve and the staff we employ, promoting equality and opportunity for everyone. The Service recognises the challenge of institutional discrimination. We will work to eradicate it. We will work to ensure that prosecution decisions are free from bias or discrimination and that victims, witnesses and defendants are treated fairly, consistently and with respect. We will provide services in a manner that is appropriate to the individual. We are committed to achieving equality and respecting diversity in employment. We will work to build an inclusive workforce, which at all levels, reflects the communities we serve, where all staff are motivated and with no unjustifiable differences in employees’ experiences.’

An Equal and Diverse Prosecution Service

The CPS has moved into a second phase in its work to further equality and diversity - it has moved on from a focus on raising awareness of the issues to a focus on outcomes. From April 2005 onwards the Service introduced equalities outcome measures into its performance review system and reports on achievements on a quarterly basis. The Service continually strives to improve its reputation on equality and diversity issues and in the past year its work has been positively recognised through the Cabinet Office Capability Review of the CPS (June 2007).

The CPS is committed to further progress on equality and diversity in employment and has put a Diversity Delivery Plan in place which sets out what we will do to achieve senior workforce representation targets.

Reporting of Personal Data Related Incidents

Incidents, the disclosure of which would in itself create an unacceptable risk of harm, may be excluded in accordance with the exemptions contained in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or may be subject to the limitations of the other UK information legislation.

TABLE 1: Summary of protected personal data related to incidents formally reported to the information commissioner’s office in 2007–08.

No incidents have needed to be reported to the Information Commissioner.

Table 2: Summary of other protected data related incidents in 2007–08

Incidents deemed by the Data Controller not to fall within the criteria for report to the Information Commissioner’s Office but recorded centrally within the Department are set out in the table below.

Category Types Nature of Incident Total
I Loss of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from secured Government premises 1
II Loss of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from outside secured Government premises 6
III Insecure disposal of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents 1
IV Unauthorised disclosure 2
V Other 5

Explanatory Notes:

  • The incidents include minor losses, and those relating to loss of case papers where the protection was adequate but for example a robbery took place on a courier van.
  • Includes the loss of one laptop which had password protection and encryption on the basic input output system (BIOS). At the time of the loss the protective security on the laptop was compliant with Communications Electronics Security Group (CESG) guidance.
  • The losses relate to a small number of individual case papers - no bulk losses.

TABLE 3: Year-on-year total numbers of protected data related incidents prior to 2007-08

The CPS will not be providing similar details for the resource accounting period 2004-05, 2005-06, or 2006-07. Detail and the categorisation of the data losses are not totally reliable.

Employee Consultation and Providing Information to Employees

The CPS has continued in its strategy of communicating and consulting with staff, both formally and informally. The main hub for the promulgation of business information is from an area on the CPS Intranet called “Infonet Live”. From here staff can access weekly business updates, news and information produced by Areas and HQ Directorates for a more local perspective, as well as the monthly publication CPS News, which is also produced in hard copy and goes to an audience beyond the CPS.

The CPS intranet home page provides a portal to a number of themed areas as well as an online bulletin board, which is used to discuss a variety of business and social subjects. The intranet is becoming an important communication tool for the Department, as it moves to more sustainable working practices, with manuals and standard forms from across the different Directorates also published online, including the CPS HR policy procedures.

Staff are informed about items of change through team meetings and by newsletters circulated by project managers. Informal and formal consultations take place with the Trade Unions and staff networks over changes that will affect staff. Communication and consultation with the Trade Unions takes place as part of regular Whitley Council meetings. The CPS also meets with the Trade Unions to discuss specific policy changes and to conduct pay negotiations.

Payment of Suppliers and Witnesses

The CPS is committed to paying bills in accordance with agreed contractual conditions, or, where no such conditions exist, within 30 days of receipt of goods or services or the presentation of a valid invoice, whichever is the later. The CPS also seeks to pay all expenses to prosecution witnesses within 5 working days of receipt of a correctly completed claim form.

In 2007-08 the CPS settled 91.60% of undisputed invoices within 30 days of receipt and 97.12% of witness claims within 5 days. The CPS paid £Nil with respect to interest due under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Auditors

This year’s Resource Accounts have been audited by the National Audit Office on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General. No further audit services were received aside from that of statutory audit by the NAO.

The cost of audit work was £92,000, which is solely related to audit services and is a notional cost (see Note 9).

As far as the Accounting Officer is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the National Audit Office are unaware, and the Accounting Officer has taken all the steps that he ought to have taken to make himself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the entity’s auditors are aware of that information.

Ken Macdonald QC signature

Sir Ken Macdonald QC
Accounting Officer
3 July 2008

Statement of accounting officers responsibilities

Under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, HM Treasury has directed the Crown Prosecution Service to prepare for each financial year resource accounts detailing the resources acquired, held or disposed of during the year and the use of resources by the Department during the year. The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Crown Prosecution Service and of its net resource outturn, resources applied to objectives, recognised gains and losses and cash flows for the financial year.

In preparing the accounts, the Accounting Officer is required to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual and in particular to:

  • observe the Accounts Direction issued by HM Treasury, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis;
  • make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis;
  • state whether applicable accounting standards as set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual have been followed, and disclose and explain any material departures in the accounts; and
  • prepare the accounts on a going concern basis.

HM Treasury has appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions as Accounting Officer of the Department, and the Director of Public Prosecutions has appointed the Chief Executive as an Additional Accounting Officer, with responsibility for preparing the Department’s accounts and for transmitting them to the Comptroller and Auditor General. The responsibilities of an Accounting Officer, including responsibility for the propriety and regularity of the public finances for which the Accounting Officer is answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding the Department’s assets, are set out in Managing Public Money published by HM Treasury. Under the terms of the Accounting Officer’s Memorandum, the relationship between the Department’s principal and additional Accounting Officers, together with their respective responsibilities, is set out in writing.

Statement of internal control

Scope of responsibility

As Accounting Officer, I have responsibility for maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of CPS policies, aims and objectives, whilst safeguarding the public funds and departmental assets for which I am personally responsible, in accordance with the responsibilities assigned to me in Managing Public Money.

I am supported in managing the CPS and its key risks by a Chief Executive as additional Accounting Officer, the CPS Board and six Headquarters Directors. A governance review in 2007-08 resulted in a streamlined Board structure reducing the number of Chief Crown Prosecutor and HQ Director members and setting up two sub-groups: the Corporate Delivery and Management Group and the Group Chairs Group. During 2007-08, this was supplemented by two Board committees: the Audit Committee and, for part of the year, the Strategy, Policy and Diversity Committee. The CPS is organised into geographical Areas each headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor with a direct line of accountability to me for legal decisions and casework, and, in the first instance, to the Chief Executive for the delivery of CPS objectives and PSA targets, and for managing local risks. In 2007-08 Areas were organised into Groups under the oversight of a Group Chair

The CPS is an independent part of the criminal justice system under the ministerial superintendence of the Attorney General. I regularly meet the Attorney General to discuss progress, the issues and the risks of key criminal justice policy initiatives.

The purpose of the system of internal control

The system of internal control is designed to manage risk to a reasonable level rather than to eliminate all risk of failure to achieve policies, aims and objectives; it can therefore only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness. The system of internal control is based on an ongoing process designed to identify and prioritise the risks to the achievement of departmental policies, aims and objectives, to evaluate the likelihood of those risks being realised and the impact should they be realised, and to manage them efficiently, effectively and economically. The system of internal control has been in place in CPS for the year ended 31 March 2008 and up to the date of approval of the annual report and accounts, and accords with Treasury guidance.

Capacity to handle risk

The CPS Board is responsible for ensuring that appropriate risk management arrangements exist and for ensuring that corporate risks are properly managed. The Corporate Delivery and Management Group (the change, risk and control oversight functions of which were previously carried out by the Delivery and Change Committee) assists the Board. The role of the Corporate Delivery and Management Group is set out under ‘Review of Effectiveness’

.A Risk Management Champion (who is a Board member) and a Principal Risk Management Advisor, who is responsible for advising on embedding risk management across the Service, supported the Board during 2007-08 and provided update reports to the Board, the Corporate Delivery and Management Group (and previously the Delivery and Change Committee) and the Audit Committee.

The Board approved the CPS corporate risk tolerance - the amount of risk the Department is prepared to carry and all corporate risk owners are Board or Corporate Delivery and Management Group members.

Chief Crown Prosecutors are personally responsible for maintaining effective risk management arrangements and ensuring an effective system of internal control is operated in their Areas. With the Chief Executive, I personally take part in a quarterly round of performance review meetings with Areas. The frequency of review is determined by a risk based assessment. These include consideration of any key challenges or risks across 15 key indicators and business change projects plus a range of occasional thematic topics, which includes local risk management arrangements. In 2007-08 Area procedures for identifying and assessing their business risks were assessed for 21 Areas and Casework Divisions. A similar process is applied to Headquarters Directorates.

The CPS risk management framework is contained in a written policy statement, a practical risk management guide and a written statement of best practice criteria. These are continuously reviewed to ensure they reflect current HM Treasury and Office of Government Commerce standards.

Risk management guidance is provided at the start of each business planning round. In 2007-08, the Service delivered risk training days and/or risk awareness seminars to 5 Areas and 3 HQ Directorates. The CPS Centre of Excellence also delivered training focused on managing business change risks.

Support and best practice guidance is available from the Principal Risk Management Advisor, the Centre of Excellence and a network of 5 Area Business Manager mentors, allowing Areas access to practical help and advice on managing their risks. The full range of risk guidance and support is available to everyone through the Service’s internal ‘Infonet’ and is integrated with other business management and delivery skills that include planning, change, and programme; and project management guidance.

The risk and control framework

All risk management activity is aligned to the corporate aims, objectives, priorities and PSA commitments. Risk Management is applied to strategic corporate risks, Area operational and business risks and key business change programmes. For 2007-08 the focus for corporate and Area risks was the delivery of the PSA targets and the strategic business changes that underpin effective delivery. The priority corporate risk areas were:

  • change management arrangements and the effective delivery of business benefits and efficiency gains;
  • maintaining capability to deliver quality core business;
  • strategic management capacity and capability required to sustain delivery of the PSA targets and business change commitments;
  • development and anticipation of changes to government criminal justice policy;
  • the impact on reputation from adverse publicity in high profile cases;
  • the impact on PSA targets and business change commitments of Area restructuring;
  • the impacts of structural and responsibility changes within the Criminal Justice System; and
  • efficiency delivery and funding constraint effects on service delivery and public confidence.

Corporate, Area and HQ Directorate Business Plans are constructed in tandem with the relevant risk registers. Corporate and operational business risk owners are responsible for ensuring proper review and re-assessment of the level of risk. The Corporate Delivery and Management Group is responsible for identifying the risks to be managed corporately and updating the corporate risk register at formal quarterly reviews.

The CPS Board receives quarterly performance and risk highlight reports, and separate reports of any escalated risks. No corporate risks were escalated to the Board in 2007-08.

On behalf of the Board, the Corporate Delivery and Management Group oversees strategic business change projects and considers the level of risk assumed, and the balance of risk and potential benefits of new projects. Key business change programmes undergo Office of Government Commerce style ‘Gateway’ or ‘Health Check’ reviews. In 2007-08, these included reviews of our new human resource management system (HERMES), a direct procurement system (Procure2Pay) and the Area restructuring projects.

Our corporate risk management process has highlighted the need for more structured analysis of risk, cost and benefits. Work to develop this was carried out in 2007-08 and further development is planned for 2008-09.

For data and information handling risks the Board is assisted by a Chief Information Officer, Senior Information Risk Officer (both of whom are Corporate Delivery and Management Group members) and the Departmental Security Officer. During the year the Chief Executive oversaw a review by the Departmental Security Officer of information security risks that, together with an independent review of information systems security by internal audit, led to improvements to the handling and transfer of electronically stored and paper information.

The Board fully met their programmed corporate risk identification and review commitments and their governance role by overseeing work of the programme boards responsible for the key business changes, including the progress of managing the associated key risks and issues in 2007-08. Due to the governance structure changes, the Corporate Delivery and Management Group was only able to review corporate risks on three of the four planned occasions. I am satisfied, however, that the necessary risk management actions were addressed properly at operational and project level.

Managers and staff at all levels have a responsibility to identify, evaluate, manage or report risks. The Director, Chief Executive and the Board encourage innovation and taking opportunities to further the interests of the CPS and the achievement of its objectives. The Board has set the CPS risk tolerance range, and the acceptable parameters for risk taking by managers are outlined in the CPS risk policy and guidance documents.

The Board requires Areas and HQ Directorates to maintain:

  • a risk register detailing priority by likelihood and impact and showing ownership;
  • a risk management action plan; and
  • evidence of regular review and monitoring.

All Area risk registers were reviewed at the start of the year, and almost half reassessed in the year as part of the Area Performance Review process and to identify trends and common themes. No issues were escalated to the corporate risk register.

The CPS capacity to handle risk is under continuing review by the Corporate Delivery and Management Group and Audit Committee and the Principal Risk Management Advisor reports on progress against the CPS risk management development strategy.

The key areas for continuing development are:

  • further embedding of risk - we are addressing this by continuing review and development of awareness, support and guidance material on the departmental Infonet; Principal Risk Management Advisor quality assurance and promotional visits to operational managers and HQ Directors; the delivery of formal risk training sessions and risk awareness development seminars; providing detailed written feedback reports on request; and maintaining summary best practice guidance;
  • demonstrating improved risk handling and better delivery of planned outcomes - we are addressing this by integrated review of risk management and performance in quarterly Area performance review, and regular monitoring by CPS Board, Audit Committee and the Corporate Delivery and Management Group; and
  • managing risks with partners - we are addressing this by working with the Office of Criminal Justice Reform on risks to the delivery of criminal justice PSA targets, and Criminal Justice Information Technology programme on risks to the development of joint information and communications technology; and establishing a criminal justice system risk management forum.

I am satisfied that, although we could further improve the application of our risk management framework, our risk management arrangements meet the necessary governance standards.

Review of effectiveness

As Accounting Officer, I have responsibility for reviewing the effectiveness of the system of internal control. My review of the effectiveness of the system of internal control is informed by the work of the internal auditors and the executive managers within the Department who have responsibility for the development and maintenance of the internal control framework, and comments made by the external auditors in their management letter and other reports. I have been advised on the implications of the result of my review of the effectiveness of the system of internal control by the Board, the Audit Committee and the Corporate Delivery and Management Group (and previously the Delivery and Change Committee), and a plan to address weaknesses and ensure continuous improvement of the system is in place.

In the year, we reviewed corporate governance as required by the Corporate Governance Code of Practice. A new streamlined and focused Board and revised governance structure now operates with clearer responsibility and strategic oversight of internal control. There are clearer lines of accountability between the Board, its sub-groups and committees. A new role of Chief Operating Officer was established to provide accountability for delivery of change and performance in front line business and a focus for operational input to the Board.

Non-executive Directors sit on each group and committee with the exception of the Area and Group focused Group Chairs Group.

During 2007-08, the Board sub-groups and committees and their key roles were:

  • Corporate Delivery and Management Group - to assist the Board in developing CPS and CJS strategy and policy; helping to exploit opportunities for partnership working; overseeing the corporate change agenda and benefits delivery; and overseeing key corporate performance and risk issues and advising the Board on strategic impacts and actions;
  • Group Chairs Group - to assist the Board in developing CPS and CJS strategy and policy and helping to exploit opportunities for partnership working; advise on the impacts of proposed key operational changes; advise on the operational implications of key corporate performance risk management issues;
  • Strategy, Policy and Diversity Committee - to consider and inform the Service’s overall vision and strategic direction, development of prosecution policies that integrate all aspects of equality and diversity. (The decision making role has been subsumed by the Board sub-groups and the Board has agreed to discontinue this committee from 2008-09); and
  • Audit Committee - to provide objective advice, support and assurance to the Accounting Officer and Additional Accounting Officer on corporate governance, risk management, the system of internal control and external audit reports.

The Department has an internal audit function that operates to the ‘Government Internal Audit Standards’ guidance. They submit regular reports to the Audit Committee, including an annual report from the Head of Internal Audit that provides an independent opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Department’s system of internal control and includes recommendations for improvement to the systems of internal control.

In accordance with Code of Good Practice on Corporate Governance, the Audit Committee will prepare an annual report on the work of discharging its responsibilities.

At the end of the calendar year each Chief Crown Prosecutor and HQ Director completes a certificate of assurance. The certificates include a statement on the level of assurance achieved throughout the year by the Area/Directorate against key aspects of their business. They specifically provide an assurance on the effectiveness of local systems to identify and manage the principal risks to the delivery of the Public Service Agreement targets. All certificates are validated against HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate reports and other performance information. For 2007 assurances by managers indicated a continuing improvement in the reliability and effectiveness of key systems and business activities. A small number of ‘assurance hotspots’ were identified for further development work in 2008-09.

Our quarterly performance review programme with Area Chief Crown Prosecutors and Business Managers (detailed in the Capacity to Handle Risk section) is a key part of monitoring effectiveness of the system of internal control. Resulting action plans for performance improvement are agreed with me, the Chief Executive and the Chief Operating Officer.

Independent review of business efficiency and effectiveness in the Areas is carried out by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate. In 2007-08 they undertook a programme that included Area effectiveness inspections, operational performance assessments and thematic reviews of decision making and management in discontinued and discharged committals and of our ‘Direct Communication with Victims’ arrangements. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate also carries out joint thematic inspections with other independent Criminal Justice inspectorates.

Significant internal control issues

I have no significant internal control issues to report for 2007-08 and all previously reported issues have been cleared.

Ken Macdonald QC signature

Sir Ken Macdonald QC
Accounting Officer
3 July 2008

The certificate and report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons

I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the Crown Prosecution Service for the year ended 31 March 2008 under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. These comprise the Statement of Parliamentary Supply, the Operating Cost Statement and Statement of Recognised Gains and Losses, the Balance Sheet, the Cashflow Statement and the Statement of Operating Costs by Departmental Aim and Objectives and the related notes. These financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out within them. I have also audited the information in the Remuneration Report that is described in that report as having been audited.

Respective responsibilities of the Accounting Officer and auditor

The Accounting Officer is responsible for preparing the Annual Report, which includes the Remuneration Report, and the financial statements in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 and HM Treasury directions made thereunder and for ensuring the regularity of financial transactions. These responsibilities are set out in the Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities.

My responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements, and with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland).

I report to you my opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. I report to you whether, in my opinion, the information included in the Annual Report is consistent with the financial statements. I also report whether in all material respects the expenditure and income have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to the authorities which govern them. In addition, I report to you if the Department has not kept proper accounting records, if I have not received all the information and explanations I require for my audit, or if information specified by HM Treasury regarding remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.

I review whether the Statement on Internal Control reflects the Department’s compliance with HM Treasury’s guidance, and I report if it does not. I am not required to consider whether this statement covers all risks and controls, or to form an opinion on the effectiveness of the Department’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.

I read the other information contained in the Annual Report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements. I consider the implications for my certificate if I become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements. My responsibilities do not extend to any other information.

Basis of audit opinions

I conducted my audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. My audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts, disclosures and regularity of financial transactions included in the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the Accounting Officer in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are most appropriate to the Department’s circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

I planned and performed my audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which I considered necessary in order to provide me with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error, and that in all material respects the expenditure and income have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to the authorities which govern them. In forming my opinion I also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited.

Opinions

In my opinion:

  • the financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by HM Treasury, of the state of the Department’s affairs as at 31 March 2008 and the net cash requirement, net resource outturn, net operating cost, operating costs applied to objectives, recognised gains and losses and cashflows for the year then ended;
  • the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000; and
  • information included within the Annual Report is consistent with the financial statements.

Opinion on Regularity

In my opinion, in all material respects, the expenditure and income have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to the authorities which govern them.

Report

I have no observations to make on these financial statements.

T J Burr
Comptroller and Auditor General
7 July 2008

National Audit Office
151 Buckingham Palace Road
Victoria, London SW1W 9SS

The maintenance and integrity of the Crown Prosecution Service’s website is the responsibility of the Accounting Officer; the work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration of these matters and accordingly the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially presented on the website.

Statement of Parliamentary Supply

Summary of Resource Outturn 2007-08 (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Note
Gross expenditure
A in A
Estimate
Net Total
Gross expenditure
A in A
Outturn
Net Total
2007-08 Net total outturn compared with Estimate: saving/ (excess)
2006-07 outturn Net Total
Request for resources 1
2
707,159
58,727
648,432
690,558
57,680
632,878
15,554
616,277
Total resources
3
707,159
58,727
648,432
690,558
57,680
632,878
15,554
616,277
Non-operating cost A in A
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Net cash requirement 2007-08 (£Thousands)

Description
Note
Estimate saving/Outturn
2007-08 Net total outturn compared with Estimate: saving/(excess)
2006-07 Outturn
Net cash requirement
4
648,968
627,039
21,929
619,885

Summary of income payable to the Consolidated Fund

In addition to appropriations in aid, the following income relates to the Department and is payable to the Consolidated Fund (£Thousands)

Description
Note
2007-08 Forecast - Income
2007-08 Receipts
2007-08 Outturn Income
2007-08 Receipts
Total
5
-
-
164
1,308

Explanations of variances between Estimate and outturn are given in Note 2 and in the Management Commentary.

The notes form part of these accounts

Operating Cost Statement for the year ended 31 March 2008 (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description Note Staff Costs Other Costs Income 2007-08 2006-07
Administration Costs on HQ and Centrral Services:            
Staff costs 7 27,312       30,146
Other administration costs 8   26,697     21,474
Operating income 10     (1,650)   (313)
             
Crown Prosecutions and Legal Services            
Staff costs 7 333,576       318,019
Other programme costs 9   302,973     291,965
Less: income 10     (56,194)   (47,073)
Totals   360,888 329,670 (57,844)   614,218
             
Net operating cost 3       632,714 614,218
Net resource outturn 4       632,878 616,277

In 2007-08 the cost of external consultants was reclassified from staff costs to other administration costs and other programme costs.

Statement of Recognised Gains and Losses for the year ended 31 March 2008 (£Thousands)

Description Note 2007-08 2006-07
Net gain on revaluation of tangible fixed assets 18
2,299
785
Net gain on revaluation of intangible fixed assets 18
7
3
Recognised gains for the financial year  
2,306
788

The gains on tangible and intangible fixed assets are disclosed separately. Gains on intangible assets were not deemed sufficiently material to warrant separate disclosure in previous years

The notes form part of these accounts

Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2008 (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Note
2008 Column 1
2008 Column 2
2007 Column 1
2007 Column  2
Fixed assets:
   Tangible assets
11
28,114
27,753
   Intangible assets
12
627
860
Debtors falling due after more than one year
13
2,400
3,194
 
Current assets:
   Debtors
13
57,680
58,789
   Cash at bank and in hand
14
23,029
4,080
 
80,709
62,869
Creditors (amounts falling due within one year)
15
(75,670)
(59,239)
Net current assets
5,039
3,630
Total assets less current liabilities
36,180
35,437
Provisions for liabilities and charges
16
(12,715)
(9,419)
 
23,465
26,018
Taxpayers’ equity:
   General fund
17
16,293
21,005
   Revaluation reserve
18
7,172
5,013
 
23,465
26,018
Ken Macdonald QC signature

Sir Ken Macdonald QC
Accounting Officer
3 July 2008 The notes form part of these accounts

Cash Flow Statement

Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2008 (£Thousands)

Description
Note
2007-08
2006-07
Net cash outflow from operating activities
19(a)
(623,543)
(612,439)
Capital expenditure and financial investment
19(b)
(2,188)
(4,761)
Payments of amounts due to the Consolidated Fund  
(2,293)
(3,290)
Financing
19(d)
646,973
610,027
Increase/(Decrease) in cash in the period
19(e)
18,949
(10,463)

Statement of Operating Costs by Departmental Aim and Objective

Statement of Operating Costs by Departmental Aim and Objective for the year ended 31 March 2008

Aim:

To deliver a high quality prosecution service that brings offenders to justice, helps reduce both crime and the fear of crime and thereby promotes public confidence in the rule of law, through the consistent, fair and independent review of cases and through their fair, thorough and firm presentation at court. (£Thousands)

Description 2007-08 Gross 2007-08 Income 2007-08 Net 2006-07 Gross 2006-07 Income 2006-07 Net
Objective 690,558 (57,844) 632,714 661,604 (47,386) 614,218
Net operating costs 690,558 (57,844) 632,714 661,604 (47,386) 614,218

The Department’s objective was as follows: To ensure the effective delivery of justice. See Note 20

The notes form part of these accounts

Notes to the departmental Resource Accounts

1. Statement of Accounting Policies

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the 2007-08 Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) issued by HM Treasury. The accounting policies contained in the FReM follow UK generally accepted accounting practice for companies (UK GAAP) to the extent that it is meaningful and appropriate to the public sector.

In addition to the primary statements prepared under UK GAAP, the FReM also requires the Department to prepare two additional primary statements. The Statement of Parliamentary Supply and supporting notes show outturn against Estimate in terms of the net resource requirement and the net cash requirement. The Statement of Operating Costs by Departmental Aim and Objective and supporting notes analyse the Department’s income and expenditure by the objectives agreed with Ministers.

Where the FReM permits a choice of accounting policy, the accounting policy which has been judged to be the most appropriate to the particular circumstances of the Department for the purpose of giving a true and fair view has been selected. The Department’s accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items considered material in relation to the accounts.

1.1 Accounting Convention

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention modified to account for the revaluation of fixed assets at their value to the business by reference to their current costs.

1.2 Basis of Consolidation

The CPS has no agencies or other bodies that may form part of a CPS departmental group.

1.3 Fixed Assets

Tangible Fixed Assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at the lower of replacement cost and recoverable amount. All expenditure on tangible fixed assets of £500 or over is capitalised, including leasehold improvements. On initial recognition they are measured at cost including any costs such as installation directly attributable to bringing them into working condition.

All tangible fixed assets are restated to current value each year. Land and buildings are restated to current value using professional valuations in accordance with FRS15 every five years and in the intervening years by the use of published indices appropriate to the type of land or building. The Investment Property Databank supplies the indices used.

Title to the freehold land and buildings shown in the accounts is held as follows:

  1. property on the departmental estate, title to which is held by the CPS; and
  2. property held by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the name of the Secretary of State.

Other tangible fixed assets are restated to current value annually by indexation up to the year-end using Price Index Numbers for Current Cost Accounting, published by the Office for National Statistics.

Costs of bought-in services incurred in preparation for the implementation of IT projects are capitalised. Internal costs incurred on the same projects are not capitalised where the work can only be carried out by in-house staff.

Intangible Fixed Assets

Most software licences used in the business are paid for on an annual basis and their cost is charged to the Operating Cost Statement over the period to which the licences relate. However, the CPS has purchased certain licences for use over an extended period of time. These have been capitalised as intangible fixed assets, following the same conventions and principles as those applied to tangible fixed assets, including restatement to current value annually by indexation up to the year-end using relevant Price Index Numbers for Current Cost Accounting, published by the Office for National Statistics.

1.4 Depreciation

Tangible Fixed Assets

Tangible fixed assets are depreciated at rates calculated to write them down to estimated residual value on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives. No depreciation is provided on freehold land since it has an unlimited useful life. Asset lives are normally in the following ranges:

  • Freehold buildings: 20 to 50 years
  • Furniture and fittings: 3 to 10 years
  • Information technology: 4 years

Leasehold improvements are written off over the shorter of:

  1. the remaining life of the property lease;
  2. 10 years; or
  3. where it has been established that a break clause in the lease is likely to be exercised by the Department, the period to the first possible date of exercise of the relevant break clause.

Intangible Fixed Assets

Intangible fixed assets are depreciated at rates calculated to write them down to estimated residual value on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, which are considered to be co-terminous with the Department’s ICT managed service contract (see Note 23).

1.5 Operating Income

Operating income is income which relates directly to the operating activities of the Department, and consists of administration and programme income. It includes not only income appropriated in aid of the Estimate but also income to the Consolidated Fund, which in accordance with FReM is treated as operating income. Operating income is stated net of VAT.

Administration Income

Administration income is income associated with support to front-line functions. This relates to the recovery of salaries for staff seconded to other Government Departments or Local Criminal Justice Boards, rental income from the sub-letting of buildings used principally for administrative purposes and reimbursement of expenditure under the Government’s Access to Work scheme. It includes not only income appropriated in aid of the Estimate but also income due to the Consolidated Fund, which in accordance with the FReM is treated as operating income. In the case of salary reimbursements, income is recognised quarterly in arrears; in the case of rental income, invoices are raised quarterly in advance and income is recognised monthly, and in the case of reimbursements under the Access to Work scheme, income is recognised on a case-by-case basis as it is received.

Programme Income

Programme income is direct income associated with delivery of front-line functions. The principal element relates to costs awarded to the CPS. The CPS receives awards of costs made against convicted defendants at the discretion of the judge or magistrates. Magistrates’ courts are responsible for recording, enforcing and collecting these costs, forwarding collected monies to the CPS and, under delegated authority, for writing off awards where the amount outstanding is less than £100.

Bad debts are provided for on the basis of the historical relationship between costs awarded and cash collected.

In order to account for cost awards, the CPS uses returns submitted quarterly by the courts in respect of cash collected, transfers to and from other courts, amounts written off and cost awards outstanding. The CPS recognises income immediately these returns are received. In interim months, when no returns are received, income is accrued on the basis of historical data for each Magistrates’ bench. The costs reflect the nominal full cost of the prosecution but for administrative purposes are recorded against programme costs only.. Cost award income is included in the objectives in the Statement of Resources by Departmental Aim and Objectives.

Programme income also includes rental income from other Government Departments in jointly occupied buildings, commercial sub-tenants and Non Departmental Public Bodies; but it also includes other income such as recovery of salaries for staff seconded to other Government Departments or Local Criminal Justice Boards, the Department’s share of Home Office receipts derived from criminal assets recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2003 and reimbursement of expenditure under the Government’s Access to Work scheme. In the case of rental income, invoices are raised quarterly in advance and income is recognised on a monthly basis. In the case of salary reimbursements invoices are raised and income is recognised quarterly in arrears. In the case of receipts under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the ‘Asset Incentivisation Scheme’, the Department is allowed to retain a proportion of the total value of assets recovered in the year. Income generated from this scheme is recognised in the CPS’ accounts when the Home Office recognises it in their accounts. Income from the Asset Incentivisation Scheme is intended to offset the costs of assets forfeiture activity; within the CPS these costs fall within programme expenditure. In all other cases income is recognised on a case-by-case basis as it is received. Rental income received from other Government Departments is netted off against expenditure in accordance with the FReM.

1.6 Administration and Programme Expenditure

The Operating Cost Statement is analysed between administration and programme income and expenditure. The classification of expenditure and income as administration or as programme follows the definition of administration costs set out in the Consolidated Budgeting guidance issued by HM Treasury. Costs are stated inclusive of VAT.

Administration Costs

Administration costs reflect the costs of running the Department. These include both administrative costs and associated operating income. Income is analysed in the notes between that which, under the administrative cost-control regime, is allowed to be offset against gross administrative costs in determining the outturn against the administration cost limit, and that operating income which is not.

Programme Costs

Programme costs reflect non-administration costs being the direct cost and associated overheads of prosecution including the employment of counsel and compensation paid to witnesses for costs incurred through their attendance at court. Where a prosecution case is expected to last in excess of 40 days (or where three or more trial counsel are instructed) counsel are required to submit invoices covering work done as pre-determined stages in the case are reached; expenditure is recognised upon receipt of such invoices. This treatment of 'very high cost cases', which has been in existence since 2006- 07, replaced a previous system for 'high cost cases' which did not involve counsel issuing periodic, or staged, invoices. As a result there are a small number of cases previously designated as 'high cost cases' for which final counsel invoices have not been received at the year end. Such items have been individually accrued for at 31 March 2008.

Counsel fees in cases which are expected to last for less than 40 days are paid through the CPS ‘Graduated Fee Scheme’ agreed between the Bar Council and the Department with a target of payment within 20 days of receipt of a valid claim. Payment is made on completion of all work on a case and the fee is not dependant on the effort deployed by the barrister in that particular case. The scheme includes a tariff of charges calculated using a range of set cost factors including the number of defendants, the complexity and volume of evidence, preparation, ‘refresher’ and appearance time. The scheme also includes different tariffs to cover ‘guilty’ and ‘not-guilty’ pleas by defendants - though pleas may change at any time before or even during a trial. In addition, barristers are entitled to return a brief at any time between their initial appointment and the start of a trial, so the Department does not incur any liability with a particular barrister until the commencement of a trial. In this context commencement is defined as the day on which a plea is made or the jury is sworn in. Therefore, for practical purposes, since on average most trials are started and completed within the same day (save for the sentence hearing which may occur a short time later) it is considered prudent to recognise expenditure on counsel fees in such cases only as trials are completed. It is not possible to ascertain the full value owed on all such cases at year-end until some considerable time later. Where actual counsel fees can be ascertained they have been accrued for; in all other cases the Department estimates such counsel fees outstanding for inclusion in these accounts.

1.7 Capital Charge

A charge, reflecting the cost of capital utilised by the Department, is included in operating costs. The charge is calculated at the real rate set by HM Treasury (currently 3.5%) on the average carrying amount of all assets less liabilities, except for:

  1. cash balances with the Office of the Paymaster General and donated assets where the charge is nil; and
  2. liabilities for amounts to be surrendered to the Consolidated Fund for which no credit against the charge is allowed.

1.8 Pensions

Past and present employees are covered by the provisions of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS). This is a defined benefit scheme and is unfunded and non-contributory except in respect of dependants’ benefits. The CPS recognises the expected cost of providing pensions on a systematic and rational basis over the period during which it benefits from employees’ services by payment to the PCSPS of amounts calculated on an accruing basis. Liability for payment of future benefits is a charge on the PCSPS. With effect from 1 October 2002 new employees have the option to join either the PCSPS scheme or a Partnership Pension Account. The latter is a defined contribution scheme where the department recognises the contributions payable for the year.

1.9 Operating Leases

Rentals due under operating leases are charged to the Operating Cost Statement over the lease term on a straight-line basis, or on the basis of actual rentals payable where this fairly reflects the usage. Future payments, disclosed at Note 22, "Commitments under Leases", are not discounted.

1.10 Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Transactions

The CPS signed a contract entering into a PFI transaction on 31 December 2001 for a 10 year period commencing 1 April 2002. This has been accounted for in accordance with Technical Note No.1 (Revised), entitled How to account for PFI Transactions, as required by the FReM. The balance of risks and rewards of ownership of the PFI property are borne by the PFI operator, therefore the PFI payments are recorded as an operating cost. The CPS transferred all IT assets to the PFI operator with effect from 1 April 2002. A prepayment for their fair value is recognised and amortised over the life of the PFI contract.

1.11 Provisions

The Department provides for legal or constructive obligations, which are of uncertain timing or amount, at the balance sheet date on the basis of the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation. Where the effect of the time value of money is significant, the estimated risk-adjusted cash flows are discounted using the real rate set by HM Treasury (currently 2.2%).

1.12 Contingent Liabilities

In addition to contingent liabilities disclosed in accordance with FRS12, the Department discloses for parliamentary reporting and accountability purposes certain contingent liabilities where the likelihood of a transfer of economic benefit is remote. These comprise:

  • items over £250,000 (or lower, where required by specific statute) that do not arise in the normal course of business and which are reported to Parliament by departmental Minute prior to the Department entering into the arrangement; and
  • all items (whether or not they arise in the normal course of business) over £250,000 (or lower, where required by specific statute or where material in the context of resource accounts), which are required by the FReM to be noted in the resource accounts.

1.13 Value Added Tax

Most of the activities of the Department are outside the scope of VAT and, in general output tax does not apply and input tax on purchases is not recoverable. Irrecoverable VAT is charged to the relevant expenditure category or included in the capitalised purchase cost of fixed assets. Where output tax is charged, the amounts are stated net of VAT.

2. Analysis of net resource outturn by section (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Admin
Other current
Gross resource expenditure
A in A
Outturn Net Total
Estimate Net Total
2007-08 Net Total outturn compared with Estimate
2006-07 Prior-year outturn
Request for Resources 1:                
Administration on HQ and Central Services
54,009
-
54,009
(1,647)
52,362
57,303
4,941
51,310
               
Crown prosecutions and legal services
-
636,549
636,549
(56,033)
580,516
591,129
10,613
564,967
                 
Total
54,009
636,549
690,558
(57,680)
632,878
648,432
15,544
616,277
                 
Resource Outturn
54,009
636,549
690,558
(57,680)
632,878
648,432
15,544
616,277

Explanation of the variation between Estimate and outturn (net total resources):

(i) Net total outturn was £15.554 million less than the Estimate, representing 2.4% of net provision. The underspend represents continuing efficiency savings made during the year by HQ Directors to support the decision of the CPS Board to freeze HQ staff numbers and budgets from 2005-06 and some slippage in the recruitment of staff.

Detailed explanations of the variances are given in the Management Commentary.

3. Reconciliation of outturn to net operating cost and against Administration Budget

3(a) Reconciliation of net resource outturn to net operating cost (£Thousands)

Description
Note
Outturn
Supply Estimate
2007-08 Outturn compared with Estimate
2006-07 Outturn
Net Resource Outturn
2
632,878
648,432
15,554
616,277
Non-supply income (CFERs)
5
(164)
-
164
(2,059)
Net operating cost  
632,714
648,432
15,718
614,218

3(b) Outturn against final Administration Budget (£Thousands)

Description
Budget
2007-08 Outturn
2006-07 Outturn
Gross Administration Budget
59,003
54,006
51,617
Less: Income allowable against the Administration Budget
(1,700)
(1,647)
(310)
Net outturn against final Administration Budget
57,303
52,359
51,307

4. Reconciliation of resources to cash requirement (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Note
Estimate
Outturn
Net total outturn compared with Estimate saving/ (excess)
Resource Outturn
2
648,432
632,878
15,554
Capital:      
Acquisition of fixed assets
11,12 and 19
7,400
2,188
5,212
Investments  
-
-
-
Non-operating A in A:  
-
-
-
Proceeds of fixed asset disposals        
Accruals adjustments        
Non-cash items
8 and 9
(8,537)
(16,391)
7,854
Changes in working capital other than cash  
-
5,944
(5,944)
Changes in creditors falling due after more than one year  
-
-
-
Use of provision
16
1,673
2,420
(747)
Net cash requirement  
648,968
627,039
21,929

Explanation of the variation between Estimate and outturn (net total resources):

  1. Net total outturn was £15.554 million less than the Estimate, representing 2.4% of net provision. The underspend represents continuing efficiency savings made during the year by HQ Directors to support the decision of the CPS Board to freeze HQ staff numbers and budgets from 2005-06 and some slippage in the recruitment of staff.
  2. Expenditure on acquisition of fixed assets was £5.212 million less than the Estimate. This was due to slippage in planned projects for improvements to leasehold properties and the replacement of office equipment.
  3. Non-cash items were £7.854 million higher than the Estimate due principally to:
    (a) an increase in the doubtful debt provision resulting from a refinement of the basis of estimation (£4.494 million), and
    (b) an increase in the early retirement provision resulting from departures that were not planned prior to the start of the accounting year (£3.335 million)
  4. Changes in working capital other than cash were £5.944 million higher than the Estimate due principally to:
    (a) increased debtors for cost awards as a result of slower collections (£2.728 million), and
    (b) reduced creditors because of speedier settlements of trade creditors (£1.540 million)
  5. Use of provisions was £0.747 million higher than the Estimate due to increased payments to new leavers as noted in (iii) (b) above.

Detailed explanations of the variances are given in the Management Commentary.

5. Analysis of income payable to the Consolidated Fund (£Thousands)

Analysis of income payable to the Consolidated Fund.

In addition to appropriations in aid, the following income relates to the Department and is payable to the Consolidated Fund.

Description
Note
Forecast Income
2007-08 Receipts
Outturn Income
2007-08 Receipts
Operating income and receipts - excess A in A
6
-
-
1,098
Non-operating income and receipts - excess A in A
-
-
-
-
Subtotal  
-
-
-
1,098
Other operating income and receipts not classified as A in A
6
-
-
164
210
Other non-operating income and receipts not classified as A in A  
-
-
-
-
Other amounts collectable on behalf of the Consolidated Fund  
-
-
-
-
Total income payable to the Consolidated Fund  
-
-
164
1,308

6. Reconciliation of income recorded within the Operating Cost Statement to operating income payable to the Consolidated Fund (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
2007-08
2006-07
Operating income    
Administration
1,650
313
Netted-off gross expenditure in sub-head
-
-
Programme
57,288
48,019
Netted-off gross expenditure in sub-head
(1,094)
(946)
Sub total
57,844
47,386
Income authorised to be appropriated-in-aid:
Administration
1,647
310
Income authorised to be appropriated-in-aid:
Programme
56,033
45,017
Sub total
57,680
45,327
Operating income payable to the Consolidated Fund
Administration
3
3
Operating income payable to the Consolidated Fund
Programme
161
2,056
Total
164
2,059

7. Staff numbers and related costs (£Thousands)

Staff costs comprise:
Total
Permanently employed staff
2007-08 Others
2006-07 Total
Wages and salaries
284,202
273,012
11,190
274,742
Social security costs
22,038
22,038
-
21,277
Other pension costs
54,648
54,648
-
52,146
Sub Total
360,888
349,698
11,190
348,165
Less recoveries in respect of outward secondments
(1,381)
(1,381)
-
(1,215)
Total net costs
359,507
348,317
11,190
346,950

The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme but the Crown Prosecution Service is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme actuary valued the scheme as at 31 March 2007. You can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation (www.civilservice-pensions.gov.uk).

For 2007-08, employers’ contributions of £54,521,376 were payable to the PCSPS (2006-07: £52,057,440) at one of four rates in the range 17.1 to 25.5 per cent of pensionable pay, based on salary bands. The scheme’s Actuary reviews employer contributions every four years following a full scheme valuation. From 2008-09, the salary bands will be revised but the rates will remain the same. (The rates will be changing with effect from April 2009).

The contribution rates are set to meet the cost of the benefits accruing during 2007-08 to be paid when the member retires, and not the benefits paid during this period to existing pensioners.

Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £116,719 (2006-07: £82,161) were paid to one or more of the panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employer contributions are age-related and range from 3 to 12.5 per cent (2006-07: 3 to 12.5 per cent) of pensionable pay.

Employers also match employee contributions up to 3 per cent of pensionable pay. In addition, employer contributions of £9,883, 0.8 per cent (2006-07: £6,111, 0.8 per cent) of pensionable pay, were payable to the PCSPS to cover the cost of the future provision of lump sum benefits on death in service and ill health retirement of these employees.

Contributions due to the partnership pension providers at the balance sheet date were £13,792. Contributions prepaid at that date were £Nil.

12 individuals (2006-07: 7 individuals) retired early on ill-health grounds; the total additional accrued pension liabilities in the year amounted to £25,159 (2006-07: £20,983).

Average number of persons employed

The average number of whole-time equivalent persons employed during the year was as follows.

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Objective
Total
Permanent staff
2007-08 Number Others
2006-07 Number Total
To ensure the effective delivery of justice
8,520
8,297
223
8,546
Total
8,520
8,297
223
8,546

8. Other Administration Costs (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Note
2007-08 Column 1
2007-08 Column 2
2006-07 Column 1
2006-07 Column 2
Rentals under operating leases:          
Hire of office equipment  
354
 
84
 
Other operating leases  
6,487
 
4,444
 
     
6,841
 
4,528
PFI service charges:          
Off-balance sheet contracts
23
 
597
 
616
Non cash items          
Cost of capital charge    
(44)
 
(130)
Other expenditure          
Accommodation and associated costs  
3,866
 
4,178
 
Consultancy (Note a)  
3,404
 
-
 
Travel and subsistence
2,224
2,227
Training  
1,963
 
2,154
 
Non PFI contract IT costs  
1,085
 
1,111
 
Facilities management
993
447
Printing and stationery  
782
 
1,237
 
Recruitment costs
773
707
Postage and carriage  
391
 
387
 
Communications
189
241
Other expenditure  
3,632
 
3,771
 
     
19,303
 
16,460
     
26,697
 
21,474

Note a - In 2007-08 the cost of external consultants was reclassified from staff costs to other administration costs and other programme costs.

9. Programme Costs (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Note
2007-08 Column 1
2007-08 Column 2
2006-07 Column 1
2006-07 Column 2
Rentals under operating leases:          
Hire of office equipment  
1,640
 
1,016
 
Other operating leases  
21,066
 
20,641
 
     
22,706
 
21,657
PFI service charges:          
Off-balance sheet contracts
23
 
49,694
 
48,515
Non cash items          
Depreciation  
4,783
 
4,457
 
Amortisation  
181
 
169
 
Impairment
149
-
Loss on disposal of fixed assets  
-
 
2
 
Loss on revaluation  
88
 
51
 
Cost of capital charge:          
Civil Estate  
210
 
207
 
Other items  
722
 
793
 
Change in bad debt allowance  
4,494
 
1,425
 
Auditors’ remuneration (Note a)  
92
 
87
 
           
Provisions:          
Provided in year 16
5,562
 
2,227
 
Unrequired provision written back 16
-
 
(899)
 
Unwinding of discount on provisions 16
154
 
174
 
     
16,435
 
8,693
Other expenditure          
Advocate fees  
139,672
 
145,220
 
Accommodation and associated costs  
18,514
 
18,766
 
Communications  
6,568
 
5,827
 
Non-expert witness expenses  
6,349
 
6,520
 
Expert witness expenses  
6,296
 
5,561
 
Printing and stationery  
5,318
 
5,542
 
Travel and subsistence  
5,068
 
4,920
 
Postage and carriage  
4,752
 
4,385
 
Costs awarded to CPS written off 28
2,867
 
674
 
Prosecution presentational equipment  
2,719
 
1,742
 
Prosecution transcripts and translations  
2,698
 
2,494
 
Interpreters and translators  
1,464
 
1,272
 
Consultancy (Note b)  
1,450
 
-
 
Training  
1,385
 
1,606
 
Publications  
1,129
 
963
 
Other expenditure  
7,889
 
7,608
 
     
214,138
 
213,100
     
302,973
 
291,965
Less: programme income 6  
(56,194)
 
(47,073)
     
246,779
 
244,892

Note a - There has been no auditors’ remuneration for non-audit work.
Note b - In 2007-08 the cost of external consultants was reclassified from staff costs to other administration costs and other programme costs.

10. Income (£Thousands)

Description
2007-08 Total
2006-07 Total
Administration income:    
Rental receivable from external tenants
1,142
-
Consolidated Fund extra receipts
3
3
Other
505
310
     
Programme income:    
Costs awarded to the CPS
39,747
33,593
Recovered Assets Incentivisation Fund
10,068
8,115
Rental receivable from external tenants
1,119
2,466
Rental receivable from other departments
1,095
946
Netted-off gross expenditure in sub-head
(1,095)
(946)
Consolidated Fund extra receipts
161
653
Other
5,099
2,246
Total
57,844
47,386

11. Tangible fixed assets (£ thousands)

Description
Freehold Land and Buildings
Leasehold Improvements
Furniture and Fittings
Information Technology
Total
Cost or valuation          
At 1 April 2007
6,544
4,522
31,753
2,071
44,890
Additions
9
446
2,438
131
3,024
Disposals
-
-
-
-
-
Revaluation
89
1,009
1,456
(171)
2,383
At 31 March 2008
6,642
5,977
35,647
2,031
50,297
Depreciation          
At 1 April 2007
433
778
14,392
1,534
17,137
Charged in year
249
802
3,225
373
4,649
Disposals
-
-
-
-
-
Revaluation
64
237
365
(269)
397
At 31 March 2008
746
1,817
17,982
1,638
22,183
Net book value at 31 March 2008
5,896
4,160
17,665
393
28,144
Net book value at 31 March 2007
6,111
3,744
17,361
537
27,753

Freehold land and buildings were valued at 31 March 2005 at £5,775,000 on the basis of existing use value by an external firm of Chartered Surveyors, Donaldsons. The valuations were undertaken in accordance with the UK Practice Statement 1.3 of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Appraisal and Valuation Standards published 1 May 2003.

The Accounting Officer is not aware of any material changes in the carrying value of freehold land and buildings and therefore there have been no interim valuations, other than indexation, since 31 March 2005. Other tangible assets are revalued on the basis of latest available indices.

The majority of IT assets in use in the business are held under a PFI contract as detailed in Note 1.10 and 23.

12. Intangible fixed assets (£Thousands)

Intangible fixed assets comprise software licences.

Intangible fixed assets
Total
Cost or valuation  
At 1 April 2007
1,026
Additions
-
Disposals
-
Revaluation
(21)
At 31 March 2008
1,005
   
Amortisation  
At 1 April 2007
166
Charged in year
190
Disposals
-
Revaluation
22
At 31 March 2008
378
   
Net book value at 31 March 2008
627
Net book value at 31 March 2007
860

13. Debtors

13 (a) Analysis by type (£Thousands)
Description
2007-08
2006-07
Amounts falling due within one year:    
Trade debtors (Note a and b)
40,284
37,185
Doubtful debt provision for costs awarded to the CPS
(10,712)
(6,218)
Deposits and advances
373
383
Other debtors (Note c)
1,341
989
Prepayments    
PFI
751
751
Other
13,335
13,669
Accrued income
12,308
12,030
Amounts due from the Consolidated Fund in respect of supply
-
-
 
57,680
58,789
Amounts falling due after more than one year:    
Prepayments    
PFI
2,253
3,004
Other
147
190
 
60,080
61,983

Note a - Included within debtors is £Nil (2006-07: £1,098k) representing excess Appropriations in Aid that will be due to the Consolidated Fund once the debts are collected.

Note b -It is not possible to analyse cost award debtors by amounts falling due within one year and amounts falling due after one year.

Note c - Included within other debtors is £Nil (2006-07: £46k) representing unexpected receipts due to the Consolidated Fund once the debts are collected.

13(b) Intra-Government Balances (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Amounts falling due within one year
Amounts falling due within one year
Amounts falling due after more than one year
Amounts falling due after more than one year
 
2007-08
2006-07
2007-08
2006-07
Balances with other central government bodies
2,835
3,674
-
-
Balances with local authorities
5,361
4,985
131
91
Balances with NHS Trusts
1
-
-
-
Balances with public corporations and trading funds
-
-
-
-
Intra-government balances
8,197
8,659
131
91
Balances with bodies external to government
49,483
50,130
2,269
3,103
Total debtors at 31 March
57,680
58,789
2,400
3,194

14. Cash at bank and in hand (£Thousands)

Description
2007-08
2006-07
Balance at 1 April
4,080
14,543
Net change in cash balances
18,949
(10,463)
Balance at 31 March
23,029
4,080
     
The following balances at 31 March were held at:    
Office of HM Paymaster General
23,003
4,047
Commercial banks and cash in hand
26
33
Balance at 31 March
23,029
4,080

15. Creditors

15(a) Analysis by type (£Thousands)
Description
2007-08
2006-07
Amounts falling due within one year:    
VAT
78
113
Other taxation and social security
7,441
8,439
Trade creditors
7,748
9,288
Other creditors
5,148
5,564
Accruals and deferred income
32,226
30,611
 
52,641
54,015
     
Amounts issued from the Consolidated Fund for supply but not spent at year end
21,929
1,995
Consolidated Fund extra receipts due to be paid to the Consolidated Fund    
received
1,100
2,085
receivable
-
1,144
 
75,670
59,239
15(b) Intra-Government Balances (£Thousands)
Description
Amounts falling due within one year
2007-08
Amounts falling due within one year
2006-07
Amounts falling due after more than one year
2007-08
Amounts falling due after more than one year
2006-07
Balances with other central government bodies
37,003
19,751
-
-
Balances with local authorities
824
24
-
-
Balances with NHS Trusts
-
-
-
-
Balances with public corporations and trading funds
2
-
-
-
Intra-government balances
37,829
19,775
-
-
Balances with bodies external to government
37,841
39,464
-
-
Total creditors at 31 March
75,670
59,239
-
-

16. Provisions for liabilities and charges (£Thousands)

Description
Early departure costs
Other
Balance at 1 April 2007
9,419
-
Provided in the year
4,800
762
Provisions not required written back
-
-
Provisions utilised in the year
(2,420)
-
Unwinding of discount
154
-
Balance at 31 March 2008
11,953
762
Early departure costs

The CPS meets the additional costs of benefits beyond the normal PCSPS benefits in respect of employees who retire early by paying the required amounts annually to the PCSPS over the period between early departure and normal retirement date. The CPS provides for this in full when the early retirement programme becomes binding on the CPS by establishing a provision for the estimated payments discounted by the HM Treasury discount rate of 2.2 per cent in real terms.

Other provision

Other provisions are outstanding compensation claims for personal injury and employment tribunal legal claims. Provision has been made for the litigation against the Department. The provision reflects all known legal claims where legal advice indicates that it is more than 50 per cent probable that the claim will be successful and the amount of the claim can be reliably estimated. Expenditure is likely to be incurred within one year. Legal claims which may succeed but are less likely to do so or cannot be estimated are disclosed as contingent liabilities in Note 26.

17. General Fund

The General Fund represents the total assets less liabilities of the entity, to the extent that the total is not represented by other reserves and financing items. (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Note
2007-08
2007-08
2006-07
2006-07
Balance at 1 April    
21,005
 
16,403
Net Parliamentary funding          
Drawn Down  
646,973
 
610,027
 
Deemed  
1,995
 
11,853
 
     
648,968
 
621,880
Year end adjustment          
Supply Creditor - current year    
(21,929)
 
(1,995)
Net Transfer from Operating Activities          
Net operating cost  
(632,714)
 
(614,218)
 
CFERs repayable to Consolidated Fund 6
(164)
 
(2,059)
 
     
(632,878)
 
(616,277)
Non Cash Charges:          
Cost of capital charge
8 and 9
888
 
870
 
Auditors’ remuneration  
92
 
87
 
     
980
 
957
Transfer from revaluation reserve
18
 
147
 
37
Balance at 31 March    
16,293
 
21,005

18. Reserves

The revaluation reserve reflects the unrealised element of the cumulative balance of indexation and revaluation adjustments (excluding donated assets). (£Thousands)

Description
2007-08
2006-07
Balance at 1 April
5,013
4,262
Arising on revaluation during the year (net)
Tangible fixed assets
2,299
785
Intangible fixed assets
7
3
Transferred to general fund in respect of realised element of revaluation reserve    
Tangible fixed assets
(149)
(37)
Intangible fixed assets
2
-
Balance at 31 March
7,172
5,013

19. Notes to the Cash Flow Statement

19(a) Reconciliation of operating cost to operating cash flows. (£Thousands)
Description
Note
2007-08
2006-07
Net operating cost  
(632,714)
(614,218)
Adjustments for non-cash transactions
8 and 9
16,391
8,563
(Increase) in debtors  
(2,587)
(7,445)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors falling due within one year  
(2,213)
2,975
Use of provisions
16
(2,420)
(2,314)
Net cash outflow from operating activities  
(623,543)
(612,439)
19(b) Analysis of capital expenditure and financial investment (£Thousands)
Description
Note
2007-08
2006-07
Tangible fixed asset additions
11
(2,188)
(5,092)
Intangible fixed asset additions
12
-
(119)
Proceeds of disposal of fixed assets  
-
450
Net cash outflow from investing activities  
(2,188)
(4,761)
19(c) Analysis of capital expenditure and financial investment by Request for Resources (£Thousands)

The authoritative version of this table can be found in the PDF version of this annual report. There may be information contained in the layout of the data that can not be rendered in this web page.

Description
Capital expenditure
Loans, etc.
A in A
Net Total
Request for resources 1
(3,024)
-
-
(3,024)
Total 2006-07
(3,024)
-
-
(3,024)
Total 2006-07
(5,211)
-
-
(5,211)
19(d) Analysis of financing (£Thousands)
Description
Note
2007-08
2006-07
From the Consolidated Fund (Supply) - current year
17
(646,973)
(610,027)
Net financing  
(646,973)
(610,027)
19(e) Reconciliation of Net Cash Requirement to (increase)/decrease in cash (£Thousands)  
Description
Note
2007-08
2006-07
Net cash requirement  
627,039
619,885
Receipts from the Consolidated Fund (Supply) - current year
17
(646,973)
(610,027)
Amounts due to the Consolidated Fund - received in a prior year and paid over  
2,085
2,690
Amounts due to the Consolidated Fund - received and not paid over  
(1,100)
(2,085)
Decrease in cash  
(18,949)
10,463

20. Notes to the Statement of Operating Costs by Departmental Aim and Objective

Other current expenditures were as follows: (£Thousands)

Objective
2007-08
2006-07
To ensure the effective delivery of justice
246,779
244,892
 
246,779
244,892

This expenditure represents programme costs which form part of the net operating costs disclosed in the Statement of Operating Costs by Departmental Aim and Objective.

Capital Employed by Departmental Aim and Objective at 31 March 2008

The CPS’ capital is employed exclusively for programme purposes.

Aim: To deliver a high quality prosecution service that brings offenders to justice, helps reduce both crime and the fear of crime and thereby promotes public confidence in the rule of law, through the consistent, fair and independent review of cases and through their fair, thorough and firm presentation at court. (£Thousands)

Objective
2007-08 Capital employed
2006-07 Capital employed
To ensure the effective delivery of justice
23,465
26,018
 
23,465
26,018

21. Capital commitments (£Thousands)

Description
2007-08
2006-07
Contracted capital commitments at 31 March 2008 for which no provision has been made in these accounts.
117
66

22. Commitments under leases

Operating Leases

Commitments under operating leases to pay rentals during the year following the year of these accounts are given in the table below, analysed according to the period in which the lease expires. (£Thousands)

Description
2007-08 Land and buildings
2007-08 Other
2006-07 Land and buildings
2006-07 Other
Obligations under operating leases comprise:        
Expiry within 1 year
1,626
89
1,106
1,229
Expiry after 1 year but not more than 5 years
12,067
3,287
12,527
3,246
Expiry thereafter
13,080
-
12,330
-
 
26,773
3,376
25,963
4,475

23. Commitments under PFI contracts

The Department has entered into the following PFI contract.

Off balance sheet

Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) managed service

The Department’s ICT service is provided through a managed service contract with a term of 10 years from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2012. The contract is extendable for a further five years. The estimated capital value of the contract is £19.8m (2006-07: £22.2m). Under the terms of the contract CPS ICT assets were transferred to the contractor with effect from 1 April 2002. A prepayment was established for the fair value of the ICT assets transferred (£7,510,233.28) and the assets were impaired to a nil value as at 31 March 2002.

Charge to the Operating Cost Statement and future commitments

The total amount charged in the Operating Cost Statement in respect of off-balance sheet PFI transactions was £50,290,921 (2006-07: £49,131,009); and the payments to which the Department is committed during the year following the year of these accounts, analysed by the period during which the commitment expires, are as follows. (£Thousands)

Description
2007-08
2006-07
Expiry within 1 year
-
-
Expiry within 2 to 5 years
51,106
42,105
Expiry within 6 to 10 years
-
-
 
51,106
42,105

The contract covering the managed service allows for a number of improvements and enhancements to systems over the lifetime of the project. As such changes are successfully introduced there will necessarily be increases in the charges levied by the Service Provider. These increases will only be recognised in the accounts once the relevant changes have been properly tested and fully accepted as fit for purpose by the CPS.

24. Other financial commitments

The Department has entered into contracts, only cancellable at a significant cost, for the delivery and support of the Department’s finance system and the development of the Department’s Infonet. During 2007-08, the Department entered into a contract of significant value for the implementation of an integrated HR and payroll system. The payments to which the Department is committed during the year following the year of these accounts, analysed by the period during which the commitment expires are as follows. (£Thousands)

Description
2007-08
2006-07
Expiry within 1 year
-
-
Expiry within 2 to 5 years
1,559
924
Expiry thereafter
-
-
 
1,559
924

25. Financial Instruments

FRS 13, Derivatives and Other Financial Instruments, requires disclosure of the role which financial instruments have had during the period in creating or changing the risks an entity faces in undertaking its activities. Because of the largely non-trading nature of its activities and the way in which government departments are financed, the CPS is not exposed to the degree of financial risk faced by business entities. Moreover, financial instruments play a much more limited role in creating or changing risk than would be typical of the listed companies to which FRS 13 mainly applies. The Department has no power to borrow or invest surplus funds and financial assets and liabilities are generated by day-to-day operational activities and are not held to change the risks facing the Department in undertaking its activities.

Liquidity risk

The Department’s net revenue resource and capital requirements are financed by resources voted annually by Parliament. The CPS is not therefore exposed to liquidity risks.

Interest-rate and Foreign currency risk

The Department has no material deposits, and all material assets and liabilities are denominated in sterling, so it is not exposed to interest rate or currency risk.

Fair values

Set out below is a comparison by category of book values and fair values of the Department’s financial assets and liabilities as at 31 March 2008. (£Thousands)

Primary financial instruments:
Book Value
Fair Value
Basis of fair valuation
Financial assets:      
Cash at bank and in hand
23,029
23,029
 
Financial liabilities:      
Provisions
(12,715)
(12,715)
Note a

Note a - Fair value is not significantly different from book value since, in the calculation of book value, the expected cash flows have been discounted by the real rate set by HM Treasury (currently 2.2 per cent).

26. Contingent Liabilities disclosed under FRS 12

A contingent liability of £147,575 has been reported for costs relating to three personal injury claims and one Employment Tribunal claim against the Department. It is not possible to estimate the financial effect of a further 19 claims received.

In addition, the CPS was also involved in negotiation of costs relating to dilapidation charges. One claim has been submitted by the Landlord, which may result in a settlement of £19,612. Five claims are expected to be submitted by Landlords, four of which may result in settlements totalling £1,338,416. It is not possible to estimate the financial effect of the remaining claim.

Included in contingent liabilities are two claims which exceed £250,000. These are two dilapidation claims of  £733,000 and £292,804.

27. Contingent Liabilities not required to be disclosed under FRS 12 but included for parliamentary reporting and accountability

There were no contingent liabilities of this nature at the year-end.

28. Losses and Special Payments

Included within the Operating Cost Statement are losses and special payments as follows: (£Thousands)

Description
Number of cases
2007-08
Number of cases
2006-07
28a. Losses Statement Administrative write-offs
63,637
2,820
14,574
720
28b. Special payments Ex Gratia
27
213
34
320
Total of losses
63,664
3,033
14,608
1,040

Administrative write-offs include 63,573 cases relating to costs awarded to the CPS totalling £2,867k of which the Magistrates’ Courts, who are responsible for collecting costs awarded to the CPS, wrote off 61,870 cases with a value of £2,515k under their delegated powers, and the CPS authorised a further write off of £352k comprising 1,703 cases. The remaining £47k administrative write-offs reported are historic credit balances written off from staff overpayment suspense accounts.

Ex gratia payments reported are payments made in settlement of Employment Tribunal and personal injury claims made against the Department.

29. Related-party transactions

The CPS has close working relationships with all agencies within the criminal justice system and particularly the Courts, their ultimate controlling party being the Ministry of Justice (see Note 1.5). The Courts are regarded as related parties with which the department has had material transactions, being mainly costs awarded by the Courts to the CPS (see Note 10) less amounts written off (see Note 9).

In response to the recommendations of the Glidewell review the CPS and the Police have combined the administration of case files through the co-location of Criminal Justice Units. In addition the CPS has had a number of transactions with other Government bodies.

The CPS requests that each of its senior managers complete a declaration, stating where they or their spouse and close family members have been in a position of influence or control in organisations with which the CPS has transactions. Steve Przybylski’s daughter, Sarah Przybylska, received fees totalling £4,388 from the CPS for undertaking CPS advocacy while practising as a pupil barrister at 2 Hare Court, Temple, London. The remaining declarations advised no transactions had taken place.

30. Third-party assets

There are no third-party assets as at the balance sheet date.

31.Post balance sheet events

The CPS had no post balance sheet events.

In accordance with the requirements of Financial Reporting Standard 21, post balance sheet events are considered up to the date on which the accounts are authorised for issue. This is interpreted as the date of the Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Departmental Remuneration Report

Remuneration Policy

The Remuneration Committee comprises:

  • Peter Lewis (Chief Executive)
  • Ros McCool (Director, Human Resources)
  • Mark Summerfield (Deputy Director, Pay and Reward)

There are no independent members of the Committee.

The remuneration of senior civil servants is set by the Prime Minister following independent advice from the Review Body on Senior Salaries.

The Review Body also advises the Prime Minister from time to time on the pay and pensions of Members of Parliament and their allowances; on Peers’ allowances; and on the pay, pensions and allowances of Ministers and others whose pay is determined by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.

In reaching its recommendations, the Review Body is required to have regard to the following considerations:

  • the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people to exercise their different responsibilities;
  • regional/local variations in labour markets and their effects on the recruitment and retention of staff;
  • Government policies for improving the public services including the requirement on departments to meet the output targets for the delivery of departmental services;
  • the funds available to departments as set out in the Government’s departmental expenditure limits; and
  • the Government’s inflation target.

The Review Body takes account of the evidence it receives about wider economic considerations and the affordability of its recommendations.

Further information about the work of the Review Body can be found at www.ome.uk.com.

In addition, the Remuneration Committee is tasked with considering the relative contributions of the Department’s senior employees within each pay band. Paying due regard to completed performance reports, consistency and scope of objectives and the effects of external factors, the committee will then consider individual merit awards in line with Cabinet Office guidance. If implemented, such merit awards will be in addition to the minimum progression of all Senior Civil Service pay bands implemented in line with the recommendations of the Review Body. The average increase for 2007-08 was 2.6 per cent.

Basic salary is not subject to performance conditions. An additional bonus of 7.6 per cent was available for distribution during 2007-08. The top performing 25 per cent received around 10 per cent of this allocation, the next 40 per cent receiving between 5 and 10 per cent of the allocation, and the third group of 20 to 25 per cent only receiving an allocation of the bonus on an exceptional basis. The remaining 5 to 10 per cent have an Improvement Plan drafted to address under-performance.

Service Contracts

Civil Service appointments are made in accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Code, which requires appointment to be on merit on the basis of fair and open competition but also includes the circumstances when appointments may otherwise be made.

The DPP ,Sir Ken Macdonald QC, was appointed by the Cabinet Office for a period of three years under a contract dated 1 November 2003; compensation for early termination is payable in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) and the DPP may retire early on medical grounds with benefits provided under the terms of of his pension scheme. His contract has been extended for a period of two years and runs from 1 November 2006 until 31 October 2008.

Claire Hamon, the former Director Business Information Systems, served under a three year fixed term contract dated 13 January 2006 with a notice period of three months. She left the CPS in August 2007 under the terms of this contract.

All other officials covered by this report hold appointments which are open-ended and allow for retirement at the age of 60 or 65.

Early termination, other than for misconduct, would result in the individual receiving compensation as set out in the CSCS.

Further information about the work of the Civil Service Commissioners can be found at www.civilservicecommissioners.gov.uk.

With the exception of the car and chauffeur provided for the official use of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the remuneration of all directors, non-executive directors and staff employed in the CPS is paid entirely in cash.

Salary and Pension Entitlements

The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the most senior officials of the department.

Remuneration (audited)

Officials Post held Date joined or left Board (if applicable) 2007-08 Salary £000 2006-07 Salary £000
Sir Ken Macdonald QC (a) Director of Public Prosecutions  
195 - 200
180 - 185
Peter Lewis Chief Executive (from 15 Jan 07)
155 - 160
25 - 30
     
(fye 135 - 140)
John Graham Director Finance  
115 - 120
100 - 105
Mike Kennedy Chief Operating Officere (from 12 Nov 07)
75 - 80
-
     
(fye 140 - 145)
-
Gerard Lemos (b) Non-Executive Director      
Philip Oliver (b) Non-Executive Director      
Rob Sykes (b) Non-Executive Director      
Adele Clarke ABM, Northumbria (from 23 Mar 07 to 18 Jul 07)
15 - 20
0 - 5
     
(fye 60 - 65)
(fye 55 - 60)
Roger Daw Director Policy (from 16 Jan 07 to 18 Jul 07)
40 - 45
20 - 25
     
(fye 120 - 125)
(fye 105 - 110
Neil Franklin CCP,West Yorkshire (to 18 Jul 07
35 - 40
100 - 105
     
(fye 105 - 110)
 
Claire Hamon Director Business Information Systems (to 18 Jul 07)
45 - 50
135 - 140
     
(fye 140 - 145)
 
Ros McCool Director Human Resources (from 15 Jan 07 to 18 Jul 07)
35 -40
15 - 20
     
(fye 115 - 120)
(fye 100 - 105)
Steve Przybylski Acting Director Business Development Directorate (from 15 Jan 07 to 11 Nov 07)
75-80
(fye 120 - 125)
20 - 25
(fye 100 - 105)
Portia Ragnauth CCP, Durham (to 18 Jul 07)
25-30
75 - 80
     
(fye 80 - 85)
 
Dru Sharpling CCP, London (to 18 Jul 07)
40 - 45
130 - 135
     
(fye 135 - 140)
 
Séamus Taylor Director of Equality and Diversity (to 18 Jul 07)
35 - 40
90 - 95
     
(fye 95 - 100)
 
Judith Walker CCP, South Yorkshire (from 23 Mar 07 to 18 Jul 07)
30 - 35
0 - 5
     
(fye 95 - 100)
(fye 90 - 95)
  1. The Director of Public Prosecutions is provided with a car and chauffeur for official use. This is assessed by HM Revenue & Customs as constituting a benefit in kind in the sum of £16,457. Tax and National Insurance contributions on this sum, amounting to £14,482 have been paid on the Director’s behalf by the CPS.The remaining Board members did not receive any benefits in kind.
  2. Non-executive Directors received a fee of £10,650 as remuneration for sitting on the Board during 2007-08. Expenses are paid.

fye = full year equivalent salary

From 19 July 2007, the CPS operated revised governance arrangements. The composition of the CPS Board was reduced to eight permanent members:
Sir Ken Macdonald QC, Peter Lewis, John Graham, Mike Kennedy, Gerard Lemos, Philip Oliver, Rob Sykes and Jonathan Sedgwick. Jonathan Sedgwick is Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Salary

"Salary" includes gross salary, performance pay or bonuses; overtime; reserved rights to London weighting or London allowances; recruitment and retention allowances, private office allowances and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation.

This presentation is based on payments made by the Department and thus recorded in these accounts.

Benefits in Kind

The monetary value of benefits in kind covers any benefits provided by the employer and treated by HM Revenue & Customs as a taxable emolument.

Pension Benefits

Civil Service Pensions

Pension benefits are provided through the Civil Service pension arrangements. From 30 July 2007, civil servants may be in one of four defined benefit schemes; either a ‘final salary’ scheme (classic, premium or classic plus); or a ‘whole career’ scheme (nuvos). These statutory arrangements are unfunded with the cost of benefits met by monies voted by Parliament each year. Pensions payable under classic, premium, classic plus and nuvos are increased annually in line with changes in the Retail Prices Index (RPI). Members joining from October 2002 may opt for either the appropriate defined benefit arrangement or a good quality ‘money purchase’ stakeholder pension with a significant employer contribution (partnership pension account). Employee contributions are set at the rate of 1.5% of pensionable earnings for classic and 3.5% for premium, classic plus and nuvos. Benefits in classic accrue at the rate of 1/80th of final pensionable earnings for each year of service. In addition, a lump sum equivalent to three years’ pension is payable on retirement. For premium, benefits accrue at the rate of 1/60th of final pensionable earnings for each year of service. Unlike classic, there is no automatic lump sum. Classic plus is essentially a hybrid with benefits in respect of service before 1 October 2002 calculated broadly as per classic and benefits for service from October 2002 calculated as in premium. In nuvos a member builds up a pension based on his pensionable earnings during their period of scheme membership. At the end of the scheme year (31 March) the member’s earned pension account is credited with 2.3% of their pensionable earnings in that scheme year and the accrued pension is uprated in line with RPI. In all cases members may opt to give up (commute) pension for lump sum up to the limits set by the Finance Act 2004.

The partnership pension account is a stakeholder pension arrangement. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 3% and 12.5% (depending on the age of the member) into a stakeholder pension product chosen by the employee from a panel of three providers. The employee does not have to contribute but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer’s basic contribution). Employers also contribute a further 0.8% of pensionable salary to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in serviceand ill health retirement).

The accrued pension quoted is the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over pension age. Pension age is 60 for members of classic, premium and classic plus and 65 for members of nuvos.

Further details about the Civil Service Pension arrangements can be found at the website www.civilservice-pensions.gov.uk

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent spouse’s pension payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the pension scheme, not just their service in a senior capacity to which disclosure applies. The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the individual has transferred to the Civil Service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their purchasing additional pension benefits at their own cost. CETVs are calculated within the guidelines and framework prescribed by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are drawn. Due to certain factors being incorrect in last year’s CETV calculator there may be a slight difference between the final period CETV figure for 2006-07 and the start of period CETV figure for 2007-08 shown in the pension benefits table.

Real Increase in CETV

This reflects the increase in CETV effectively funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.

Compensation for loss of office

There were no compensation payments made to former senior management in 2007-08.

Pension for the Director of Public Prosecutions

Pension benefits are provided through two pension schemes which have the DPP as its only member, and were laid before Parliament on 15 June 2006.

The Schemes are unfunded and the cost of benefits will be met by monies voted by Parliament each year. The pensions will be increased annually in line with changes in the Retail Prices Index.

The two pension schemes provide benefits which broadly match the benefits provided under the Judicial Pension Scheme. The principal scheme is a registered scheme and provides benefits up to the earnings cap. The supplementary scheme provides on earnings above the cap and is not a registered scheme. The normal retirement age for the scheme is 65.

Employee contributions are set at the rate of 3% of pensionable earnings up to the earnings cap. Benefits accrue at the rate of 1/40th of pensionable salary for each year of service. In addition, a lump sum equivalent to 2.25 years’ pension is payable on retirement.

Pension benefits (audited): (£Thousands)

Officials
Accrued pension at age 60 as at 31 March 2008 and related lump sum
Real increase in pension and related lump sum at age 60
CETV at 31 March 2008 (a)
CETV at 31 March 2007 (a)
Real increase in CETV
Sir Ken Macdonald QC
Director of Public Prosecutions
pension 20 - 25
lump sum 55 - 60
pension 5 - 7.5
lump sum 12.5 - 15
398
255
88
Peter Lewis
Chief Executive
(from 15 Jan 07)
pension 50 - 55
lump sum 160 - 165
pension 10 - 12.5
lump sum 32.5 - 35
1,069
744
213
John Graham
Director Finance
pension 40 - 45
lump sum 130 - 135
pension 2.5 - 5
lump sum 7.5 - 10
1,013
834
65
Mike Kennedy
Chief Operating Officer
(from 12 Nov 07)
pension 40 - 45
lump sum 125 - 130
pension 2.5 - 5
lump sum 7.5 - 10
874
747
59
Adele Clarke
ABM, Northumbria (from 23 Mar 07 to 18 Jul 07)
pension 15 - 20
lump sum 45 - 50
pension 0 - 2.5
lump sum 0 - 2.5
190
210
5
Roger Daw
Director, Policy (from 16 Jan 07 to 18 Jul 07)
pension 30 - 35
lump sum 90 - 95
pension 0 -2.5
lump sum 2.5 - 5
464
483
28
Neil Franklin
CCP, West Yorkshire
(to 18 Jul 07)
pension 35 - 40
lump sum 105 - 110
pension 0 -2.5
lump sum 0 -2.5
821
826
-
Claire Hamon
Director Business Information Systems
(to 18 Jul 07)
pension 5 - 10
lump sum nil
pension 0 - 2.5
lump sum nil
90
89
9
Ros McCool
Director Human Resources (from 15 Jan 07 to 18 Jul 07)
pension 30 - 35
lump sum 95 - 100
pension 2.5 - 5
lump sum 12.5 - 15
574
535
91
Steve Przybylski
Acting Director Business Development Directorate (from 15 Jan 07 to 11 Nov 07)
pension 50 - 55
lump sum 150 - 155
pension 5 - 7.5
lump sum 17.5 - 20
1,142
978
162
Portia Ragnauth
CCP, Durham
(to 18 Jul 07)
pension 20 - 25
lump sum 65 - 70
pension 0 - 2.5
lump sum 0 - 2.5
302
332
3
Dru Sharpling
CCP, London
(to 18 Jul 07)
pension 5 - 10
lump sum 20 - 25
pension 0 - 2.5
lump sum 0 - 2.5
118
120
8
Séamus Taylor
Director of Equality and Diversity (to 18 Jul 07)
pension 20 - 25
lump sum 60 - 65
pension 0 - 2.5
lump sum 0 - 2.5
286
306
12
Judith Walker
CCP, South Yorkshire (from 23 Mar 07 )
pension 25 - 30
lump sum 80 - 85
pension 0 - 2.5
lump sum 0 - 2.5
475
510
1

a) Where an official ceased to act as a Board member during the year, the CETV shown is that at their date of departing the Board.

b) Where an official has joined the Board during the year, the comparative CETV shown is that at their date of joining the Board.