Restructuring the delivery model to improve performance
Area restructuring
The Area Restructuring Transformation Programme has built on the structural changes put in place in March 2008. The 14 Complex Casework Units (CCUs), created to deal with the most serious and complex casework in Areas within each Group, have now been evaluated and are delivering the benefits expected. These are:
- Enabling the Service to deal with existing complex casework more effectively by maximising legal and caseworker skills in a viable, dedicated, secure, self-sufficient unit;
- Enabling the CPS to deliver a much more consistent service than was possible under the previous structure;
- Putting the CPS in a good position to respond to police developments on Protective Services, and an expected increase in police activity on serious and complex crime, and to deal with an anticipated increase in casework;
- Improving our ability to enable prosecutors to become involved at the earliest possible stage to help guide investigations into serious crime and enable us to deliver a better cradle to grave service in such cases.
With CCUs now firmly established, networks for sharing best practice have been set up and an evaluation of the lawyer's role within a CCU will take place during 2009.
Case Study
Shannon Matthews (pictured), a Dewsbury schoolgirl, went missing on her way home from school during the coldest spell of early 2008. Her disappearance led to one of the most controversial cases dealt with by the CPS in recent years.
Shannon Matthews
The case dominated the news from the moment Shannon disappeared, with huge searches being mounted by West Yorkshire Police and the people of Dewsbury, as well as repeated television appeals for her safe return by her mother, Karen Matthews; large cash rewards were offered by sections of the media.
Shannon was found, nearly a month later, at the home of Michael Donovan, a member of her extended family. Donovan was arrested and charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment. Soon afterwards, Karen Matthews was arrested too, amid huge media coverage.
Two days later Peter Mann, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service West and North Yorkshire Complex Casework Unit, addressed a packed press conference to announce the decision to charge Karen Matthews with perverting the course of justice and child neglect. The announcement was carried live on the BBC's Six O'clock News, and was repeated on later bulletins.
The trial began on 11 November, with the charges having been altered on review to kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice for both Matthews and Donovan. In early December, they were both found guilty on all counts. They were each later sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.
Malcolm Taylor, Special Casework Lawyer, addressed the media following the verdict, with the statement carried live on Sky News; he also recorded interviews for the PM programme on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live Drive.
Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan
Malcolm said that Matthews and Donovan "honestly believed that they could stage the disappearance of Matthews' own daughter and somehow benefit financially from the huge wave of public sympathy that would inevitably follow.
"The cynical plot culminated in Matthews' television appeals for the return of her daughter, made while she was actively concealing the whereabouts of the child from the police, who were deploying huge resources to search for Shannon.
"In the words of prosecuting counsel, she lied, lied and lied again – to the police and, through the media, to the public, while Donovan was holding Shannon at his flat, drugged and helpless, less than two miles from her home.
"The people of Dewsbury and the surrounding area gave unstinting assistance to the hunt for a defenceless child whom they thought was missing during the coldest part of the year. This was an of abuse of public trust, public services, the public purse and, worst of all, Matthews' own daughter for personal gain," he said.
Headquarters Review implementation
Initial plans to meet the staff and budget reductions required by the HQ Review were completed by all Directorates in April 2008. Questions remained about the shape of HQ in the light of other changes to the business model, particularly the formation of the Groups and the changes to line management arrangements for Group Chairs.
To address these, the Board agreed a revised approach to the HQ Review in September 2008, which was then driven forward throughout the rest of the year. As a result, HQ delivered its objectives for 2008-09 within the reduced budget allocated; it also reduced posts in line with the expected numbers.
There is now an emerging plan for further devolution of responsibilities from HQ to Groups and Areas; this will be re-examined in the light of the forthcoming merger with the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO) to ensure that the combined Service has an efficient and effective centre that contributes fully to the success of the business.
