Efficiency Delivery Programme
As a part of the CSR 2007 settlement the CPS agreed to make £69 million value for money savings by 2010/11.The table below shows progress against the targets to Q2 2009-10.
CSR 2007 efficiency delivery programme summary
2008/09:
- CSR07 savings target £27 million
- Total savings (actual) £26 million
- Operational (target) £20 million
- Operational (actual) £19.2 million
- Administration and operational support (target) £7 million
- Administrative and operational support (actual) £6.8 million
2009/10:
- CSR07 savings target £48 million
- Total savings (actual) £41.5 million
- Operational (target) £34 million
- Operational (actual) £31.7 million
- Administration and operational support (target) £14 million
- Administrative and operational support (actual) £9.8 million
2010/11:
- CSR07 savings target £69 million
- CSR07 savings target - New Target £84 million
- Total savings (actual) £0
- Operational (target) £58 million
- Operational (actual) £0
- Administration and operational support (target) £26 million
- Administrative and operational support (actual) £0
By Quarter 2 the CPS had achieved savings of £41.5 million, against a target of £48 million. This comprises £31.7 million operational savings and £9.8 million administration and operational support savings.
Delivering improved efficiency and value-for-money savings is now an integral part of our business. Delivering the efficiency plan is an essential component of enabling the CPS to live within its diminishing budget over the CSR period, without impacting on the quality of service delivery.
The systems used to measure and compare realised savings against the delivery programme targets have been designed within a validation framework. The validation process provides assurance that all reported efficiency savings under CSR07 are cash-releasing, sustained and net of costs.
CPS Internal Audit has conducted a review of the processes and structures of the Efficiency Delivery Plan reporting arrangements and are currently working with the CPS Efficiency Team to advise on potential further development to ensure an effective VFM reporting regime for the delivery of savings targets.
Actions taking place to deliver efficiencies
Administration and Operational Support:
IT-enabled efficiencies
- New streams within the COMPASS Management Information System will enable more efficiencies to be realised in CPS Areas. These benefits are part of a programme of benefits across the CJS.
Efficiencies in magistrates' courts
- The implementation of the Optimum Business Model (OBM) is leading to a number of process improvements in CPS Areas, including fewer adjournments, better quality of file endorsement and reduced volumes of correspondence.
Efficiencies in Crown courts
- Process Mapping workshops are taking place in Crown Court sites
- Further benefits are expected to arise from the rollout of OBM to the Crown Court. Key principles for Crown Court OBM have been defined, to include planning and implementation of the Paralegal Career Family Structure. Emerging findings are being considered and some principles are being tested.
Advocacy
- Increased deployment of Associate Prosecutors in magistrates' courts and Crown Advocates in the Crown Court. The numbers of these staff continue to increase and are generating savings
- The recruitment of CPS Group-based Advocacy Assessors, to assess the performance of Crown Advocates, has been completed
- The National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) approach to training has been developed and delivered to ensure CPS Crown Advocates meet the required standard. In addition bespoke training products have been produced - CPS Leadership & Learning now have in place modular training for development post-assessment
- There is now service-wide access to External Advocacy assessment services.
Corporate Services
- Implementation of the HQ Review, aiming to create a smaller, more strategic HQ function in line with the revised business model for the CPS as a whole. A cross-government value for money benchmarking exercise has been completed that will enable CPS to assess efficiencies from the resulting Management Information.
Leadership and Learning
- Provision of 360 degree feedback, coaching and potential/performance ratings for all top managers resulting in a capacity plan for CPS future for the next five years. This should result in leaders becoming more aware and making an impact. In addition it should lead to improvements in staff survey indicators that relate to the overall management and leadership of the organisation
- MBA level training targeted at senior Area Business Managers (ABMs).
Procurement
- Tighter contract management; analysis and cost reduction measures for the major categories of expenditure, facilitated by the introduction of a new Purchase to Pay system
- ICT savings due to negotiations to supply multifunctional print/copier devices as well as the rationalisation of IT and telephony equipment nationally.
Accommodation
- The CPS is continuing to improve efficiency by estate rationalisation where opportunities arise. The Service is also working closely with its property service providers to identify expenditure areas where it might make financial savings or review how services are delivered
- The merger between the CPS and RCPO and the relocation of the new organisation's Headquarters and Casework Divisions into Rose Court, will operate on an 8:10 workstation ratio in order to make most effective use of space. This was agreed as the rule to which all new accommodation office moves will conform from August 2009
- The CPS London has case administration staff co-located in 20 out of 33 London Boroughs into Police Stations - as part of the Integrated Prosecution Team initiative. The single file process is adopted in all of the co-located boroughs and this has shown that improvements in the way evidence is presented and stored can save considerable time.
Plans for delivering efficiencies over the next six months
Advocacy
- Associate Prosecutors will be deployed more flexibly on a wider range of magistrates' courts work. The model structure for Crown Advocates/Associate Prosecutors deployment will be developed - Area visits to commence and emerging findings / individual reports will be drafted.
- A Mentoring programme is under development.
OBM
- Testing in Crown Court pilot sites to be prepared for national rollout
- A Crown Court OBM Toolkit will be ready by end of December 2009
- LEAN principles and techniques will be communicated to the organisation, particularly at senior management level, to ensure OBM and Continuous Improvement is embedded into CPS culture.
Leadership and Learning
- Further training has been identified with the National School of Government and is to be agreed for delivery to other ABMs by March 2010. Training is also under development for other core specialists.
Procurement
- Realisation of the P2P benefits within the Areas
- Exploiting opportunities to generate savings from any new contracts - including transport of files to court, remote storage of files and new contract management arrangements for the Proceeds of Crime Receivership Framework
- Multi-agency framework contract to be established for the supply of Electronic Presentation of Evidence Services. Savings to be generated by combining buying power of departments and moving away from case-by-case purchases
- Greater economies of scale through the expanded use of CPS contracts to cover areas of Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO) spend following the merger of departments - for example stationery, travel and hotels and postage.
Value for Money Case Studies
- CPS collaborative procurement arrangements, using the OGC Buying Solutions framework will generate approximate savings as follows:
- Furniture - £350K per annum
- Managed print room - £266k per annum
- Supply of office paper and toner cartridges - £880K per annum
- Accommodation: When the IPT co-location is complete by the Summer of 2010, around 800 CPS staff will be based in Police stations and applying the single file process
- Merger with the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO): The merger with RCPO will drive economies of scale, minimise duplication, share best practice and create a more flexible and resilient organisation which is better able to handle specialist and complex cases.
