The Crown Prosecution Service Autumn Performance Report 2004
Presented to Parliament by the Attorney General by Command of Her Majesty
December 2004
Introduction
The 2004 Autumn Performance Report for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) sets out performance and progress against the Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets for the Criminal Justice System. These targets were introduced as part of the 2002 Spending Review (SR 2002) and came into effect from 1 April 2003.
Role
The Crown Prosecution Service was set up in 1986 to prosecute criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales. In undertaking this role, the CPS:
- advises the police on cases for possible prosecution;
- reviews cases submitted by the police for prosecution in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors;
- where the decision is to prosecute, determines the charge in all but minor cases;
- prepares cases for court; and
- presents those cases at court.
Code for Crown Prosecutors
Before proceeding with a prosecution and charging a defendant, Crown Prosecutors must first review each case against the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The Code is designed to make sure everyone knows the principles the CPS applies when carrying out its work. Those principles are:
- whether there is enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each defendant on each charge, and, if so,
- whether a prosecution is needed under the public interest.
The Director is under a statutory duty to publish the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The fifth edition of the Code was published on 16th November 2004. The changes to the Code in this edition relate mainly to Crown Prosecutors' new responsibilities in relation to charging.
Human Rights Act
The CPS is a public authority for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998. In carrying out their role, Crown Prosecutors must apply the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights in accordance with the Act.
Organisation
The Service is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ken Macdonald QC. The Director is superintended by the Attorney General who is accountable to Parliament for the Service. The Chief Executive is Richard Foster, who is responsible for human resources, finance, business information systems, and business development, allowing the Director to concentrate on prosecution, legal issues and criminal justice policy.
CPS Areas
The CPS has 42 Areas across England and Wales, each headed by a Chief Crown Prosecutor who is responsible for the delivery of a high quality prosecution service to his or her local community. Each Chief Crown Prosecutor is supported by an Area Business Manager, and their respective roles mirror, at a local level, the allocation of responsibilities between the DPP and the Chief Executive. Administrative support to the Areas is provided through a network of 10 Service Centres each responsible for providing effective services to a 'family group' of Areas.
Aim
The CPS works in partnership with the police, courts, the Home Office, Department of Constitutional Affairs and other agencies throughout the Criminal Justice System to reduce crime and the fear of crime and their social and economic costs; to dispense justice fairly and efficiently; and to promote confidence in the rule of law.
The Crown Prosecution Service's overall aim, which reflects the Government's priorities for the Criminal Justice System, is to:
Deliver a high quality prosecution service that brings offenders to justice, helps reduce both crime and the fear of crime and thereby promote 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
CPS Vision
The CPS is working to become a world-class, independent prosecuting authority that delivers a valued public service. This is a Service that:
- drives change and delivery in the Criminal Justice System;
- strengthens the prosecution process to bring offenders to justice;
- is a champion for justice and the rights of victims;
- inspires the confidence of the communities we serve; and
- is renowned for fairness, excellent career opportunities and the commitment and skills of all its people.
Public Service Agreement Targets
The PSA targets for the CPS and the Criminal Justice System from the Spending Review 2002 are:
- To improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice, to 1.15 million by 2005-06, with an improvement in all CJS areas, a greater increase in the worst performing areas and a reduction in the proportion of ineffective trials. (See note 1)
- To improve the level of public confidence in the Criminal Justice System, including increasing that of ethnic minority communities, and increasing year on year the satisfaction of victims and witnesses, whilst respecting the rights of defendants.
- To increase value for money from the Criminal Justice System by 3 per cent a year.
Delivering these targets is the joint responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service, Home Office and Department for Constitutional Affairs.
Spending Review 2000 included PSA targets for the CPS and CJS to improve the delivery of justice and public confidence. These targets have been increased through SR2002 and are reported upon within this document. Other targets set in SR2000, but not carried forward into the PSA for SR 2002 were to reduce the time from arrest to sentence or other disposal for all defendants, for youth court cases and for cases involving persistent young offenders.
Criminal Justice Boards
Local Criminal Justice Boards were introduced from 1 April 2003. These Boards bring together Chief Officers of local criminal justice agencies to deliver the Public Service Agreement targets in their Area and to drive through criminal justice reforms. Each local Board has produced delivery plans for narrowing the justice gap, ineffective trials and public confidence and reports on progress to a National Criminal Justice Board. Chief Crown Prosecutors chair around half of the 42 local Boards and the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chief Executive, along with the Home Secretary, Lord Chancellor and Attorney General are members of the National Board.
Office for Criminal Justice Reform
The Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR), established in July 2004, is the crossdepartmental team that supports all criminal justice agencies in working together to provide an improved service to the public. OCJR's goal is to deliver the National Criminal Justice Board's vision of what the Criminal Justice System will look like in 2008. The CJS Strategic Plan sets out a shared vision for criminal justice reform and how it will be achieved. A key part of the strategy is to increase the public's confidence that the Criminal Justice System is effective and that it serves all communities fairly.
Further information
Information on the Criminal Justice System is available at www.cjsonline.gov.uk More information on the CPS and its contribution to PSA targets is available at www.cps.gov.uk and from:
Crown Prosecution Service
50 Ludgate Hill
London
EC4M 7EX
Progress on Delivery
PSA Target 1
Improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.15 million by 2005/06; with an improvement in all CJS areas, a greater increase in the worse performing areas and a reduction in the proportion of ineffective trials.
'Offences brought to justice' counts the number of offences that someone is convicted of, cautioned, has had taken into consideration by the court, or for which they receive a penalty notice (either for harassment, shoplifting (retail under 200) or vandalism (damages under 500)). Formal warnings for the possession of cannabis are also included. Only notifiable cases are counted.
'Ineffective trials' are trials that do not go ahead on the date expected and have to be rescheduled.
'Unsuccessful outcomes' are finalised cases that do not result in a conviction, such as discontinuances in magistrates' courts cases and judge directed acquittals in the Crown Court.
Performance Measure
Increasing the number of offences for which an offender is brought to justice.
The target will be met if there are 1.15m crimes for which an offender is brought to justice in the year ending March 2006, compared with the baseline year ending March 2002.
This aspect of the target was modified in SR2004, superseding the previous target of 1.2 million offences brought to justice in 2005-06. At the same time, a higher target of 1.25 million offences brought to justice was set for 2007-08.
Latest Outturn
Latest performance on offenders brought to justice is 1.084 million in the year ending June 2004. This is 7.8% above baseline, and 18,000 above the trajectory. We are therefore on track to meet the national 2004-05 target of an 11.8% improvement over the baseline. (See note 2)
Performance Measure
An improvement in all Criminal Justice Areas.
The target will be met if each of the 42 Criminal Justice Areas brings more offences to justice than they did in the baseline year ending March 2002.
Latest Outturn
- Year to June shows 35 of the 42 Criminal Justice Areas have improved their performance over the baseline year, though there are 7 where performance has declined.
Performance Measure
A greater increase in worse performing areas.
The target will be met if the average performance improvement achieved by the worse performing areas is greater than the national average performance improvement in the year ending March 2006, compared to the baseline year ending March 2003.
Latest Outturn
- We are currently on track to meet this element of the PSA. 18 areas have been classified as 'worse performing', and their aggregated performance against their combined targets was above the required trajectory as of June 2004.
Performance Measure
A reduction in the proportion of ineffective trials.
The target will be met if the national level of improvement for Crown Courts is 27% or more by the year ending March 2006.
This equates to a reduction in Crown Courts from 24% to 17% and in magistrates' courts from 31% to 23%.
Interim targets for attainment by March 2005 are 18.4% in Crown Courts and 24.5% in magistrates' courts.
Latest Outturn
- At September 2004 the proportion of ineffective trials in the Crown Court Centres had reduced from 24% (baseline) to 16.4%, an improvement of 7.6 percentage points. Performance is ahead of trajectory for the interim target of 18.4% by March 2005.
- For the magistrates' courts the proportion of ineffective trials has reduced from 31% to 25.4% in the quarter ending September 2004, an improvement of 5.6 percentage points. Performance is on trajectory to reach the interim target of 24.5% by March 2005.
Progress since April 2004
CPS
- In the year ending June 2004 the CPS secured convictions in respect of 1,005,379 defendants in magistrates' courts and a further 72,763 in the Crown Court, giving a total of 1,078,142 convictions in both jurisdictions: an increase of 14,864 (1.3%) compared with the previous year.
- Unsuccessful outcomes in magistrates' courts fell to 19.9% of all outcomes during the quarter April-June 2004, compared with 23.2% for the year 2002/03 and 21.1% for 2003/04. Cases resulting in a discontinuance fell from 15.5% of all outcomes in 2002/03 to 13% in the quarter April to June 2004.
- Unsuccessful outcomes in the Crown Court remained steady at 25.5% of all outcomes in 2002/03 and 24.5% in 2003/04 and fell to 23.9% in the quarter April to June 2004.
- Further reductions are anticipated in unsuccessful outcomes as the benefits of the recently introduced charging programme are realised in every CPS Area. By 31 December 2003, the CPS and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) had jointly introduced 'shadow' charging arrangements in at least one site across each of the 42 Areas. All 14 Priority Areas - where the majority of recorded crime takes place and which accounts for roughly 60% of all CPS prosecutions - have introduced the more extensive Statutory Charging Scheme arrangements. The new charging arrangements are already delivering considerable benefits, with prosecutors working closely with police to build robust cases for prosecution and helping to narrow the justice gap. The remaining Areas will move to the statutory charging scheme between April 2005 and March 2007.
- Suspects are charged with criminal offences right around the clock and the transfer of responsibility for charging decisions to the CPS means that prosecutors have to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To meet this challenge, the CPS has introduced CPS Direct, an IT and telephony based service that operates from 5pm to 9am Monday to Friday and throughout weekends and bank holidays. By the beginning of October 2004 CPS Direct had recruited 70 lawyers and was providing a full out-of-hours service to the 14 CPS Priority Areas.
- Results from the 'No Witness No Justice' pilots indicate that the programme reduces the number of cracked and ineffective trials due to witness issues.
- The CPS is working with the Home Office, Customs and Excise Prosecution Office and others to develop a more effective prosecution service for the new Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which will come into operation from October 2005. SOCA is a key development in the fight against major criminals who cause considerable harm to individuals and to the economy of this country. The CPS is developing a dedicated group of specialist prosecutors trained in handling hitech, complex and emerging types of crime, experts in extradition proceedings and in deploying enhanced legal powers to tackle serious, organised crime and complex fraud. These prosecutors will work closely with SOCA investigators to provide comprehensive advice to investigators and to develop strong cases for prosecution. These prosecutors will stay with each case from the outset of investigations right through to the point of sentence and play an important role in presenting the cases in court.
CJS
- The initiative to put Crown Prosecutors into police stations to provide early advice and guidance to the police on charging has continued to be rolled out. In November, the charging initiative was operating in 361 of 373 sites, and Statutory Charging was operating in 195 of those 361 sites.
- Evaluation of the early test areas has shown that the case management changes have had a positive impact on reducing the level of ineffective trials in the Crown Court and magistrates' courts.
- Early indications are that the five pilot sites for the 'No Witness No Justice' programme (in Gwent, North Wales, Essex, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands) are continuing to show improvements in the number of witnesses attending court.
- There has been a fresh recognition of the improvements in the rate of sanction detections that are necessary to deliver local and national offences brought to justice targets. The Government has given a commitment that the sanction detection rate will be increased from 19% to at least 25% by 2008.
PSA Target 2
Improve the level of confidence in the Criminal Justice System, including increasing that of ethnic minority communities, and increasing year on year the satisfaction of victims and witnesses, whilst respecting the rights of defendants.
Public confidence in the Criminal Justice System and the satisfaction of victims and witnesses is assessed using the British Crime Survey (BCS).
Performance Measure
Improve the level of public confidence in the Criminal Justice System.
This will be met if, by the year ending March 2006, the level of public confidence has increased, compared to the baseline year ending March 2003.
Latest Outturn
Baseline (British Crime Survey 2003): 39%
Latest outturn (Year to June 2004): 42%
This is determined from responses to questions in the British Crime Survey which ask whether the public believes the Criminal Justice System is effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice.
Performance Measure
- including increasing that of ethnic minority communities
This will be met if, by 2005/06, the level of confidence amongst black and minority ethnic people is statistically higher than that during the baseline year ending March 2003.
Latest Outturn
Baseline (British Crime Survey 2003): 49%
Latest outturn (Year to June 2004): 55%
This is determined from responses to questions in the British Crime Survey which ask whether people from a black or minority ethnic background believe the Criminal Justice System is effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice.
Performance Measure
- increasing year on year the satisfaction of victims
This will be met if the level of satisfaction of victims increases year on year during April 2003 to March 2006, with the final year showing a statistically significant increase over the first year.
Latest Outturn
Baseline (British Crime Survey 2004): 59%
First outturn (British Crime Survey 2005):due July 2005
This is measured using new BCS questions on victim satisfaction with the CJS which were introduced in October 2003, together with questions on victim satisfaction with the police.
Performance Measure
- increasing year on year the satisfaction of witnesses
This will be met if the level of satisfaction of witnesses increases year on year during the target period from April 2003 to March 2006, with the final year showing a statistically significant increase over the first year.
Latest Outturn
Baseline (British Crime Survey 2004): 57%
First outturn (British Crime Survey 2005): due July 2005
This is measured using a new British Crime Survey question measuring witness satisfaction with the police which was introduced in October 2003.
Performance Measure
- respecting the rights of defendants.
Latest Outturn
The rights of defendants are protected by law. We will investigate and take action if there is any evidence that the rights of defendants are not being respected or that public confidence in rights being respected is falling.
Progress since April 2004
CPS
- Following successful piloting of enhanced victim and witness care in Gwent, North Wales, West Midlands, Essex and South Yorkshire, the No Witness No Justice project is now rolling out across England and Wales, using funding from the government's Invest to Save budget. This project, which is being undertaken in partnership with the police and the Office of Criminal Justice Reform, will provide at least one witness care unit in each Criminal Justice Area by March 2005 and full coverage of England and Wales by December 2005. The new services provided to witnesses will include better communication and support provided by a single point of contact throughout the life of a case from charge to the publication of results. Results from the pilots indicate that No Witness No Justice reduces the number of cracked and ineffective trials due to witness issues, thereby contributing to PSA1, and increases the confidence of victims and witnesses in the Criminal Justice System.
- In response to the Home Office Action Plan on Tackling Anti Social Behaviour, the CPS has appointed 13 specialist Prosecutors in 'hot spot' Areas to concentrate on prosecuting anti-social behaviour and low-level disorder offences, and to support local authorities in the applying for and enforcing any breaches of those orders. The expert prosecutors will also be working with local Crime Reduction Partnership groups and with local communities to establish local projects that seek to reduce the anti-social behaviour that blights many communities.
- The confiscation provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 have made it easier for the police and prosecutors to recover assets from criminals. So far in 2004-05, the CPS has secured in excess of 1100 orders with a total value of 31.9 million.
- A Community Engagement Strategy for the CPS is being developed from October 2004 and will support a range of community engagement guidance and tools including a good practice guide; a number of local community engagement pilots; a community contacts database and a directory of consultation initiatives. These tools will equip all our staff to engage more effectively with local communities and faiths in raising awareness of the role of the CPS and listening and responding to their concerns about the Service and the difficulties they face when dealing with the Criminal Justice System.
- The CPS received external recognition for its recent successful work on equality and diversity issues at the RaceActionNet Conference 2004. The Service won the overall award for Organisational Excellence in Equality and Diversity based on the community engagement which underpinned the Racist and Religious Crimes Policy. Commendations were also received for CPS Coventry and West Midlands Police for their local work on No Witness, No Justice; CPS Sussex for their work on addressing hate crime locally and CPS West Midlands for their work on gun crime with partner agencies.
CJS
- Baselines for the targets on Victim and Witness Satisfaction have been set following the introduction of new questions in the British Crime Survey.
- A Victim and Witness Delivery Plan, which sets out key priorities for Local Criminal Justice Boards for improving services for victims and witnesses, was published in October 2004. A series of toolkits which will help Local Criminal Justice Boards and agencies successfully implement the priorities set out in the Delivery Plan will be published from November to early 2005.
- The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 includes measures for a code of practice, binding on all Criminal Justice Agencies, so that all victims receive the support, protection, information and advice they need.
- Inside Justice Week took place 11-17 October 2004 involving a range of regional and local activity to de-mystify the Criminal Justice System and encourage public participation. The week gave the public a chance to learn more about the Criminal Justice System in their local area and encourage them to get involved.
- The Criminal Justice System Race Unit has commenced work on a two year study into whether there is any quantitative evidence of different sentencing between people in different black and minority ethnic and white populations.
- A National Race Forum has been established, which will enable Local Criminal Justice Boards to increase their knowledge and experience in race, diversity and community engagement.
PSA Target 3
Increase value for money from the Criminal Justice System by 3 per cent per year.
Performance Measure
To increase value for money from the Criminal Justice System by 3% per annum
The target will be met if by the year ending March 2006 there is an improvement in value for money in the CJS of at least 3% per year on average compared with the year 2002/03.
Latest Outturn
A number of CPS-led initiatives will have efficiency and value for money benefits for the CPS and CJS partners such as the police and the courts.
Progress since April 2004
CPS
- The implementation of the charging scheme with earlier consideration of the case by the prosecutor is ensuring that the right charge is made first time. Benefits will be a reduction in the number of cases that are discontinued, an increase in the number of early guilty pleas and a reduction in the attrition rate. Introduction of charging arrangements will also result in improved file quality and will save time and effort on the part of the police, CPS and courts.
- The CPS is developing new arrangements for remunerating counsel engaged to undertake 'very high cost cases' - those due to last more than 40 days at the Crown Court. Resources being applied to high cost cases will be more closely managed with payments being made to counsel throughout the life of the case rather than at the end. The CPS is also planning to extend the existing graduated fee scheme (GFS), for the payment of counsel in volume Crown Court cases presently due to last up to 25 days at trial, to 40 days. GFS is a formula based scheme and removes the need to have often time consuming and difficult fee negotiation.
- The CPS has extended the remit of Designated Caseworkers to deal with straightforward guilty plea cases and other hearings in magistrates' courts. This has released prosecutor resources to deal with more complex magistrates' courts trials and the more serious cases heard in the Crown Court.
- The CPS e-procurement initiative is delivering procurement savings. During the year the on-line ordering of stationery has successfully delivered a 10% cash saving. Further work is underway to introduce on-line procurement for other supplies and services and the Department is currently conducting its first electronic tender, which will help to reduce the bidding and process costs for both suppliers and the CPS.
- In April 2004 a further release to the COMPASS Case Management System was made to support the new prosecution charging arrangements. More work is underway to develop COMPASS. In October 2004 a further upgrade provided an electronic interface to the Police NSPIS case management system and which will allow electronic exchange of prosecution cases and case information. This new interface will be the start of joining up CJS IT systems and will be tested with the police in CPS Humberside from January 2005.
- The CPS has supported the Criminal Justice Information Technology (CJIT) led initiative to optimise the use of secure eMail and have identified 1,250 information exchanges between the CPS and others in the CJS as being suitable for secure eMail. So far over 450 of these information flows have been moved from letter and fax to the secure eMail service. Further work is underway to sign up external defence and prosecution Barristers and Solicitors to use secure eMail, promoting this as the most effective way of exchanging information with the CPS.
- The CPS is undertaking a number of initiatives aimed at reducing sickness absence. The introduction of a new pay system in October 2004 has brought improved sick absence information that will enable managers to manage sickness absence more effectively. A new HR Guide "How do I maximise attendance" will be distributed early next year to all CPS managers.
Performance Against Live Targets for SR2000
Target 2: Reduce by 2004 the time from arrest to sentence or other disposal by;
Performance Measure
Reducing the time from charge to disposal for all defendants, with a target to be specified by March 2001;
Latest Outturn
NOT KNOWN - Ministers agreed that eachLCJB would set timeliness targets for their individual area, with no overall national target. These LCJB targets have been further developed, and in 2004-05 timeliness forms part of the LCJB considerations in relation to ineffective trials.
Performance Measure
Dealing with 80% of youth court cases within their time targets; and
Latest Outturn
NOT KNOWN - Ministers agreed that each LCJB would set timeliness targets for their individual area, with no overall national target. These LCJB targets have been further developed, and in 2004-05 timeliness forms part of the LCJB considerations in relation to ineffective trials.
Performance Measure
Halving from 142 to 71 days by 2002 the time taken from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders and maintaining that level thereafter.
Latest Outturn
MET - Performance for quarter ending March 2004 was 66 days, and has been consistently met nationally for the past two years. Performance in August 2004 was 63 days.
Target 3: Improve the level of public confidence in the CJS by 2004, including improving that of ethnic minority communities.
NOT KNOWN - Baselines for the SR2000 target were set using the British Crime Survey (BCS) January 2001. Changes in survey design in the 2001/02 survey year mean that reliable comparison cannot be made between baseline and latest data. However, with this caveat, levels of confidence appear to have risen for three indicators and fallen for one. Year to June 2004 figures are as follows with baseline in brackets: (i) Meets victims needs 33% (26%); (ii) Respects the rights of defendants 77% (69%); (iii) Deals with cases promptly 38% (34%); (iv) Brings people to justice 42% (46%). We do know that confidence has risen significantly since 2002/03 survey.
Target 4: Increase the number and proportion of recorded crimes for which an offender is brought to justice.
Superseded by the new SR2004 target.
PSA Targets from Spending Review 2004
Revised targets for the CJS and CPS were introduced as part of the 2004 spending review covering the period 2005-2008. The targets for the CPS follow on from SR2002 targets and are:
- To improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.25 million for 2007-08.
This target will supersede the PSA target for SR 2002. The target for the level of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice in 2005-06 will be reset at 1.15 million, to ensure a realistic and stretching trajectory to deliver this improvement
- To reassure the public, by reducing the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour, and building confidence in the Criminal Justice System.
Efficiency Targets
The 2004 spending review set new efficiency targets for the CPS to deliver savings of 34 million by 2007-08 that will replace the value for money PSA target. The CPS Efficiency Plan includes the implementation of the charging programme; improvements in productive time through the development and use of COMPASS, increased use of higher court advocates and Designated Caseworkers; rationalising administrative support functions through a review of Service Centres and Counselling and Support Services, a freeze in Headquarters budgets to focus more resources on frontline prosecution services and continuing to improve procurement practices.
SR 2000 Targets
PSA 1
Reduce the time from arrest to sentence or other disposal;
Reducing the time from charge to disposal for all defendants; with a target to be specified by March 2001;
Dealing with 80% of youth court cases within their time targets; and
Halving from 142 to 71 days by 2002 the time taken from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders and maintaining that level thereafter
This target continues to be met.
PSA 2
Improve the standard by which the CJS meets the rights of defendants, by achieving 100% of targets in a basket of measures as defined in the CJS Business Plan by 2004
PSA 3
Increase the number and proportion of recorded crimes for which an offender is brought to justice.
PSA 4
Ensure by 2004 that the levels of fear of crime in the key categories of violent crime, burglary and car crime reported in the British Crime Survey (BCS) are lower than the levels reported in the 2001 BCS
PSA 5
Improve by 5 percentage points the satisfaction level of victims and witnesses with their treatment in the CJS by 2002 and thereafter at least maintain that level of performance
PSA 6
Improve the level of public confidence in the CJS by 2004, including that of ethnic communities
PSA 7
Improve performance through securing annual efficiency improvements of 3%
SR 2002 Targets
PSA 1
Improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.2 million by March 2006, with an improvement in all CJS areas, a greater increase in the worst performing areas, and a reduction in the proportion of ineffective trials
PSA 2
Improve the level of public confidence in the CJS, including increasing that of ethnic minority communities, increasing year on year the satisfaction of victims and witnesses, whilst respecting the rights of defendants
PSA 3
Increase the value for money from the Criminal Justice System by 3 per cent per year
Value for money continues to be a high priority for the CJS. All CJS partners have produced efficiency plans agreed with the Treasury.
SR 2004 Targets
PSA 1
To improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.25 million by 2007-08
PSA 2
To reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour, and building confidence in the Criminal Justice System without compromising fairness.
Notes
- The offences brought to justice element of this target was modified in SR 2004, superseding the previous target of 1.2 million offences brought to justice in 2005/06. At the same time, a higher target of 1.25 million offences brought to justice was set for 2007-08.
- All performance figures and percentage improvements given in this section exclude miscellaneous motoring offences, which were included in the performance figures given in the last performance report but (apart from the offence of tampering with a motor vehicle) are no longer counted towards the Offences Brought To Justice total.