The 12 standards

  1. Advice
  2. Charging
  3. Diversion
  4. Bail
  5. Preparation
  6. Presentation
  7. Needs of Victims and Witnesses
  8. Direct contact with victims
  9. Support sentencing and POCA
  10. Appeals
  11. Complaints
  12. Community Engagement

For a more detailed description of the standards please visit the main CPS website.

Home » Core Quality Standards

Core Quality Standards

Image from the Core Quality Standards DocumentCPS Prosecutors exercise powers on behalf of the public and therefore the public are entitled to know what to expect from those who prosecute on their behalf.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, launched 12 new core quality standards in April 2010. The standards cover every major aspect of CPS work, from protecting the public to advising the investigator; through to defining the standards of service in respect of every aspect of the prosecutor's role in court; and from supporting victims and witnesses to dealing with complaints.

Mr Starmer said:

"The Core Quality Standards set out in plain language the key requirements for a successful prosecution. They inform members of the public of the level of service they can expect from those who prosecute on their behalf. Likewise, they inform CPS staff of what is expected of them and how they will be held to account for the quality of the service provided.

"From now on, Core Quality Standards will become the focus for the CPS, allowing us to build on existing good practice and to tackle poor performance effectively."

The standards lie at the heart of everything we do as an organisation and give us a consistent, national illustration of what looks good looks like in the way we conduct our business and prosecute cases.

The 12 standards have been developed with input from staff and members of the public and clearly set out how we help to deliver the best possible service.

The standards will be underpinned by minimum service delivery requirements, which will make it clear what the public can expect of the CPS, and provide a way in which to measure our success.

What this means in the South East

The Head of each Prosecution Team samples six casework files a month dealt with by their team and assesses them against 34 commitments set out in the Core Quality Standards. Twice a year a Prosecution Team Head assesses the quality of files from another team as part of a peer review.

This process for measuring compliance against each of the standards was introduced shortly after their publication. Monitoring Core Quality Standards enables managers to assess the quality of work in their teams and provide evidence based assurance to the Chief Crown Prosecutor that their casework  is meeting the service delivery requirements.

Monitoring our work in this way enables us to achieve improvements in our performance.