The CPS and You: Working in the Community
Improving Public Confidence
West Yorkshire is among the most diverse and multicultural counties in England and Wales. It is the aim of the CPS and all its partners in the criminal justice system to provide a fair and equitable service for everyone.
To achieve this it is important that people understand how the criminal justice system works and how we come to our decisions, to improve public confidence in the CPS and the wider CJS. By getting involved in the local community CPS West Yorkshire is able to both inform communities how the criminal justice works and most importantly, to listen and respond to communities about their concerns.
Community Engagement
We are therefore committed to engaging with all the diverse communities within West Yorkshire and our outreach programme reflects.
Close relationships with our diverse communities are also important and we maintain strong links with groups throughout the area, where possible actively seeking the views of the communities which we serve whether they are distinguished by race, disability, age, gender or geography.
The Area has introduced an innovative way of engaging with the community by establishing the CPS West Yorkshire Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel and the West Yorkshire Community Involvement Panel.
The Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel includes members of the five main race crime panels in West Yorkshire, who scrutinise cases with a racial, religious, homophobic, or transphobic element, dealt with by the CPS. The Panel had its first meeting in November 2004 and is going from strength to strength.
The Community Involvement Panel comprises of 10 members with a combined interest and experience of various community issues. It works to ensure that community views are incorporated into CPS West Yorkshire's decision making.
We work in partnership with Calderdale Education Authority on their Citizenship programme, regularly attend careers fairs and provide work experience for young people from both local schools and further education establishments.
The CPS also attends public events such as Court Open Days along with its CJS partners. For more information on forthcoming events in which we are involved, please visit our News & Events page.
Contact Us
If you would like to arrange for a CPS representative to come along to talk to you about our work, please contact Lizzy Hilton, Equality, Diversity & Community Engagement Manager on 0113 2902844.