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How the Crown Prosecution Service is understanding and tackling racial disproportionality in our work - our Action Plan

Introduction to the Action Plan

The Crown Prosecution Service sits at the heart of the criminal justice system. It is our role to decide whether someone should be charged with the most serious criminal offences. The decisions we make have a profound impact on the lives of victims and defendants, and therefore it’s vital that fairness and independence are cornerstones of who we are and how we make these decisions.

It is widely acknowledged that there is a disproportionate representation of ethnic minorities across the whole criminal justice system. Comprehensive research has told us that this disparity is mirrored in our charging rates – with ethnic minority suspects more likely to be charged for a comparable crime than white British suspects.

We must do better. We will not be complacent - we will take decisive action to tackle disproportionality and deliver change.

We have, therefore, developed an ambitious action plan which sets out a comprehensive programme of work to tackle the root causes of disproportionality and embed meaningful change across the CPS.

This action plan has been developed collaboratively with colleagues and external partners. Furthermore, the actions we are taking forward have been informed by comprehensive research and independent scrutiny. By taking an evidence-led approach, we can be confident that our work will deliver sustainable change.

There’s a role for each and every part of the CPS to play, and the action plan identifies an organisation wide approach. This plan will enable us to develop an anti-racist culture and practices, eliminating racial bias in our decision-making and working with other criminal justice partners to address race disproportionality across the system.

This action plan is just the start of our journey. We will continue to work with our staff, communities and partners to build on our progress, and to continue to scrutinise ourselves on this important issue.


What we want to achieve

Outcomes

  1. We identify and understand how bias can manifest in all our work.
  2. Our people understand lived experience and the impact of race disproportionality in decision making on our communities.
  3. Our people are culturally aware and sensitive, reflecting the communities we serve at all levels and places. 
  4. Our leaders and managers are role models and accountable advocates for our work on disproportionality.

Outcomes

  1. Our Code, processes and guidance ensure fairness by mitigating against bias.
  2. Our work to address disproportionality is informed by equality legislation and analysis.
  3. Our decision-making is transparent and open to scrutiny.
  4. Our Leaders and Managers support prosecutors to make proportionate and fair charging decisions.

Outcomes

  1. We have the confidence and capability to challenge racial bias internally and with external partners.
  2. We identify potential racial bias in the materials we receive and our charging decisions, through our use of data and digital tools.
  3. We actively engage our partners in challenging and eliminating racial bias.
  4. We collectively restore public confidence in the criminal justice system, particularly with those communities who are more likely to be affected by disproportionality.

How we'll achieve these aims

OutcomeAction
1: We identify and understand how bias can manifest in all our work.
  • Deliver a learning package to support the identification of potential bias in casework and develop the skills of our prosecutors to address it. Q4 2024/25 - Q3 2025/26
  • Develop new and existing case studies with practical examples of how bias can manifest at differing stages of casework, for inclusion in relevant learning products, to help our staff conceptualise this vital work. Q4 2024/25 and ongoing
  • Reduce the potential for bias in our casework by reviewing and analysing research on effective ways to reduce people's biases, to inform the development of internal learning products. Q3 2024/25 - Q2 2025/26
  • Develop a series of products that summarise the disproportionality research for all of our staff to understand and learn from, ensuring they are equipped to apply key learning to their work. Q3 2024/25 - Q4 2026/27
2: Our people understand lived experience and the impact of race disproportionality in decision making on our communities.
  • Develop inclusive internal communications plans to share the lived experiences of those from ethnic minority community organisations with staff. Q3 2024/25 - Q4 2024/25
3: Our people are culturally aware and sensitive, reflecting the communities we serve at all levels and places.
  • Improve representation of ethnic minority staff in senior management roles, where the evidence demonstrates under-representation, through targeted recruitment, retention and development activities. Ongoing, continuous activity
4: Our leaders and managers are role models and accountable advocates for our work on disproportionality.
  • Develop a disproportionality objective for all senior leaders, creating an environment in our organisation with inclusive leaders at the forefront, who prioritise and champion addressing racial bias. Q3 2024/25 - Q4 2024/25
  • Scope, identify and embed measures for monitoring disproportionality in CPS Areas. Q1 2025/26 - Q4 2025/26
  • Develop and promote an organisational anti-racist statement, endorsed by our Executive Group, committing us to tackling discrimination. Q3 2024/25 - Q4 2024/25
OutcomeAction
Our Code, processes and guidance ensure fairness by mitigating against bias.
  • Amend the Code for Crown Prosecutors to ensure identifying and addressing bias is considered by all prosecutors in all of their casework decisions. Interim position by Q1 2025/26, evaluation and review by Q4 2025/26
  • Embed methods to identify and address bias into our case strategy principles. Q3 2024/25 - Q3 2025/26
Our work to address disproportionality is informed by equality legislation and analysis.
  • Work with policing and criminal justice partners to improve recording of ethnicity and demographic data to enable robust data analysis, such as through a joint data commitment. Q4 2024/25 - Q4 2025/26
  • Review and update our Public Sector Equality Duty training in light of the outcomes of the disproportionality research. Q4 2024/25 - Q3 2025/26
Our decision-making is transparent and open to scrutiny.
  • As part of the prosecutors Individual Quality Assurance (IQA) process, which helps to drive casework improvements, include questions on how they are challenging and addressing potential bias in casework. Q1 2025/26 - Q1 2026/27
  • All joint enterprise homicide and attempted homicide cases will be subject to case management panels and a national monitoring scheme which will report data annually. Q1 2024/25 and ongoing
  • All CPS Areas will convene yearly Joint Enterprise Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panels and to enable community representatives to scrutinise our work in this area. Q3 2024/25 and ongoing
Our Leaders and Managers support prosecutors to make proportionate and fair charging decisions.
  • Include Area’s work on disproportionality as part of the Area Performance Reviews to monitor progress and ensure continuous improvement. Q1 2025/26 - Q4 2025/26
  • Review our existing processes to ensure our prosecutors feel enabled to confidently raise concerns around casework decisions that may be disproportionate. Q4 2024/25 - Q2 2025/26
OutcomeAction
We have the confidence and capability to challenge racial bias internally and with external partners.
  • Conduct further research into our organisational culture to understand how to tackle racial bias in the CPS, resulting in staff that have the confidence and capability to challenge and discuss bias and disproportionality. Q4 2024/25 - Q4 2025/26
  • Scope and develop resources to support prosecutors to have conversations about race, to reduce the potential for disproportionality in decision making. Q4 2024/25 - Q4 2025/26
We identify potential racial bias in the materials we receive and our charging decisions, through our use of data and digital tools.
  • Scope the use of digital tools to identify potentially harmful trends across cases. Q1 2025/26 - Q4 2025/26
  • Use digital tools to support prosecutors in identifying potential bias in evidence, and their own reviews. Q1 2026/27 - Q4 2026/27
We actively engage our partners in challenging and eliminating racial bias.
  • Develop clear process for prosecutors to raise concerns regarding potential racial bias in casework, internally and with criminal justice partners. Q2 2025/26 - Q3 2025/26
  • Establish a joint NPCC-CPS Race Disproportionality Board to ensure close collaboration with the Police Race Action Plan. Q1 2024/25 and ongoing
  • We will monitor the diversity of external prosecution advocates, engaging in initiatives and activity aimed at improving the ethnic representation of the CPS Advocate Panel. This will include monitoring in respect of the allocation of work and payment of fees. Q4 2024/25 - Q4 2025/26
We collectively restore public confidence in the criminal justice system, particularly with those communities who are more likely to be affected by disproportionality. 
  • Engage with communities to raise awareness of how the CPS is tackling disproportionality. Q3 2024/25 and ongoing
  • Review and publicly consult on our policy surrounding ‘gangs’ and the use of drill as evidence. Q4 2024/25 - Q3 2025/26
  • Develop a communications strategy to promote the work of the action plan and build public confidence in our work to tackle disproportionality. Q3 2024/25 - Q4 2024/25
  • Take part in the Bar Council’s 10,000 Black Interns programme, by providing work experience opportunities for Black undergraduates and graduates who are currently underrepresented at the Bar. Q1 2025/26 - Q4 2025/26

Action Plan - download

You can download a PDF copy of our Action Plan here. This document may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

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