Introduction
By the Director of Public Prosecutions and Chief Executive Officer
We are pleased to share the Annual Report and Accounts for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for the 2021-22 financial year. This report covers the second year of reporting against objectives set out in our CPS 2025 strategy, and organises achievements under our five strategic aims – our people, digital capability, strategic partnerships, casework quality and public confidence.
In this reporting year the long-term implications of the pandemic became clear – the ongoing backlog of cases in the magistrates’ courts and Crown Court being very real examples of this. There have been substantial efforts to manage operational pressures and drive improvement while every component of the criminal justice system recovers – and CPS staff have shown outstanding integrity and resilience in response to these challenges. The impact of the pandemic and growing complexity in the nature of our casework has led to considerable increases in our workload and we are proud of the professionalism and dedication of our people. We welcome the positive increase in funding in the Spending Review settlement which recognised the need to grow our workforce to manage the combined challenges of dealing with backlogs, supporting the work of the additional 20,000 police officers being recruited and improving the way rape cases are dealt with. Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and wellbeing and inclusivity continues to be an organisational priority. This year we set out our hybrid working principles on exiting the pandemic, which balance having a clear purpose when attending different workspaces with the need for the right environment for collaboration – all while ensuring wellbeing remains as a concern for our hard-working staff.
To ensure we continue to deliver as we move to hybrid working, our digital investment remains high. This includes both internal-facing and cross-criminal justice system solutions. The last year has seen substantial work on our Digital Case File system, developed with the police, which will help to improve the sharing of case materials by introducing more digitisation of information. Internally, we have invested in futureproofing our digital security by reviewing access rights to our case management systems and building on staff knowledge of data responsibilities through mandatory training. Underlining all our digital development is the push to move towards better and earlier data-driven insights, to give decision-makers more real-time information than ever before.
A data-driven approach enables us to work in the most focussed and constructive way with our strategic partners, enabling real change across the criminal justice system. This year we have benefitted from the transparency of the Government’s Criminal Justice scorecards; piloted the joint NPCC-CPS Charging Model, which looks to boost casework quality; refreshed how we engage on a local basis with police forces to improve file submissions; and continued to support parliamentarians so that government policy and legislation are informed by our insight. As we build our understanding of the trends, risks and opportunities in our own and our partners’ work, we are able to use this knowledge to collaboratively focus on the most entrenched issues we face as criminal justice practitioners.
This is exemplified by our continued commitment to delivering improvements to how rape and serious sexual offences are progressed through the criminal justice system. This year we published an update to our Rape Strategy, committing ourselves to significantly increasing the number of offenders brought to justice, in part through major changes to working practices with the police. Over the year, we have seen charges for rape increase by 22% compared with the last quarter of 2020-21. While this is very positive, there are still considerable improvements to be made in this area, and it will continue to be a focus for us in the year ahead.
Clearly explaining our decision making, especially on areas of public concern such as rape and serious sexual assault, is key to improving public confidence in our service and public understanding of our role. However, this cannot be a one-sided conversation. This year we have built on our existing community engagement channels – such as our Community Accountability Forums – to listen to our stakeholders, hear their concerns, and use this insight to implement changes to our service. We commissioned a victims’ needs assessment in recognition that how we communicate with victims is currently not meeting their needs. The results of this will form the basis of ongoing work to redesign our operational approach to victim communication.
It has been another challenging year, and we are incredibly grateful to our staff for all their hard work. Without their commitment, fortitude, and professionalism we would not be able to meet the challenges we have faced over the last twelve months – or look forward to the achievements of the future.
Max Hill QC
Director of Public Prosecutions
Rebecca Lawrence
Chief Executive Officer