Other information
Equality of service delivery
Equality, diversity and inclusion is at that heart of how we work at the CPS, both as an employer and as a prosecution service. Investing in our internal culture has significant benefits for our people, but it also has a wider impact – helping us to build stronger relationships with our communities and partners and deliver a quality public service.
This strong link between a diverse workforce and inclusive culture, and public trust and confidence is reflected in our new 2025 Inclusion and Community Engagement strategy, which is jointly led by the Directors in Strategy and Policy and the People Function. ‘ICE 2025’ was launched in September 2021, and sets out how we approach these responsibilities and in turn, how we can be our very best and achieve our core purpose – delivering justice through fair and independent prosecutions in line with our public sector equality duties.
ICE 2025 is built on our strong foundations, and we are proud to be one of the UK’s most inclusive employers – we have been recognised by the social mobility employer index, as a disability confident leader and as one of the top 10 most family friendly workplaces in the country. We have increased our workforce diversity – making us one of the most diverse organisations across the Civil Service. We have also successfully increased the number of our people who’ve declared their equalities information.
We have well established community engagement mechanisms in place at national and local level. These include our National Community Accountability Forum, External Consultation Groups and local Scrutiny Involvement Panels and Community Conversations facilitated by Chief Crown Prosecutors. These forums enable us to hear directly from our communities about issues that matter to them and enable them to scrutinise our decision making.
This year nationally we have held Community Accountability Forums on Economic Crime, Hate Crime and Public Sexual Harassment, Listening Exercises to inform the development of guidance for prosecutors on the use of drill music as evidence, and worked with the Violence Against Women and Girls and Hate Crime External Consultation Groups on the development of Domestic Abuse Legal Guidance and the joint CPS/National Police Chiefs’ Council Hate Crime statement. Locally, CPS Areas continue to engage with stakeholders to undertake the review of finalised hate crime and Violence Against Women and Girls cases, and host Community Conversations to improve casework outcomes, improve support for victims and witnesses and explain CPS decision making, so that we continue to engage with communities and stakeholders on issues that affect them.
Making fair and independent decisions is a cornerstone of who we are. We remain open to public scrutiny and we are committed to continuously improving. In addition to our existing community engagement initiatives and casework scrutiny panels, we have been working closely with academic partners to analyse our data for any evidence of disproportionality in our decision making. The results of this research will inform a programme of work to further understand the causes of disproportionality in CPS decisions, the action required to address it, and the ways in which it can be monitored more effectively.
Complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman
The CPS only falls within the remit of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) when a complaint received by the Ombudsman relates to the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. On 1 April 2021, a new Victims’ Code designed to provide victims of crime better support from the police, courts and other criminal justice agencies came into force. Full details of the new code can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice.
The Victims’ Code places a statutory obligation on criminal justice agencies to meet the standard of service to victims of crime set out in the code.
Since 3 April 2006, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has had a statutory responsibility to consider complaints, referred by Members of Parliament (MPs), from those who complain that a body has not met its obligations under the Victims’ Code. The obligations the new Victims’ Code places on the agencies concerned include that:
- victims be provided with information when reporting the crime, including information about the criminal justice process and be told about programmes or services for victims;
- victims be provided with information in a way that is easy to understand and provided with help to be understood, including, where necessary, access to interpretation and translation services;
- victims be provided with information about the trial, trial process and their role as a witness;
- victims be referred to services that support them and have services and support tailored to their needs;
- victims be provided information about eligibility for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme; and
- victims be given information about the outcome of the case and any appeals.
Where a victim of crime in England and Wales believes a criminal justice agency, including the CPS, has failed to provide the service set out in the Victims’ Code, they should first put their complaint directly to the agency concerned. If their complaint is not addressed to their satisfaction by the agency, they may then contact an MP and ask them to refer the complaint to the Ombudsman.
Once a complaint is received by the Ombudsman it undergoes an assessment process which determines whether or not the Ombudsman should investigate it.
In the 2021-22 financial year, the PHSO received 12 complaints regarding CPS. Of these, eight were concluded without an assessment, and four are currently ongoing.
Auditors
These Accounts have been audited by the National Audit Office on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General at a notional cost of £111,000 (see Note 3 in the Notes to Departmental Accounts). No other external audit services were commissioned by the CPS.
Max Hill QC
Director of Public Prosecutions
5 July 2022