The Crown Prosecution Service
CPS 2023-24 Business Plan

I am pleased to introduce this year’s business plan, the fourth under our ambitious five-year strategy CPS 2025. The plan sets out the priority change projects under each of our five strategic aims – our people, digital capability, strategic partnerships, casework quality and public confidence. 

Our operating conditions continue to be challenging, not least because the road out of the pandemic is proving long and difficult. Backlogs – combined with other operational and financial pressures – continue to result in delays for victims, witnesses, and defendants. 

These are not challenges that will be solved overnight, but we continue to work hard alongside our partners to deliver justice despite the pressures – and we are proud of the resilience and flexibility of our people in the face of challenging circumstances. 

Our planning for 2023/24 continues to benefit from last year’s three-year Spending Review settlement. This has been tested through the Government’s Efficiency and Savings Review, which confirmed we will need to accommodate increased pressures, either from within the criminal justice system or from the fiscal environment.

This year, we are prioritising continued operational recovery from the pandemic, strikes and backlog, alongside vital improvements to how we work – including growing our digital capability to deliver higher quality casework with fewer delays. With our partners across the criminal justice system, we remain focused on driving up the number of rape cases going to court and building public confidence in how we handle violence against women and girls. Alongside this, we are committed to providing a service that is fair for all – with work ongoing to reform our service to victims, especially those with the greatest need.

We are growing as an organisation – with a refreshed strategic workforce plan and renewed efforts to recruit and train skilled prosecutors from a range of backgrounds. We are committed to recruiting the right people for the right jobs and providing our colleagues with the tools they need to operate efficiently. Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and whether they are working at court, in offices or at home, we support them to deliver justice with a comprehensive development and wellbeing offer.

In the next year we will continue to be guided by our values – to treat everyone with respect; be independent, fair, open, and honest; and to behave professionally and strive for excellence. In everything we do, our aim is simple: criminals brought to justice, victims and defendants treated fairly, and the public made safer.

Max Hill KC
Director of Public Prosecutions