Lead Non-Executive Board Member’s Report
Membership
The CPS Board membership underwent several changes in 2022-23.
Caroline Wayman, Non-Executive Board Member and Chair of the Nomination, Leadership and Remuneration Committee (NLRC), stepped down on 31st May 2022. I would like to extend my thanks to Caroline for her time and dedication to the organisation as a Non‐Executive Board Member.
We have recruited two new Non-Executive Board Members in Dr Subo Shanmuganathan and Kathryn Stone OBE. Kathryn has been appointed as Chair of the NLRC.
I believe we have created a robust Board with a good range of skills, capable of providing the necessary challenge and support to guide the organisation and to continue to bring about a culture of continuous improvement.
The Board continues to embrace hybrid working during the year and has met in person and remotely throughout the year.
The Board would like to thank everyone within the CPS for the continued leadership shown by the executive team and for the hard work, flexibility and commitment of each and every member of the service.
Core Business
Over the year, the Board fulfilled its five principal roles as set out in the Cabinet Office Corporate Governance for Central Government Departments: Code of Good Practice. These included:
Strategic Clarity
The Board has spent time working closely with the Strategy and Policy Directorate to develop the Business Plan for 2023-24. We are confident that the Business Plan has been designed to continue to drive the organisation towards delivery of the CPS 2025 strategy with clear prioritisation and a strong focus on outcomes.
We are pleased that the Business Plan recognises the importance of the work on operational recovery, violence against women and girls, and on the fairness in the service we provide to victims and defendants. We are also pleased that the funding to support each of these objectives was appropriately allocated. The Board welcomed commitment from the Treasury to providing additional funding to meet the needs of the Bar, enabling the CPS to develop the Business Plan and look ahead with increased confidence and optimism.
The Board has received regular updates on progress of the Victims Transformation Programme. The programme aims to transform the service provided to every victim and as a Board we are fully supportive of the intended outcomes. The Board has maintained oversight of the programme throughout 2022-23 and has provided support, challenge and scrutiny to ensure the work is innovative and provides an enhanced service to all.
The Board has also been updated on progress against the Casework Quality Strategy and remains confident that the strategy to ensure CPS legal expertise, casework quality and collaboration across the criminal justice system to keep the public safer remains on track. The Board will continue to focus on the delivery of the Casework Quality Strategy to ensure this key aspect of CPS work continues to be delivered as anticipated.
Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) is one of the top priorities for the CPS and there has been a great deal of focus on this, working with cross CJS partners, over the past year. RASSO has therefore remained a focus of the Board throughout 2022-23 and whilst the CPS and the Board are by no means complacent there have been significant improvements in this area of work over the last 12 months.
Commercial Sense
The Board are pleased that the CPS will receive an additional £30m in 2023/24 and £28m for 2024/25 to bring parity between prosecuting and defending Bar fees. This enables existing resources to be spent on major projects so not detracting from CPS delivery through independent and fair prosecutions and improved casework quality.
The CPS continues to drive digital innovation to maximise efficiency, create resilience and reduce costs.
Talented People
The Department’s Employee Engagement Index remained at 69% in the 2022 Civil Service People Survey. This represented a positive outcome given the challenges of navigating a post pandemic workplace, supported by a successful, principles-based approach to the introduction of Hybrid Working.
The CPS continues to lead the way in inclusion in employment across government departments having one of the most diverse workforces in the Civil Service, with 23% staff who declared they are from an ethnic minority background and high numbers across multiple protected characteristics. The Board welcomes the achievements of its high scores around inclusive culture in the annual People Survey. The CPS have strengthened even further this year with the successful introduction of a Speak Out Champion, Equality Diversity and Inclusion Advisor and new diversity champions. However, the CPS is in no way complacent, and as a Board we will continue to expect continued focus on an inclusive workforce.
We were also pleased to see that the CPS was again recognised by Working Families as one of the Top 10 employers for the sixth year running and this year the Social Mobility Index 2022 again recognised the work in this area with CPS again being listed as a Top 75 workplace. We believe these achievements, along with the innovative approach to Hybrid Working continues to make CPS an employer of choice.
Results Focus
The Board reviews performance nationally, and by Area, on a quarterly basis, including giving scrutiny to progress against a balanced set of key measures contained in the CPS Business Plan, to track progress against the CPS 2025 values and the Business Plan.
The Board has welcomed the improvements to the enhanced reporting during 2022-23 which has enabled its members to scrutinise and challenge the CPS on key aspects of operational performance. During the year the Board has had the opportunity to consider deep dives into area performance variations, the impact of Bar strikes and has maintained a focus on violence against women and girls. The Board will continue this scrutiny throughout 2023-24.
The Business Plan ensures that the CPS is focused on delivering its priorities for the year, helping the organisation recover from the impact of the pandemic and Bar strikes while delivering vital improvements at the same time. The plan ensures the CPS invests carefully and significantly and that it continues to build public confidence in the work that the CPS does.
Management Information
The Board is provided with appropriate and reliable management information, which allows it to fully consider both Area and Corporate performance.
The publication of CPS performance data continues to be welcomed by the Board, promoting transparency and accountability across the criminal justice system. The Board reviews the quarterly data regularly to ensure there is sufficient scrutiny of the data which assists the CPS senior leadership to identify problem areas and discover potential interventions.
Committees
The Board continued to be supported by its committees and received regular reports from the committee chairs. I am grateful to Simon Jeffreys for his work as Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC). ARAC continued to scrutinise the department’s system of risk and internal control, in particular the corporate risk framework and data security.
Dr Subo Shanmuganathan took up a non-executive role on the CPS ARAC in October 2022. I am also grateful to Caroline Wayman for her work as Chair of the Nominations, Leadership and Remuneration Committee (NLRC) before her departure from the Service in May 2022. Kathryn Stone OBE has taken the role of the NLRC Chair, for which I am also grateful. NLRC undertook thorough scrutiny of the department’s senior executive pay and performance.
Both Committees have met quarterly throughout the year and have focused on areas within their terms of reference. The work that these committees undertook during 2022-23 has been invaluable in providing me with the assurance that there is appropriate risk management across the organisation and scrutiny over the senior team’s performance.
As Lead Non-Executive Board member I have also attended the quarterly Ministerial Strategic Board which has an overarching aim to oversee the strategic direction for the CPS and hold the CPS to account for the delivery of its strategic objectives.
Looking Forward
The Board has been fully engaged with the findings from the research into the disproportionality of charging decisions. From the outset, the Board has worked closely with the Executive Group to ensure it is as transparent and open as it can be with the initial findings and that its staff have been fully supported. The Board will continue to support the organisation through the second phase of the research and in the development of action plans to take forward any necessary improvements both internally and across the criminal justice system.
The Board has had a productive relationship with the Law Officers, meeting twice during the year. This relationship is an essential component of the governance and therefore of the standing and success of the CPS.
Finally, in order to provide continuity for the transition to a new Director of Public Prosecutions in November 2023, I have agreed to extend my term by two years, remaining as Lead Non-Executive Board Member until June 2025.
Monica Burch
Lead Non-Executive Board Member and Chair of the Board – April 2023