Other information

Equality of service delivery

The principles of equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of how we work. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2025 sets out how we implement these principles, both as an employer and as a prosecution service.

We are delivering a range of activities to enable our people to lead with inclusion at the heart of what we do. This includes engaging with communities to drive public confidence; using the insights of communities and relevant sources to drive improvements in policy and practice; maximising our use of technology and data to support delivery and broaden our reach; and being a leading voice on inclusion across the criminal justice system (CJS), working with partners to facilitate change.

We are proud to be recognised as one of the UK’s most inclusive employers. Our efforts to increase workforce diversity have positioned us as one of the most diverse organisations within the Civil Service. We are proud signatories to the Business in the Community, Race at Work Charter, and we are acknowledged as a Disability Confident Leader and Carer Confident Employer. Additionally, Working Families has ranked us among the top 10 most family-friendly workplaces in the country for the eighth consecutive year, and we have featured in the Social Mobility Index top 75 UK employers.

Our established national and local community engagement mechanisms include:

Community Accountability Forums and National Scrutiny Panels;
Stakeholder consultation groups on Violence Against Women and Girls, Hate Crime, Mental Health, and Child Sexual Abuse;
Community Conversations and Local Scrutiny Involvement Panels

All of these forums are supported by a range of stakeholders including third sector, civil liberties groups, academia and community representatives. This year, we have held a number of national forums including:

A National Rape Scrutiny Panel with policing and voluntary community sector partners, to scrutinise and draw out learning from recent finalised rape cases. A key commitment within the new CPS National Operating Model for Adult Rape Prosecution;
A consultation session with male survivors of sexual assault and rape, to inform the review of the CPS Public statement on male victims for crimes covered by the CPS VAWG Strategy;
A Hate Crime External Consultation Group meeting on police authorised conditional cautions for hate crime, which informed our decision to extend the pilot in two police forces for two years, subject to safeguards and eligibility criteria;
A Community Accountability Forum on the outcomes of CPS’ independently commissioned research into disproportionality and Action Plan to seek views on the proposed activities; and
The first national Honour Based Abuse Conference in partnership with the Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council, which will inform updates to the NPCC/ CPS Joint Protocols for HBA and Forced Marriage and new prosecution guidance for HBA, FM and Harmful Practices, due to be published later this year.

The valuable insights gained from these forums have helped to ensure the voices of victims, subject experts and those with `lived experience’ continue to help shape and inform our programmes of work.

The CPS understands that disproportionality can impact on public confidence. We are committed to identifying and addressing disproportionality in the CPS. The CPS has published research and an action plan which sets out the way in which it will contribute to system-wide efforts to tackle disproportionality. This includes ongoing work on joint enterprise homicides, including the implementation of a monitoring scheme which ensures the CPS maintains rigorous oversight of its decision- making in these cases.

The CPS continues to engage with a diverse range of communities, to raise awareness of the role of the CPS, how we prosecute crimes and the support available to victims and witnesses.

Complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) looks at complaints about UK government departments and other UK public organisations. The PHSO was set up by Parliament to provide an independent complaint handling service for complaints that have not been resolved by UK government departments.

The PHSO only has jurisdiction over the CPS in respect of the Victims’ Code and therefore can only consider complaints from members of the public if the CPS has not met its obligations under the Victims’ Code. Full details of the Victims Code can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ the-code-of-practice-for-victims-of-crime/code- of-practice-for-victims-of-crime-in-england-and-wales-victims-code.

In the 2024-25 financial year, the PHSO received 17 complaints regarding the CPS, these were concluded at initial checks and primary investigation without an assessment.

Auditors

These Accounts have been audited by the National Audit Office on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General at a notional cost of £136,000 for the Departments Accounts and £12,500 for the audit of the Trust Statement (see Note 3 on pages 97 to 98). No other external audit services were commissioned by the CPS.

Stephen Parkinson
Director of Public
Prosecutions
8 July 2025