Parliamentary accountability and audit report

The parliamentary accountability and audit explains department’s expenditure against the money provided to it by Parliament by examining the Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply.

Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply

In addition to the primary statements prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) requires the CPS to prepare a Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply (SOPS) and supporting notes.

The SOPS and related notes are subject to audit, as detailed in the Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the Houses of Parliament.

The SOPS is a key accountability statement that shows, in detail, how an entity has spent against their Supply Estimate. Supply is the monetary provision (for resource and capital purposes) and cash (drawn primarily from the Consolidated Fund), that Parliament gives statutory authority for entities to utilise. The Estimate details supply and is voted on by Parliament at the start of the financial year.

Should an entity exceed the limits set by their Supply Estimate, called control limits, their accounts will receive a qualified opinion.

The format of the SOPS mirrors the Supply Estimates, published on gov.uk, to enable comparability between what Parliament approves and the final outturn.

The SOPS contain a summary table, detailing performance against the control limits that Parliament have voted on, cash spent (budgets are compiled on an accruals basis and so outturn will not tie exactly to cash spent) and administration.

The supporting notes detail the following: Outturn by Estimate line, providing a more detailed breakdown (note 1); a reconciliation of outturn to net operating expenditure in the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, to tie the SOPS to the financial statements (note 2); and a reconciliation of outturn to net cash requirement (note 3).

The SOPS and Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, which is similar to, but different from, IFRS.

An understanding of the budgeting framework and an explanation of key terms is provided in the Financial Review section of the Performance Report. Further information on the Public Spending Framework and the reasons why budgeting rules are different to IFRS can also be found in chapter 1 of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, available on gov.uk.

The SOPS provides a detailed view of financial performance, in a form that is voted on and recognised by Parliament. The Financial Review, in the Performance Report, provides a summarised discussion of outturn against Estimate and functions.

Summary table 2025-26

Summary tables – mirrors part one of the Estimates

Type of spend	SoPS note	Outturn			Estimate			Voted outturn compared with Estimate: saving/ (excess) £000	Prior year outturn total, 2024-25 £000
Type of spend	SoPS note	Voted £000	Non-Voted £000	Total £000	Voted £000	Non-Voted £000	Total £000	Voted outturn compared with Estimate: saving/ (excess) £000	Prior year outturn total, 2024-25 £000
Departmental expenditure limit
Resource	1.1	872,464	-	872,464	932,282	-	932,282	59,818	825,224
Capital	1.2	41,715	-	41,715	46,200	-	46,200	4,485	53,781
Total		914,179	-	914,179	978,482	-	978,482	64,303	879,005
Annually managed expenditure
Resource	1.1	5,450	-	5,450	7,950	-	7,950	2,500	1,708
Capital	1.2	4	-	4	2,859	-	2,859	2,855	960
Total		5,454	-	5,454	10,809	-	10,809	5,355	2,668

Total resource		877,914	-	877,914	940,232	-	940,232	62,318	826,932
Total capital		41,719	-	41,719	49,059	-	49,059	7,340	54,741
Total budget expenditure		919,633	-	919,633	989,291	-	989,291	69,658	881,673

Net cash requirement 3		907,238	-	907,238	956,795	-	956,795	49,557	846,071

Administration costs	1.1	47,543	-	47,543	52,769	-	52,769	5,226	44,557

Figures in the areas outlined in bold cover the voted control limits voted by Parliament. Refer to the Supply Estimates guidance manual, available on gov.uk, for detail on the control limits voted by Parliament.

Although not a separate voted limit, any breach of the administration budget will also result in an excess vote.

Notes to statement of Parliamentary Supply

SoPS 1. Outturn detail, by Estimate line

SoPS 1.1 Analysis of net resource outturn by Estimate line

Type of spend (resource)	Resource outturn							Estimate	Outturn compared with Estimate: saving/ (excess) £000	Prior year outturn total, 2024-25 £000
	Administration			Programme			Total £000	Outturn net total £000
	Gross £000	Income £000	Net £000	Gross £000	Income £000	Net £000	Total £000	Outturn net total £000
Spending in departmental expenditure limits (DEL)
Voted:
A. Administration costs in headquarters and on central services	48,101	(558)	47,543	-	-	-	47,543	52,769	5,226	44,557
B. Crown prosecutions and legal services	-	-	-	880,681	(55,760)	824,921	824,921	879,513	54,592	780,667
Total spending in DEL	48,101	(558)	47,543	880,681	(55,760)	824,921	872,464	932,282	59,818	825,224
Spending in annually managed expenditure (AME)
Voted:
C. CPS voted AME Charge	-	-	-	5,450	-	5,450	5,450	7,950	2,500	1,708
Total spending in AME	-	-	-	5,450	-	5,450	5,450	7,950	2,500	1,708
Total resource	48,101	(558)	47,543	886,131	(55,760)	830,371	877,914	940,232	62,318	826,932

SoPS 1.2 Analysis of capital outturn by Estimate line

Type of spend (capital)	Outturn			Estimate	Outturn compared with Estimate: saving/ (excess) £000	Prior year outturn total, 2024-25 £000
Type of spend (capital)	Gross £000	Income £000	Net £000	Total £000	Outturn compared with Estimate: saving/ (excess) £000	Prior year outturn total, 2024-25 £000
Spending in departmental expenditure limits (DEL)
Voted:
B. Crown prosecutions and legal services	41,650	65	41,715	46,200	4,485	53,781
Total spending in DEL	41,650	65	41,715	46,200	4,485	53,781
Spending in annually managed expenditure (AME)
Voted:
B. Crown prosecutions and legal services	183	(179)	4	2,859	2,855	960
Total spending in AME	183	(179)	4	2,859	2,855	960
Total capital	41,833	(114)	41,719	49,059	7,340	54,741

The total Estimate columns include virements. Virements are the reallocation of provision in the Estimates that do not require parliamentary authority (because Parliament does not vote to that level of detail and delegates to HM Treasury). Further information on virements are provided in the Supply Estimates Manual, available on gov.uk.

The Outturn vs Estimate column is based on the total including virements. The Estimate total before virements have been made is included so that users can tie the Estimate back to the Estimates laid before Parliament.

SoPS 2 Reconciliation of outturn to net operating expenditureline

Item	Reference	Outturn total £000	Prior year outturn total, 2024-25 £000
Total resource outturn	SoPS 1.1	877,914	826,932
Add: research and development costs (ESA10)		11,544	3,419
Net operating expenditure in Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure	SoCNE	889,458	830,351

As noted in the introduction to the SOPS above, outturn and the Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, which is similar to, but different from, IFRS. Therefore, this reconciliation bridges the resource outturn to net operating expenditure, linking the SOPS to the financial statements. The budgeting and accounting treatments of research and development expenditure are different. Research and development costs are included in the Statement of Parliamentary Supply on the basis of ESA 10 (the National Accounts basis), but are included in the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure on an IFRS basis. This adjustment is for research and development costs being on-balance sheet for IFRS accounts purposes but off- balance sheet for the basis used for the Statement of Parliamentary Supply.

SoPS 3 Reconciliation of net resource outturn to net cash requirement

Item	SoPS note	Outturn total £000	Estimate £000	Outturn compared with Estimate, saving/ (excess) £000
Resource outturn	1.1	877,914	940,232	62,318
Capital outturn	1.2	41,719	49,059	7,340
Adjustments to remove non-cash items:
Depreciation and amortisation		(18,943)	(21,687)	(2,744)
Leased asset additions and adjustments		(5,320)	-	5,320
Depreciation Reclassifications and Transfers		246	-	(246)
New provisions and adjustments to previous provisions		(435)	(10,809)	(10,374)
Other non-cash items		(6,677)	-	6,677
Adjustments to reflect movements in working balances:
Increase in receivables		8,340	-	(8,340)
Decrease in payables		10,023	-	(10,023)
Use of provisions		369	-	(369)
Total adjustments		(12,395)	-	(20,101)
Net cash requirement		907,238	956,795	49,557

As noted in the introduction to the SOPS above, outturn and the Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, not on a cash basis. Therefore, this reconciliation bridges the resource and capital outturn to the net cash requirement.

Parliamentary accountability disclosures

The following sections are subject to audit. To improve transparency and understandability, disclosure of special payments and categories of losses involving payments is made on the basis of actual payments made. This may differ from corresponding expenditure reported in the financial statements, which is recognised on an accruals basis.

Losses and special payments

Losses statement	2025-26		2024-25
Losses statement	Number of cases	Value of cases £000	Number of cases	Value of cases £000
Total losses	3,399	1,851	3,450	604
Special payment
Total special payments	91	293	94	675
Total losses and special payments	3,490	2,143	3,544	1,279

Included in the total for losses are administrative write-offs. Administrative write-offs are cases relating to costs awarded to the CPS which the magistrates’ courts are responsible for collecting. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 the magistrates’ courts wrote off 3,339 (2024-25: 3,364) cases with a value of £953,000 (2024-25: £600,000) under their delegated powers.

The total for losses also includes court orders against the CPS for wasted costs. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 this amounted to 45 cases (2024-25: 56) with a value of
£858,000 (2024-25: £373,000) and one individual payment of £522,718. There were no individual special payments over £300,000.

Remote contingent liabilities

We have no remote contingent liabilities to be disclosed under the Parliamentary reporting requirements.

Fees and charges

There has been no material fees and charges income for the year requiring disclosure in accordance with Managing Public Money.

Stephen Parkinson
Director of Public Prosecutions
6 July 2026