CPS Annual Report 2005-2006 - PDF - Crown Prosecution Service

• Driving change and delivery in the CJS: as a selfconfident
leader, influential in delivering local criminal justice and
in shaping the CJS of the future.
• Being renowned for fairness, excellent career
opportunities and the commitment and skills of all our
people: where everyone is treated on merit; where people of
ability can rise to the top and where all our people are
renowned for their commitment, skills and dedication to justice.
• Having a strong capability to deliver: by transforming HQ
support to frontline delivery, securing value for money and
efficiencies to reinvest in frontline prosecution services;
improving the management of prosecution costs; harnessing IT
to support CPS business; and delivering through effective
programme and project management.
Sustainable Development
In March 2005 the Government published ‘Securing The Future’, an
updated Strategy for Sustainable Development in the UK. The
Strategy set out the Government’s overall plans and required all
government departments to draw up proposals for tackling
sustainable development issues. The CPS as part of the Law
Officers’ Departments has completed an action plan which will be
reported on in 2006-07. The Annual Report details performance
against social, community, and economic aspects throughout the
report with a specific section on environmental issues on page 36.
Cases for Advice and Prosecution
• In 2005-06 the CPS took pre-charge decisions in 570,757 cases,
an increase of 29.4% from 2004-05. The CPS prosecuted a total
of 1,176,112 defendant cases in magistrates’ courts and in the
Crown Court, compared with 1,262,815 in the previous year.
Case Results
• During 2005-06, 895,822 defendants were convicted in
magistrates’ courts and 72,351 were convicted in the Crown
Court. The CPS made a substantial contribution to the CJS
target of narrowing the justice gap, although only the serious
offences fall within the scope of this measure.
• The percentage of cases discontinued in magistrates’ courts
continued to fall, from 13.8% in 2003-04 to 12.5% in 2004-05,
and 11.6% in 2005-06.
• Unsuccessful outcomes in magistrates’ courts fell from 21.1% of
all outcomes in 2003-04 to 19.2% in 2004-05 and to 17.2% in
2005-06.
• In the Crown Court, unsuccessful outcomes fell from 25.4% of
outcomes in 2003-04 to 24.2% in 2004-05 and 22.8% in 2005-06.
• Overall, unsuccessful outcomes fell from 21.4% of all outcomes
in 2003-04 to 19.6% in 2004-05, and 17.7% in 2005-06; while
convictions rose from 78.6% during 2003-04 to 80.4% in 2004-
05 and 82.3% in 2005-06.
People
• At the end of March 2006, the CPS employed a total of 8,184
people, 376 more than at the same time the previous year. This
includes 2,832 prosecutors and 4,731 caseworkers and
administrators. Over 92% of all staff are engaged in, or support,
frontline prosecutions. The CPS has 604 prosecutors able to
advocate in the Crown Court and in the Higher Courts and
266 Designated Caseworkers (DCWs) able to present cases in
magistrates’ courts.
Delivery of Public Service Agreement Targets
• Latest available figures show 1.267 million offences were
brought to justice for the year ending December 2005.
• The proportion of ineffective trials in the Crown Court has
reduced from 14.4% in March 2005 to 12.7% in January 2006.
For the magistrates’ courts the proportion of ineffective trials
has reduced from 22.7% for the quarter ending March 2005 to
21.1% in the quarter ending January 2006.
• The British Crime Survey shows that for the year to December,
44% of people believe the CJS is effective in bringing people
who commit crimes to justice, and the number of victims and
witnesses who were satisfied with the CJS rose to 59%.
THE CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT & RESOURCE ACCOUNTS 2005 - 06
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