Crown Prosecution Service

1LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR TO THE ATTORNEY GENERALI am pleased to report to you on the performance,reform and resource profile of the Crown ProsecutionService (CPS) during 2006-07. This year has seen somesubstantial challenges for the Service: realising thebenefits of Charging and the Advocacy Strategy;dealing with increasingly serious, organised andterrorist crime; looking at options for Arearestructuring; implementing Simple Speedy SummaryJustice and working to make the CPS a more outwardfacing,pro-active and accountable organisation.The Charging programme is now fully embeddedacross all 43 CPS Areas. The success of thisProgramme has clearly demonstrated the key rolethat CPS prosecutors play within the Criminal JusticeSystem (CJS), and this year we have providedpre-charge advice in 584,216 cases - an increase ofover 143,000 cases compared with 2004-05. Ourprosecutors, both in police stations and through our24-hour telephone service, CPS Direct, are workingin partnership with the police to ensure that theright charging decision is made at the right time,building strong cases and reducing the number ofunsuccessful outcomes and ineffective trials.The latest results from the Advocacy programme arealso extremely encouraging and show us on courseto exceed all of our original targets in thisfundamental area of our work. The CPS now has838 prosecutors able to present cases in the highercourts and 390 Designated Caseworkers (DCWs)able to present cases in the magistrates' courts. As aresponse to this progress, we intend to significantlyraise the bar next year and to keep on raising it untilthe CPS is truly a service of prosecuting advocates.As part of this initiative, we are introducing a newcareer plan for our lawyers that places advocacy atthe heart of the required skill-set. I am personallyvery proud of this transformation and I believe thatit sets us on the right path to build a great andenduring national institution - a prosecutingauthority that can be respected by the public fortaking responsibility and delivering justice in a fair,consistent and wholly transparent manner.The three central Casework Divisions have expandedduring this reporting year and they continue to buildon their excellent reputation. The Organised CrimeDivision is as good as any group of serious crimeprosecutors in the world, the Counter TerrorismDivision has an outstanding international reputation,and the Special Crime Division has won considerablerespect for the care with which it brings the mostsensitive of cases. As you know, these Divisions workwith partners, both UK and international, tostrengthen our response to the type of high profileand complex case that impacts directly on thepublic's confidence in the CJS. Their achievementsduring their short history are remarkable.Following the decision not to proceed with therationalisation of police force structures, the CPShas undertaken an internal review of its ownstructures. In consultation with yourself, the SolicitorGeneral, CPS staff and our key partner agencies, wehave now begun a programme of restructuring thatwill create 14 Area Groups designed to respond, ata local level, to increasingly complex crime. Buildingon the excellent work of the central CaseworkDivisions, each Area Group will include a complexKen Macdonald QC