Lead inspectorate: HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

HMCPSI and HMICFRS have carried out an inspection of how the police and crown Prosecution Service (CPS) work together within the Criminal Justice System to build cases through investigation and prosecution.

In this report we focus on recruitment and retention in the agencies that we inspect. We draw on evidence from inspection activity conducted by each of our individual inspectorates, both jointly and singly, of those we inspect: the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Probation and Youth Offending Services and the Prison Service. We set out the findings from our work, as well as cross cutting themes. We conclude by highlighting signs of progress as well as ongoing risks to the CJS.

An inspection of how well the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Probation Service support victims of crime.

The Criminal Justice Chief Inspectors' Group has finalised its business plan. This sets out the programme of inspections of the Criminal Justice System for 2023-25 in which two or more of our inspectorates will be working together.

This report follows up on the ‘state of the nation’ report, published in January 2021, which outlined how the COVID-19 pandemic had severely disrupted services across the criminal justice system.

This is the second and final part of HMICFRS and HMCPSI’s joint inspection of the investigation and prosecution of rape in England and Wales.

The Criminal Justice Chief Inspectors’ Group has finalised its business plan. This sets out the programme of inspections of the Criminal Justice System for 2021/23 in which two or more of our inspectorates will be working together.

This report provides a cross-system view of how the criminal justice system reacted in the immediate aftermath of the first national Covid-19 lockdown (23 March to 10 May 2020), and of how the system has managed since.