Criminal justice system undermined by ongoing problems with recruitment and retention

The Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorate (CJII) has today (Thursday 15 February) issued a report which found that retaining experienced staff, coupled with wider challenges such as court backlogs, has seriously hindered the whole criminal justice system’s ability to deliver a high-quality service to victims of crime.

The CJII is calling for action to understand why staff are leaving and better supervision and support to retain them.

The report considered how the police, CPS, and prison and probation services have dealt with recruitment and retention since the pandemic, which adversely impacted the whole criminal justice system.

All four criminal justice bodies had positive examples of recruitment strategies which have increased the number of new staff and officers.

And despite the challenges, inspectors found that most staff do their best to deliver a good service against a backdrop of considerable operational pressures and challenging environment.

HMCPSI Chief Inspector, Andrew Cayley KC CMG, said:

“An effective criminal justice system relies on each agency having a sufficient number of staff, with the requisite experience and skill sets.

“While we have seen each criminal justice agency respond positively to the pandemic and boost their numbers, they have also lost experienced staff who cannot be easily replaced. Inevitably, this has placed significant burdens on the shoulders of senior staff and ultimately, reduces the quality of service being provided to defendants, witnesses – and to victims of crime.

“To turn this around and deliver positive outcomes, especially for victims of crime, we are today calling on the police, CPS, prison and probation service to better understand why staff are leaving and regularly review their outputs to guarantee better supervision and support for their staff.”