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Joint Case Building Inspection

Published:

The police and Crown Prosecution Service need more effective communication to reduce inefficiencies
The police and prosecution inspectorates are calling for the Criminal Justice Board to publish a national strategy for the whole criminal justice system and oversee the delivery of improvements to ensure all parts are better aligned, increase public trust and deliver for victims.

The inspectorates found a lack of strategic governance and coordination, which has led to the duplication of effort, conflicting approaches, and confusion about what to prioritise.

His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) carried out a joint inspection of the building of prosecution cases by the police and CPS.

The report on the interim findings was published in January 2024. Following that, the joint inspection team focused on the strategic oversight and development of the working relationship between the police and the CPS.

Despite recommendations made in numerous previous reports and reviews, inspectors found that the fundamental issues remain unchanged: a lack of clear shared performance metrics and joined up prosecution team priorities. The key issue remains the effectiveness of communications between the CPS and the police at the front line.

The inspection also found that overly bureaucratic systems, a lack of joined up IT and processes, police file quality, timeliness of CPS charging advice, and changes to what must be included in police files were driving inefficiencies and frontline frustrations and tensions.

On a local level, inspectors said that these factors can have a significant impact upon the culture, communication and partnership working between the police and CPS.

However, inspectors noted that more recent changes being implemented at senior levels in both policing and the CPS that have led to much more effective senior joint relationships. They described seeing senior collaboration starting to have a positive impact on the approach to joint working at the frontline. The Strategic Joint Operational Improvement Board has driven changes, developed pilots and challenged current practices to address aspects causing the greatest inefficiencies and tensions.

Inspectors have made 18 recommendations, which if implemented, will secure major improvements in the efficiency of the criminal justice system. These include:

  • the National Criminal Justice Board (NCJB) creating and publishing a clear strategy to oversee the delivery of improvement across the criminal justice system, but specifically the prosecution team;
  • the NCJB creating a viable, realistic plan for securing a national joint police and CPS digital case management system or multiple, fully compatible systems; and
  • the National Criminal Justice Board commissioning a joint review (supported by independent expertise) of performance data in lieu of publishing a national set of common metrics to enable effective scrutiny of all relevant aspects of the police’s and CPS’s performance in pre- and post-charge cases

Chief Inspector of His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Anthony Rogers and His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke said:

“The relationship between the police and the CPS is critical in an efficient and effective criminal justice system, that increases public trust and importantly to provide better outcomes for victims. Over the years, we’ve seen many changes in the way they interact and work together. Most recently, we’ve seen changes made to disclosure and case building processes, which have increased inefficiencies and tensions between policing and CPS.

“Successive inspections by HMCPSI and HMICFRS have identified the need to improve case management between the police and the CPS.

“This has been a complex inspection, with a number of issues needing to be examined further and to the degree necessary. However, it is clear that fundamental issues remain unchanged, including on joined up processes and priorities. There is no clear strategy for improvement being driven across the system and there continues to be a lack of shared performance metrics.

“However, since our interim inspection, we have seen changes at senior levels in both policing and the CPS, which have led to much more effective senior joint relationships. We are seeing early signs of senior collaboration having a positive impact on the approach to joint working at the frontline.

“We are encouraged by the work to address some of the inefficiencies, including the approach of trying and testing innovative ways to improve how the police and CPS work together.

“But we cannot view the police and CPS in isolation, and we are deeply concerned there is a lack of strategic governance and co-ordination across the criminal justice system.


“That is why we are calling on the National Criminal Justice Board to publish a clear strategy to ensure all parts of the criminal justice system are aligned and are working towards the same goal – improving performance and delivering justice for victims.”