Agenda item

Public Committee Report CPS File Failures

Report of the Commissioner.

Minutes:

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Crown Prosecution Service File Failures and the following points were made.

 

·         The Head of Professional Standards noted that CPS file failure was a national issue and individual cases were often down to factors such as not submitting CCTV evidence in good time, which had now been rectified. Moreover, a small number of cases could seem disproportionately high when viewed in percentage terms.

 

·         In response to a question, the Head of Professional Standards noted that failure was defined as a missed target rather than a prosecution being abandoned. She committed to confirming how many prosecutions were abandoned due to file failures outside of the meeting.

 

·         In response to a question, the Head of Professional Standards replied that ‘real time’ expert advice from the Evidence Review Officer (ERO) in the Uniform Policing Directorate involved the ERO sitting with officers on request to provide advice and guidance on file preparation.

 

·         Members queried whether Extinction Rebellion policing commitments were the reason for the increase in file failures for the month of September 2019.

 

·         In response to a question, the Head of Professional Standards replied that Transform would come into effect from April 2020.

 

·         Members requested that a further report on file failures be prepared for the Committee which included a definition on what constituted a file failure and an analysis of the impact of file failures.

 

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Supporting documents: