Select Committee on Home Affairs Minutes of Evidence


CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

1.  PROCEDURE

  1.1  The Crown Prosecution Service has a comprehensive procedure for dealing with complaints from members of the public, which is designed to encourage the resolution of complaints swiftly and at a local level.

  1.2  The procedure has three stages. Complaints relating to cases are referred initially to the Branch that dealt with the case (Tier 1). If the complaint cannot be resolved at Branch level, the matter is referred to the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Area in which the Branch falls (Tier 2). Complaints that cannot be resolved within the Area are referred to the Customer Service Unit Manager at Headquarters.

  1.3  The Customer Service Unit Manager will consider the circumstances under which the complaint arose and consult with the Director of Public Prosecutions in order to agree a course of action (Tier 3). The Director may choose to reply to the complainant himself, or may ask another Headquarters Director to reply. Alternatively, he may ask the Customer Service Unit Manager to reply on his behalf, or he may ask that the matter be referred to another Chief Crown Prosecutor, outside the Area where the complaint originated, for independent review and reply.

  1.4  Complaints which are not case related, and which require an administrative rather than legal response are directed to the Branch (eg Finance or Personnel), then the Area Business Manager and then, through the Customer Service Unit Manager, to the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive can reply himself, or ask another Director or the Customer Service Unit Manager to reply on his behalf.

  1.5  The complaints procedure is publicised on the CPS web site and in publicity material which is made available to members of the public. The Crown Prosecution Service also has a telephone enquiry line, manned by the Customer Service Unit, which deals with general queries.

2.  DEADLINES FOR REPLY

  2.1  The Crown Prosecution Service aims to deal swiftly, sensitively, fairly and confidentially with complaints from members of the public. We aim to send a full reply to written complaints within three working days of receipt by the Service. Where this is not possible, an acknowledgement will be sent in this time and full reply sent within 10 working days of receipt by the Service. Where it is clear that a full reply cannot be sent within the 10 day deadline, a letter will be sent to the complainant explaining the reason for the delay and advising them when they can expect a reply.

3.  STATISTICS

  3.1  In the year 1998-99 the Crown Prosecution Service nationally dealt with 87.7 per cent of complaints within the 10-day deadline, against a target of 85 per cent. During the first three quarters of the year 1999-2000, 87.5 per cent of complaints were dealt with in this time, against a target of 87 per cent.

  3.2  The number of complaints received in 1998-99 was 2,288. The CPS dealt with 1,547,981 cases in the same period. Complaints therefore arose from less than 0.2 per cent of the cases dealt with in this period. During the first three quarters of 1999-2000, 1,761 complaints were received and the number of cases dealt with was 1,151,299. Again, less than 0.2 per cent of the total case load.


 
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Prepared 19 July 2000