---

15 Sept 2003 : Column 493W

Written Answers to Questions

Monday 15 September 2003

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Child Abuse

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what percentage of the care home abuse cases have been rejected by the Crown Prosecution Service since 1997. [128390]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central database of cases, and 'care home abuse cases' do not form a separate category of offence. The information requested could be obtained only by examining every case file and would therefore incur disproportionate costs.

Recently, ACPO undertook a study that concluded that between 1997 and 2000 the CPS rejected 79 per cent. of cases of institutional child abuse referred to it. Of the cases that were prosecuted, convictions were achieved in 83 per cent. of cases.

Fraud (Small Businesses)

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance she has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on the prosecution of crimes involving fraud against small businesses. [128965]

The Solicitor-General: In March this year, I arranged and attended a meeting between the CPS, the SFO and the Federation of Small Businesses.

I have had discussions with colleagues in the DTI about the importance of tackling fraud against small business.

In July of this year, the Home Office published their report on responses to their consultation on business crime.

Victims/Witnesses

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what targets were set by the CPS in 2002–03 on meeting the needs of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system, in co-operation with other criminal justice agencies; and what the performance results are of these targets. [128719]

The Solicitor-General: Meeting the needs of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system, in co-operation with other criminal justice agencies was a specific Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) objective in 2002–03 and is set out in the 2002–03 CPS Annual Report.

Two targets were set: firstly, to pay 100 per cent. of correctly completed witness expense claims within 10 days; and secondly, to increase to 94 per cent. the proportion of replies to complaints within 10 days.

15 Sept 2003 : Column 494W

In respect of the first target, CPS performance improved compared with 2001–02. During 2002–03, 99.8 per cent. of witness expenses were paid within agreed timescales compared with 98.2 per cent. in 2001–02.

The second target was not met, although CPS performance improved considerably compared with 2001–02. Timely replies were made in 89.2 per cent. of cases in 2002–03, compared with 81.9 per cent. of cases in 2001–02.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Crown Prosection Service has taken to improve the service to (a) victims and (b) witnesses of crime. [128858]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is working to improve the service that victims and witnesses of crime receive. This includes working with the Home Office and other criminal justice system agencies in developing the Government's recently published national strategy to deliver improved services to victims and witnesses.

The CPS has fully implemented the direct communication with victims initiative, whereby prosecutors provide reasons to victims for decisions to drop or substantially alter charges. A meeting to provide a further explanation should also be offered in cases involving death, child abuse, sexual offences, racial offences or offences with a homophobic element.

In relation to vulnerable or intimidated witnesses, the CPS is continuing to work closely with the Home Office and others to implement measures recommended in the report Speaking up for Justice, given statutory force by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. In July 2002, video recorded statements became admissible as evidence in chief in crown court proceedings for children under 17 and for vulnerable adults. In the crown court, the provision to give evidence by way of TV link is also available to children, vulnerable adults and intimidated witnesses. The CPS undertook a comprehensive training programme to ensure that staff were fully aware of the issues raised by the new measures. By March 2003, over 1000 CPS staff had been trained.

In relation to general victim and witness care, the CPS is working with ACPO and the Office for Public Service Reform on piloting a Victim and Witness Care Project that builds on the developing working relationship between the police and the CPS. Five pilot Areas (Gwent, North Wales, West Midlands, Essex and South Yorkshire) were established in July 2003. The pilot will run until March 2004.

In all pilot Areas, police officers will undertake a needs assessment for all victims and witnesses. If criminal proceedings are commenced, dedicated witness care staff will manage delivery of information and support to witnesses throughout the life of a case.

The CPS has also been conducting a public consultation on whether prosecutors should be permitted to conduct pre-trial interviews with prosecution witnesses in order to assess their reliability.

15 Sept 2003 : Column 495W

The consultation period ended on 2 1 July 2003 and the report is due to be placed before the Attorney-General in the autumn of 2003.

Street Crime

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps are being taken by the CPS to target street crime in each hot spot street crime area. [128723]

The Solicitor-General: Since April 2002, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has worked in partnership with the police and the courts to target street crime in the 10 areas with the biggest robbery problem.

As a result, levels of street crime in these 10 areas have been reduced by 17 per cent. and conviction rates have been improved.

The CPS has played a central role by developing a premium service for street crime cases whereby experienced prosecutors get 'in early and stay late'. The elements of the premium service are:

pre-charge advice to police to get the charge right first time;


close working with police to improve file quality and timeliness;


reduce the discontinuance rate of street crime cases;


improve case progression in partnership with courts;


monitoring ineffective and cracked trials; and


provide extra care and attention to victims and witnesses.

Crown Prosecution Service

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what percentage of the CPS's area business managers were new appointments in 2002–03. [128837]

The Solicitor-General: During the financial year 2002–03, 71 per cent. of Area Business Managers were new appointments.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases were dealt with by the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2001–02. [128853]

The Solicitor-General: In 2002–03 the Crown Prosecution Service dealt with cases in respect of 1,435,763 defendants in magistrates courts of which 125,709 proceeded to the Crown court. In 2001–02 the figures were 1,359,205 in magistrates courts, of which 115,014 proceeded to the Crown court.

The magistrates court figures include some non-criminal proceedings and advice cases that may not have resulted in prosecution. Crown court figures include appeals and committals for sentence.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many defendants were prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) magistrates courts and (b) the Crown Court in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 2001–02. [128854]

The Solicitor-General: In 2002–03 the Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted 1,362,312 defendants in magistrates courts, of which 94,546 proceeded to the Crown Court. The comparable figures for 2001–02 were 1,304,185 defendants prosecuted in magistrates courts, of which 84,335 proceeded to the Crown Court. These figures exclude non-criminal proceedings and advice cases, appeals and committals for sentence.

15 Sept 2003 : Column 496W

The number of defendants prosecuted by the CPS rose over the two year period. In magistrates courts there was an increase of 58,127, or 4.5 per cent. In the Crown Court there was an increase of 10,211 defendants, or 12.1 per cent.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) summary cases and (b) indictable or either way cases were received by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2002–03. [128859]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service holds no central records showing the type of charge in cases received: rather the information is recorded when the case is eventually completed.

In 2002–03 the Service dealt with 796,742 defendants in summary proceedings in magistrates courts, and 565,570 in either way and indictable only proceedings in the magistrates courts and the Crown court.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what change there has been in the volume of pre-charge advices provided to the police by the Crown Prosection Service since 2001–02. [128860]

The Solicitor-General: Pending the implementation of the charging scheme in the Criminal Justice Bill, the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are establishing non-statutory arrangements (based on those which were piloted in 2002) which involve their working together more closely pre-charge. One element is the provision of early CPS advice through a duty prosecutor routinely stationed at busy police stations or charging centres. These arrangements, which in some Areas are still at the planning stage, should be in operation in all Areas by the end of the year. Prior to the charging pilot, advices sought by the police from most forces were usually limited to a few cases involving substantial legal difficulty. Frequently, advice was sought after charge when many of the issues were already decided and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) intervention would often involve a reversal of previous police decisions. In the charging pilot last year over 6,100 advices were sought by the police during the period of CPS attendance.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what the Crown Prosecution Service budget was for (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2001–02. [128862]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service resource budget was (a) £464 million for 2002–03 and (b) £402 million for 2001–02.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many additional lawyers the CPS employed in 2002–03 [128873]

The Solicitor-General: The number of lawyers in post has increased by 237 during the period from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003, when the total stood at 2,267.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what percentage of CPS staff work in areas prosecuting or supporting the prosecution of offenders. [128874]

The Solicitor-General: All staff in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are employed to ensure that the CPS can fulfil its statutory functions, namely prosecuting offenders. A table showing the percentage of staff working in different functional areas follows.

15 Sept 2003 : Column 497W

Functional area	Percentage
Areas	88.1
HQ casework	2.6
HQ policy	1.2
Headquarters	4.3
Service centres	3.8
Total	100

---