Inspectors at Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have found improvements have been made across magistrates’ courts that will enhance the experience for victims and witnesses.

In June 2015 a new initiative, called Transforming Summary Justice (TSJ), was implemented by the criminal justice agencies including the CPS, police and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) which aims to reform the way in which criminal casework is dealt with, by reducing delays and having fewer hearings and more effective trials – which will be more efficient and help improve the service to victims and witnesses.

After investigating the CPS’s contribution to the initiative, Chief Inspector of HMCPSI Kevin McGinty said “The TSJ initiative is still in its infancy and already considerable inroads have been made that improve the experience for victims and witnesses, as well as those who work on their behalf in the criminal justice system. It is inevitable that there will be some teething issues in such an ambitious exercise, but the importance of strong governance at both national and local level cannot be overestimated.

“Although inspectors noted some really encouraging improvements, the CPS must ensure that its focus is maintained or re-energised in order to drive the necessary momentum for change across the system.”

The clearest improvement in performance was shown in the time taken from first hearing to completion of the case. The average number of days for all cases dropped by 9.4 days, and by 17.9 days for contested cases (where a defendant pleads not guilty). Improvements have also been made in the average number of hearings it takes to deal with both guilty plea and contested cases. If improvements delivered in 2016 had not been made and hearings per case had remained unchanged from 2015, there would have been almost 39,000 additional hearings.

Other performance measures showed more mixed results: while nationally there was an increase in successful trial outcomes, it was disappointing that the numbers of effective trials had dropped.

This report revealed that there is inconsistency in performance across England and Wales which is unsatisfactory for a national initiative when one considers the impact that this has on the service that is ultimately delivered to the public.

Inspectors were also troubled by a lack of clarity about the strategic arrangements in place at a senior level and suggested the CPS should try to influence its criminal justice partners to refine and improve governance. Inspectors remarked: “The success of the future strategy of the CPS is predicated on the assumption that the TSJ initiative is fully operational: it cannot afford to allow it to fail.”

HMCPSI first reported on its progress in February 2016.

The inspection team assessed 420 files, and observed 48 half day court sessions during which 431 cases were handled. They visited five CPS Areas (South East, London, Mersey-Cheshire, Cymru-Wales and East of England) and interviewed representatives of the CPS, police, HMCTS, Probation, the judiciary and the defence community.