CPS Mersey-Cheshire has earned an encouraging appraisal from HMCPSI inspectors in their latest Area report.

Engaging with community groups and stakeholders has helped to raise hate crime conviction rates, with conviction of disability hate crime up to 91.4% – making it one of the best rates in the country, and well above the CPS goal. This trend continues in Mersey-Cheshire’s domestic abuse conviction rates, which are also well above the national average. On the whole the magistrates’ courts secured successful outcomes in 88% of cases, significantly higher than the national average.

In spite of many strengths, Mersey-Cheshire was let down by a worrying decline in rape convictions; which have fallen by over 10% in the last three years. Issues surrounding delays in hearing cases and file quality were raised as possible influencing factors. The Area has begun to address the issue and has commissioned several initiatives, including setting up a Rape and Serious Sexual Offences ‘triage system’, increasing the unit’s available resources, and improving processes for dealing with backlogs.

Inspectors were also concerned with how the Area handled disclosure. Mersey-Cheshire was rated ‘good’ in only 18% of Crown Court and 50% of magistrates’ court cases. Police disclosure procedures lacked in scheduling and description of items, while the prosecutors struggled to comply with requirements for the completion of the disclosure record sheet.

Commenting on the report’s findings, Chief Inspector Kevin McGinty said:

“Mersey-Cheshire can be justly pleased with its efforts. There is effective leadership and staff are determined to deliver a good service to the public. The Area is to be congratulated particularly for continuously looking for ways to improve and deploying its resources effectively.

That said, there are a number of issues that need addressing: case management and some aspects of disclosure need tightening and the Area must, as a priority, stem the worrying decline in rape conviction rates. I am confident that it has the necessary means to tackle this and will do so successfully.”

Notes to editors

CPS Mersey-Cheshire has its office in Liverpool with a small number of lawyers co-located with a specialised police team at Cheshire Police HQ. It is aligned with Merseyside and Cheshire police forces and covers eight magistrates’ courts and two Crown Court centres. In the year to September 2017 it had 201 staff and its budget was £15,243,771.

Inspectors examined 120 magistrates’ court and Crown Court files finalised between July and September 2017. The fieldwork took place in January 2018 and involved interviews with the judiciary, partner agencies and CPS staff as well as court observations.