Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) has today published its Area Assurance Inspection report for Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) London South.

Amidst the significant challenges of dividing CPS London into the 2 new Areas of London North and South, CPS London South has made considerable progress in terms of leadership from senior management. Inspectors found that staff are more motivated and engaged, and the Area has become the best performing CPS Area for handling staff sickness and reducing absence. London South has effectively built strong working relationships with key criminal justice partners, and driven a number of joint initiatives which is starting to show some improved outcomes, although it is too early to assess if these will be maintained.

One such initiative involves work with the police to deliver joint training events and monitor improvements in the quality of casework, which aims to tackle legacy issues with poor quality files from before the CPS London split. This action is vital, as the inspection found that police file quality was adequate in less than half of files, and the police incorrectly anticipated the plea in more than 30% of cases, leading to cases unnecessarily progressing to trial, and significant wasted resources.

While improvements have been made since the London split, the Area recognises that work needs to be done with regards to casework. Currently, the proportion of cases resulting in convictions across both the magistrates’ courts and Crown Court are worse than the national average, as are outcomes for domestic abuse and rape. Disclosure of unused material also remains a major challenge for CPS London South. Almost a quarter of the cases in both the Crown Court and the magistrates’ courts lacked a proper initial review. The Area struggled to ‘grip’ cases that were set down for trial. The Area has taken steps to improve casework quality; a number of mechanisms are in place with a focus on the delivery of positive and constructive feedback.

However, CPS London South has seen considerable success in its focus on increasing the number of cases where the appropriate hate crime uplift in sentencing is applied. They have done this both by pressing prosecutors and advocates to formally request the uplift, and also by making sure these requests are properly recorded in the CPS case management system.

Commenting on the report, HM Chief Inspector Kevin McGinty said:

“It is encouraging to see that CPS London South has had real success building both internal and external relationships following its creation in 2017. However, there is still considerable work to be done to bring the Area to the standard expected in the quality of its casework.”

Notes to editors

CPS London was the largest CPS Area where over a sustained period of time case outcomes had been less successful than nationally. Following a review, it was divided into 2 new Areas, CPS London North and CPS London South, which went live on 1 April 2017.