Region’s prosecution teams come under fire from inspectors

A review released today by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate said the Yorkshire and Humberside CPS was “moving in the right direction” but that the way decisions were made “remain a particular cause for concern”.

The inspectors’ report in 2011, when the former CPS areas of Yorkshire and Humberside were combined to form a new CPS Yorkshire and Humberside area, described some parts of its work as “poor”.

In today’s report inspector Michael Fuller said changes in management structure, together with the national re-structuring of the CPS, had since “acted as a catalyst for change”.

He added: “This resulted in uncertain times for staff because of the reduction in staffing levels, although the inspectors did find clear evidence that some of the new re-structuring has resulted in some progress in addressing some of the concerns we had in the 2011 report.”

Yorkshire’s chief crown prosecutor says the report “does not accurately reflect the considerable progress CPS Yorkshire and Humberside has made since the original inspection in 2011”.

The follow-up inspection carried out last year included field visits to the two CPS districts assessed in 2011 and interviews with staff. The report said the CPS in Yorkshire had undergone a dramatic restructure because of cuts to its funding, and had merged a number of its offices.

It said: “The area accepts that its primary focus since the last inspection has been to stay within budget and to reduce costs where possible.

“To that end, it has succeeded in staying within budget and has been in the position to give some of the budget back to headquarters. The area accepts that they have not given the same level of attention to the quality of casework.”

Among the problems identified in the report was a “failure to carry out a proper case analysis” in magistrates’ court cases, meaning the reviewing laywer failed to identify areas of deficiency.

It said: “The concern is that prosecutors in court are then working with inefficient files which carries the risk of impacting adversely on court proceedings and thereby victims and witnesses.”

In response, Martin Goldman, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside paid tribute to the “considerable efforts” made by staff and said: “The file sample covered in the report dates back to a sample taken in 2012 - which means the findings are at least 18 months out of date.

“Since then, the area’s performance has been one of continuous improvement; in fact, we are one of the most improved areas in the country.”