What is thought to be the country’s first joint initiative between a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Police will lead to offenders going to Court faster, more convictions and less Court time being used.
That’s the claim from Staffordshire’s PCC, Matthew Ellis, who also says it will improve the quality and fairness of Justice while making it cheaper to deliver. Initial findings from a pilot in the north of Staffordshire suggest the new arrangements where Police and CPS staff work more effectively together could result in improvements in value for money across the criminal justice system.
The Intelligent Justice pilot currently covers only Magistrates’ Courts. It started last year and further changes to processes developed by the CPS, Police and experts provided by the Police and Crime Commissioner have shown major improvements to process. Following analysis of the initial pilot, Mr Ellis has committed extra funding to extend the new approach to the rest of the Staffordshire.
Nick Price, Acting Chief Crown Prosecutor for West Midlands CPS, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service is committed to driving up efficiency and we welcome any schemes that improve collaboration across the criminal justice system. The initial results of this pilot are certainly encouraging.”
Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Ellis, said that seeing the sector as a whole instead of as individual agencies is critical to better services, reducing crime and raising public confidence in policing, justice and community safety.
He said: “Evaluation of this new approach shows it has markedly improved the quality of prosecution cases the CPS are bringing before the Courts.
“That has resulted in them achieving a sharp rise in defendants pleading guilty sooner because the case against them is stronger.
“That means less Court time being used and potential blockages across the wider system will start to fall like dominoes as this approach is widened.
“It’s not the answer to everything – far from it. But it does prove that looking at the processes different agencies use and then helping those agencies to work better together can see really dramatic results. (m/f)
“The whole system working more effectively from one agency to another can mean that offenders appear in Court sooner, less Court, CPS and Police time is used and the public see a more effective and efficient justice system. That’s the essence of providing better services while spending less doing it.”
From April 2013 to April 2014 the pilot led to almost two per cent (83.16% compared to 81.32%) more convictions than in the rest of Staffordshire. Meanwhile, better quality case files have meant 74.82% of guilty pleas were made at a first hearing compared to 64.99% elsewhere.
The average number of hearings for cases with anticipated guilty pleas was just 1.64 compared to a non-pilot average of 2.09. For anticipated non-guilty plea hearings it was just 2.08 hearings against a non-pilot average of 3.48.
Mr Ellis said: “The initial work between Staffordshire Police and the CPS showed great potential for improving the administrative process. My priority is to support and drive improvements in services and that’s what I’m doing. The strategy I published nine months ago centred on all organisations involved in policing, criminal justice and community safety working more effectively together as a whole system.
“My office has been working with the police and CPS to develop this new approach. There’s no interference with the independence of each agency’s decision making. This is all about improving processes meaning better quality and more efficient prosecutions in Court.”
The new approach will also result in fewer Court cases being cancelled and a significant reduction in overall hearings, meaning a better experience for victims of crime and witnesses as well as lower policing and criminal justice costs.
Using nationally published data on the average cost of each hearing, It is estimated that efficiencies could equate to approximately £100 million if the new approach was adopted nationally.
Superintendent Simon Tweats, from Staffordshire Police’s Justice Services Department, said: “Putting the victim at the heart of the investigation and the criminal justice process is vital to ensure we get the best possible long term outcome for the victim, wider community and the offender. Intelligent Justice is an improvement method designed and applied in Staffordshire for the purpose of examining our local justice process; from first call, right through to a final decision at court. Police and partner agencies use its results to create a fast and effective local justice system; delivering a service combining protection for victims and communities, with punishment and rehabilitation opportunities for offenders.”
Mr Ellis says that the £2 million Innovation Fund he’s made available from the PCC budget to stimulate cross agency working is all about investing now to improve services and secure better value for money in future.
He said: “The need to ensure different services work better together is paramount and the changes made in north Staffordshire have already made a clear difference to the cost and quality of services which could be of much wider significance.
“I’ve already agreed with the Chief Crown Prosecutor and Chief Constable that my office will fund the wider roll out of this new approach to the rest of Staffordshire. I expect there will be many other opportunities across different agencies and organisations to improve services in Staffordshire whilst also spending less.”
