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CPS’ internal casework assessment system requires fundamental change, says HMCPSI

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The CPS Inspectorate is calling on CPS to urgently reconsider how they assess and improve the quality of their casework after failing to implement previous recommendations by HMCPSI.

His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) has today (Thursday 27 February 2025) published an inspection report which has found that CPS needs to reconsider its approach to assuring and improving the quality of their casework.

HMCPSI last inspected CPS’s Individual Quality Assessment (IQA) system in 2018 and found that IQA had the potential to drive improvement in casework quality. However, the standard and application of assessments were not consistent across the CPS.

In this inspection, HMCPSI found that despite CPS relaunching its internal assessment system, providing a revised guidance, and launching a training programme, the results had remained unchanged in seven years from the 2018 inspection.

Inspectors found in most CPS Areas the required number of IQAs were being done but they were often not sufficiently robust and feedback to prosecutors was inconsistent.

This approach adds little value and misses the opportunity to use the IQA as an effective tool to improve casework quality and CPS staff’s skill set.

HMCSPI Chief Inspector, Anthony Rogers said:

“We appreciate the CPS operates in extremely challenging circumstances. The case backlog continues to rise, workloads have increased, and the courts are under immense pressure to get cases through the system.

“The CPS’ self-assessment system has the potential to drive standards, deliver high-quality casework and ultimately, benefit the criminal justice system. However, our inspections clearly show that in many instances Individual Quality Assessments have been reduced to a tick box exercise rather than a vital tool that improves the quality of case work and delivers real improvements.

“That is why I am strongly urging CPS to consider, develop and implement a new approach to how it assesses casework quality. Because only through a functioning, standardised self-assessment regime will casework quality improve – and public trust increase.”

In the inspection report, HMCPSI has recommend CPS:

• By 31 July 2025 to have planned and developed a new approach.
• By 31 March 2026 to have implemented the new approach to first line assurance of its casework quality.

HMCPSI has committed to carry out a follow-up inspection on the IQA process early in its 2026-27 business plan cycle.