Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 4 October 2019 to Question 290946, what the average time taken was from referral to finalisation in each year from 2008-09 to 2018-19 where the CPS made a decision to charge and where a trial outcome was recorded in England for cases (a) relating to sexual violence or rape, (b) focusing on actual bodily harm charges, (c) focusing on grievous bodily harm charges and (d) focusing on burglary.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the average time to charge and the average time to prosecute in days by Principal Offence Category and for cases flagged as rape.

The tables below show the total average time, in days, from referral to finalisation for each year from 2008/10 to 2018/19 where the CPS made a decision to charge and where a trial outcome was recorded in England.

The data provided above is for the more serious cases in which the CPS has been required to authorise charge and in which there has been a trial. MoJ data for all cases in 2018 report figures of between 185 days and 193 days for offence to completion

The time taken from referral to finalisation has increased for all crime types. This is due to greater complexity and the increase in electronic material for the police, CPS and courts to consider. In addition the Police are now encouraged to seek early investigative advice more often and in particular in serious, sensitive or complex cases. Early investigative advice helps to ensure that cases are thoroughly investigated and the evidence to be brought before the court is strong. With the increase in early investigative advice, CPS is more often involved at an earlier stage in proceedings.

There has also been an increase in the time taken for a case to pass through the courts which has also impacted on overall timeliness.