Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints to the Crown Prosecution Service were upheld at formal Stage 1 in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The following table shows the number of complaints upheld at Stage 1 in the past three years:
Year | Stage 1 Complaints -Upheld |
2013/14 | 150 |
2014/15 | 206 |
2015/16 | 206 |
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints have been received by each regional office of the Crown Prosecution Service regarding each of those regional offices in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The following table shows the number of complaints received by the 13 CPS Areas in the past three years:
Area | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
Cymru/Wales | Not available* | 90 | 121 |
East Midlands | Not available* | 168 | 163 |
East of England | Not available* | 167 | 152 |
London | Not available* | 219 | 245 |
Merseyside & Cheshire | Not available* | 56 | 39 |
North East | Not available* | 97 | 69 |
North West | Not available* | 120 | 140 |
South East | Not available* | 147 | 118 |
South West | Not available* | 86 | 84 |
Thames & Chiltern | Not available* | 189 | 166 |
Wessex | Not available* | 80 | 47 |
West Midlands | Not available* | 228 | 293 |
Yorkshire & Humberside | Not available* | 149 | 146 |
CPS Direct | Not available* | 118 | 66 |
* Due to a technical issue which the CPS is currently resolving, the Area breakdown of complaints received in 2013/14 is not available at this time. The CPS will write to the Honourable Member to provide these figures once the issue has been corrected.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints the Crown Prosecution Service has received in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The following table shows the number of complaints received by the CPS in the past three years:
Year | Total Complaints |
2013/14 | Not available* |
2014/15 | 1950 |
2015/16 | 1878 |
*Due to a technical issue which the CPS is currently resolving, the figure for the total complaints received in 2013/14 is not available at this time. The CPS will write to the Honourable Member to provide this figure once the issue has been corrected.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints to the Crown Prosecution Service were upheld at formal Stage 2 in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
1) The following table shows the number of complaints upheld at Stage 2 in the past three years:
Year | Stage 2 Complaints -Upheld |
2013/14 | 34 |
2014/15 | 50 |
2015/16 | 50 |
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints were upheld (a) in full and (b) partially by the Independent Assessor for the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The following table shows the number of complaints upheld or part upheld by the Independent Assessor of Complaints (IAC) in the past three years:
Year | IAC Complaints - Upheld | IAC Complaints - Partly Upheld |
2013/14* | 10 | 6 |
2014/15 | 35 | 23 |
2015/16 | 36 | 23 |
* Part year – IAC role was introduced in May/June 2013
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints have been referred to the Independent Assessor for the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The following table shows the number of complaints considered by the Independent Assessor of Complaints (IAC) in the past three years:
Year | Complaints referred to the IAC |
2013/14* | 27 |
2014/15 | 76 |
2015/16 | 65 |
* Part year – IAC role was introduced in May/June 2013
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints to the Crown Prosecution Service proceeded to formal Stage 2 during each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The following table shows the number of complaints escalated to Stage 2 in the past three years:
Year | Stage 2 Complaints |
2013/14 | 245 |
2014/15 | 264 |
2015/16 | 254 |
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if he will make it his policy that people who have signed the Official Secrets Act should not be prosecuted for reporting information relating to possible child sex abuse offences.
Answered by Robert Buckland
It would not be appropriate to give a blanket undertaking that people who have signed the Official Secrets Act should not be prosecuted for reporting information relating to possible child sex abuse offences. However, I can, and have, given undertakings to public inquiries that, in certain circumstances, such prosecutions will not take place.
In other cases the decision to prosecute alleged offences of this kind will be made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) using the two stage test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Firstly, is there sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and, if so, is a prosecution needed in the public interest. A factor when considering the public interest would be any reason given for the alleged breach.
Most offences under the Official Secrets Acts require my consent to prosecute. Therefore if the CPS did wish to bring proceedings they would need to seek my approval for those offences.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the report from HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary entitled Joint Inspection of the Investigation and Prosecution of Fatal Road Traffic Incidents, published in February 2015.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
It is clear from the joint HMIC and HMCPSI report that there must be improvements in the way offences arising out of fatal road traffic incidents are investigated and prosecuted. It is therefore vital that police forces give due regard to the recommendations made in the report. However, it is rightly a matter for chief constables and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to ascertain how best to respond to the recommendations locally. Under Section 55 (5) of the Police Act 1996, all PCCs have a statutory requirement to publish their response to joint inspection reports that relate to their force.
The CPS must provide the best possible service to the bereaved families in these cases. Whilst many of the recommended improvements have been achieved through more general development of CPS casework and guidance, there is clearly more which needs to be done. In order to make the improvements necessary to the prosecution of offences arising out of fatal road traffic accidents, the CPS is taking or has committed to take the following steps: