Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the average call (a) answer time and (b) length was for CPS Direct in each year since 2012.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The call handling system used by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provides precise timings on queuing time of all calls received. Figures on length of call have been estimated from available data.
In 2012-13 the average answer time was 2 minutes 43 seconds; 2013-14 4 minutes 18; 2014-15 12 minutes 34; 2015-16 16 minutes 05 and 2016-17 25 minutes 03.
For the corresponding years the length of call has reduced from 39 minutes 15 seconds in 2012, 29 minutes 31 in 2013, 26 minutes 52 in 2014, 24 minutes 51 in 2015 and 23 minutes 02 in 2016.
Throughout this period there have been many changes to the process of CPS authorisation of police charging making year-on-year comparisons potentially misleading.
Issues which adversely affected efficiency in the summer of 2016 have now been addressed and the current daily average answering times are below 6 minutes.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if he will take steps to encourage barristers who are employed through the Service Prosecuting Authority to enter the selection competition to become Queen's Counsel.
Answered by Robert Buckland
I would strongly encourage anyone with the appropriate skills and experience to apply to become Queen’s Counsel, including those at the employed bar and within the Service Prosecuting Authority.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for each category of hate crime since 2010.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of prosecutions flagged as hate crimes. Hate crimes comprise offences motivated by hostility or prejudice to a person’s race or perceived race, religion or perceived religion, sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, disability or perceived disability and transgender identity or perceived transgender identity. These data are accurate only to the extent that the flag has been correctly applied.
The tables below show the number and proportion of convictions and overall prosecutions, by each category of hate crime, during each of the last five available years:
TOTAL HATE CRIME PROSECUTIONS
| Convictions |
| Total |
2010-11 | 12,651 | 82.8% | 15,284 |
2011-12 | 11,843 | 83.4% | 14,196 |
2012-13 | 10,794 | 82.6% | 13,070 |
2013-14 | 11,915 | 84.7% | 14,074 |
2014-15 | 12,220 | 82.9% | 14,738 |
RACIAL HATE CRIME PROSECUTIONS
| Convictions |
| Total |
2010-11 | 10,566 | 83.1% | 12,711 |
2011-12 | 9,933 | 84.4% | 11,774 |
2012-13 | 9,107 | 83.3% | 10,935 |
2013-14 | 10,069 | 85.2% | 11,818 |
2014-15 | 10,123 | 83.5% | 12,130 |
RELIGIOUS HATE CRIME PROSECUTIONS
| Convictions |
| Total |
2010-11 | 472 | 83.4% | 566 |
2011-12 | 479 | 80.8% | 593 |
2012-13 | 308 | 77.2% | 399 |
2013-14 | 463 | 84.2% | 550 |
2014-15 | 557 | 83.8% | 665 |
HOMOPHOBIC & TRANSPHOBIC HATE CRIME PROSECUTIONS (1)
| Convictions |
| Total |
2010-11 | 1,034 | 80.7% | 1,281 |
2011-12 | 951 | 78.7% | 1,208 |
2012-13 | 885 | 80.7% | 1,096 |
2013-14 | 913 | 80.7% | 1,132 |
2014-15 | 1,037 | 81.2% | 1,277 |
(1) A separate flag for Transphobic crime was introduced in December 2012 following the amendment to the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
DISABILITY HATE CRIME PROSECUTIONS
| Convictions |
| Total |
2010-11 | 579 | 79.8% | 726 |
2011-12 | 480 | 77.3% | 621 |
2012-13 | 494 | 77.2% | 640 |
2013-14 | 470 | 81.9% | 574 |
2014-15 | 503 | 75.5% | 666 |
Data Source: CPS Management Information System
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what his policy is on expanding the Unduly Lenient Scheme; and if he will consult on any such changes before their introduction.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Government has committed to extending the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and is carefully considering its approach.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of cases in each year since 2010 is delayed as a result of CPS files not being handed over to the defence in time before the start of proceedings.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain centrally held data on the number of cases delayed as a result of CPS files not being handed over to the defence in time before the start of proceedings. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.
The CPS is however committed to reducing unnecessary delays in the magistrates’ court, together with other CJS partners, through the Transforming Summary Justice initiative (TSJ). One of the principles of TSJ is to implement a more effective disclosure process to ensure the streamlining of disclosure to defence practitioners for first hearings.
The Better Case Management process (BCM) and the CPS Crown Court Strategy, which interlink with TSJ, also ensure that in cases destined for the Crown Court there is greater focus on Crown Court file build at the very outset to provide sufficient evidential material for the first hearing.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many fraud prosecutions were carried out in each CPS business area in England and Wales in each year since 2005.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the numbers of defendants and the outcome of prosecution proceedings, divided into twelve Principal Offence Categories, including ‘Fraud and Forgery’. The numbers of defendants prosecuted under this category are provided in the accompanying attachment.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33351, how many convictions there were for (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) domestic violence as a result of prosecutions by the Service Prosecuting Authority in each year since 2013.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The relevant figures are as follows:
Year | Rape convictions | Sexual Assault convictions | Domestic violence convictions |
2013 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
2014 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
2015 | 1 | 9 | 5 |
Consistent with the answer of 14 April 2016, the above relates to offences that took place in the UK that were prosecuted by the Service Prosecuting Authority and subsequently convicted.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much debt remains outstanding under confiscation orders obtained by the CPS; and what recent estimate he has made of how much of that debt is recoverable.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) have responsibility for the enforcement of all domestic confiscation orders. The CPS assists in the enforcement process when it can add value, such as by managing restraint orders, seeking the appointment of enforcement receivers or by requesting mutual legal assistance from overseas jurisdictions in respect of assets located abroad. When the CPS can no longer provide additional value, the lead enforcement role reverts to the HMCTS and the CPS no longer monitors its progress.
The latest CPS data relates to February 2016.
Over the last twelve months outstanding debt (excluding interest) has decreased by 18.4% from £505,598,593 to £412,652,493.
The CPS is leading in the enforcement of 1172 confiscation orders and the outstanding debt, excluding interest is £412,652,493 of which £157,210,118 or 38.1% has been assessed as being realistically recoverable.
The Court determines the recoverable amount and an assessment of what is recoverable is carried out by the CPS on a monthly basis in respect of all cases. The majority of unrecoverable assets are hidden, whilst the remainders consist of assets where there are third party claims; the assets are held in jurisdictions where the authorities have taken the view that the defendant does not have the interest in the asset; or where the asset has simply diminished in value.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) sexual assault cases were prosecuted where the defendant was a non-EU national in each year since 2010.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain any centrally held data that would enable the identification of the nationality of any defendants, whether they are an EU national or not. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many companies have self-reported to the Serious Fraud Office for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Serious Fraud Office has received self-reports from companies but it would not be appropriate to confirm numbers.
The process of reaching Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) happens in stages. Initial negotiations are confidential to encourage openness on the part of the company. Under the Criminal Procedure Rules, the Court determines whether any relevant hearings are heard in public or in private. Any DPA must be approved by a judge and publicised.