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Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Finance
Wednesday 8th February 2023

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what the full operational budget for the Crown Prosecution Service was in each of the last five years.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Information on the budgets and expenditure for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is publicly available and can be found in the Parliamentary accountability and audit report sections of the annual reports. This includes CPS operational budgets which can be publicly accessed and does cover each of the last five years. The annual reports can be accessed here: www.cps.gov.uk/publication/annual-reports-and-business-plans


Written Question
Crime: Newport West
Thursday 27th October 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the CPS in ensuring access to justice for the victims of crime in Newport West constituency.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The CPS is committed to ensuring that victims of crime are able to access justice in England and Wales. Last year, the CPS commissioned independent research to better understand what victims want and need, and to identify areas for improvement.

On the 27 June 2022, the CPS published its response to the research findings, setting out key areas of action.

A long-term Victim Transformation Programme has been launched. Under phase one, the CPS is working on the development of a new operating model to improve the way it communicates and engages with all victims.

It is a 2–3-year programme of work, with a phased approach to implementation starting in the next calendar year.


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Staff
Thursday 8th September 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many staff were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Michael Ellis

The number of staff employed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) during the periods specified is available in the table below. During this period the CPS has undertaken continuous improvement and modernisation programmes to improve efficiency and effectiveness. These included digitalisation, development of a national resourcing model, standard operating practices, resource efficiency measures, smarter/remote working practices, and establishment of remote teams. As a national service for England and Wales, the consequence of these measures is that we now have the ability to shift work to where capacity resides which is both much more efficient, and also fairer on the workforce.

Financial Year Q1

Average Full Time Equivalent Staff

2012-13

7093

2013-14

6568

2014-15

6034

2015-16

5708

2016-17

5505

2017-18

5594

2018-19

5554

2019-20

5589

2020-21

5790

2021-22

6414

2022-23

6714

*The system reports data as at the last day of the month rather than the first or any date in-between therefore the table is presented to the nearest reportable date to the questions asked. The data has been extracted from the CPS Oracle HR database and is accurate at point of enquiry on 5 September 2022. Consequent changes to data input may mean that this data will change at some point in the future


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Standards
Thursday 8th September 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many of the cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision in each of the past five years were still awaiting a charging decision after six months.

Answered by Michael Ellis

Data is collated by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) showing the number of individual pre-charge consultations that are recorded as taking longer than 180 days (six months). The table below shows the number and proportion of these in each of the last four years – this data was introduced from April 2018.

2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

2021-2022

Total Consultations

288,319

289,529

299,587

253,836

Consultations over 180 days (6 months)

1,336

507

461

491

% over 180 days (6 months)

0.5%

0.2%

0.2%

0.3%

CPS consultation data counts the number of consultations submitted for a full code or threshold test, also known as pre-charge reviews, recorded on the Case Management System.


Written Question
Attorney General: Data Protection
Thursday 8th September 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many data incidents her Department (a) recorded and (b) reported to the Information Commissioner's Office in (i) 2018-19, (ii) 2019-20 and (iii) 2020-21.

Answered by Michael Ellis

The Attorney General’s Office have had no data incidents recorded or reported to the Information Commissioner's Office in (i) 2018-19, (ii) 2019-20 and (iii) 2020-21.


Written Question
10 Downing Street
Wednesday 19th January 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, when she first knew that the Prime Minister was present at the gathering in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020.

Answered by Suella Braverman

The Law Officers have regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues across government on a range of topics.

By convention, whether the Law Officers have been asked for formal advice, and the contents of any such advice, is not disclosed outside Government.


Written Question
Prime Minister's Questions
Wednesday 19th January 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, whether she was involved in drafting the contents of the Prime Minister's oral answer of 12 January to the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd.

Answered by Suella Braverman

The Law Officers have regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues across government on a range of topics.

By convention, whether the Law Officers have been asked for formal advice, and the contents of any such advice, is not disclosed outside Government.


Written Question
Prime Minister: Prime Minister's Questions
Wednesday 19th January 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, whether she had discussions with the Prime Minister before his oral answer of 12 January to the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd on the content of that answer.

Answered by Suella Braverman

The Law Officers have regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues across government on a range of topics.

By convention, whether the Law Officers have been asked for formal advice, and the contents of any such advice, is not disclosed outside Government.


Written Question
Attorney General: Energy
Thursday 8th July 2021

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of his Department's energy usage in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The following table sets out the total expenditure on energy (£) by the Government Legal Department (GLD) including HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). These figures are published as part of each Department’s respective annual reports.

Total Expenditure on Energy (£)

Financial year

GLD + HMCPSI

CPS

SFO

2018-19

568,725

757,000

135,000

2019-20

672,193

657,000

174,000

2020-21

333,033

357,000

Awaiting National Audit Office approval

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is unable to provide this information. As published in the HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Annual Report and Accounts 2019/20, ‘The AGO occupies shared accommodation in 5-8 The Sanctuary, London and it is not possible to separately identify their energy or water consumption or recycling of waste’.

The AGO has recently moved, all accommodation interests are now managed through the Government Property Agency (GPA) and that body will publish any sustainability data in relation to the AGOs occupation within 102 Petty France, London.


Written Question
Forced Marriage: Prosecutions
Monday 20th January 2020

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what steps the CPS is taking to improve the prosecution rate of people responsible for forced marriages.

Answered by Michael Ellis

The CPS takes the prosecution of forced marriage seriously. Each CPS Area has a lead prosecutor on forced marriage who works closely with the police and other prosecutors. The CPS’s legal guidance on forced marriage assists prosecutors and is reviewed regularly. For example, it was revised last year to address cases where the victim lacks capacity to consent to marriage. Since April 2019, the joint police and CPS forced marriage working group has developed training for prosecutors and agreed a protocol for the investigation and prosecution of forced marriage. The CPS is also working with stakeholders to identify and address the obstacles to the prosecution of forced marriage.