Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service has taken steps to (a) revise its guidance on joint enterprise and (b) consider its approach to gang prosecutions.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The CPS publishes guidance on various matters relating to its criminal prosecutions, which is
available for the public to view on the CPS website.[1] CPS guidance is reviewed and updated periodically, especially when there is a significant change in law or policy.
(a) The CPS has published guidance on the application of the joint enterprise doctrine since 2012. The 2012 guidance, titled Joint Enterprise charging decisions: Principal, secondary and inchoate liability, was published following a public consultation.
The guidance was revised in 2018, to reflect a significant change in the law brought about by the Supreme Court’s decision in R v Jogee. The revisions were informed by another public consultation and the title of the guidance was changed to Secondary Liability: charging decisions on principals and accessories, to reflect the terminology used by the Court.
The guidance was revised further in 2019, following a stakeholder consultation. The main revision related to guidance in respect of children and persons with learning disabilities, autism and mental health issues.
(b) The CPS guidance ‘Decision making in ‘gang’ related offences' is regularly reviewed and was last updated in November 2021. The guidance urges caution about the use of the word ‘gang’, explaining how it can properly be deployed in a prosecution, where substantiated by the evidence and relevant to a matter in issue in the proceedings. In drafting the guidance, the CPS assessed the potential effect of using ‘gang’ in proceedings and identified that the term is used in legislation and by criminal justice partners.
The guidance clearly sets out that, given the negative connotations of the term ‘gang’, prosecutors should not refer to a group as a ‘gang’ in proceedings unless there is evidence to support the assertion. However, prosecutors must also ensure that where there is admissible evidence of gang membership, the case is put on a basis that reflects the often very serious gravity of the offending.
[1] https://www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if she will publish the data her Department holds on the number of cases in the last 12 months where all identifying information is redacted from case information passed to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police to allow race-blind decisions.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has delivered all but one of the CPS recommendations in the Lammy review into ‘Black and Ethnic Minority Representation in the Criminal Justice System’.
The Lammy Review recommended that the CPS introduce ‘race-blind’ charging decisions, whereby identifiers of ethnicity are removed from material considered by the police when reaching a charging decision. The CPS rejected this recommendation as it was operationally not feasible. They instead committed to publishing data on ethnicity and charging decisions to monitor disproportionality as part of quarterly performance data.
The data for Q4 2021-22 will be published on the CPS website on 21 July 2022.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service has taken steps to examine how Modern Slavery legislation can be further used to (a) protect the public and (b) prevent the exploitation of vulnerable young men and women.
Answered by Edward Timpson
I am pleased to report that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has had considerable success in using Modern Slavery legislation to increase prosecutions of modern slavery cases involving the criminal and sexual exploitation of vulnerable young people.
Prosecutors work closely with law enforcement and give early investigative stage in all cases of modern slavery to build robust cases with the aim of lessening or removing the need to rely solely upon the evidence of vulnerable victims. The CPS will try to build victimless prosecutions where possible and has obtained convictions without reliance on the victim’s evidence.
The CPS will also, where possible, apply for Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (STPOs) on conviction of a defendant. This enhances the court’s ability to place restrictions on individuals, ensuring that even after they have served their sentence any future risk of similar criminality is effectively managed. In cases involving unconvicted defendants, the CPS will also work with law enforcement agencies to obtain Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders (STROs) where there is a risk of harm to potential victims or to the public.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the (a) total number and (b) proportion of prosecutions in each offence group is in each (i) region and (ii) local justice area of England and Wales that have stopped post-charge because a victim did not provide evidence or has withdrawn in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The total number and proportion of prosecutions for cases that have stopped post-charge because a victim did not provide evidence or has withdrawn, is not publicly available for each crime type by region and local justice area of England and Wales, in the format that has been requested. Figures for victim attrition for all crime by region are included in the local criminal justice scorecards, which can be found at www.criminal-justice-scorecard.justice.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps her Department is taking to increase prosecution rates for fraud.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Tackling Fraud is a top priority for this government and requires a sophisticated multi-agency approach, coordinating with domestic and international partners. As prosecuting agencies, both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) play a vital part in that response.
Last year the CPS published its first ever Economic Crime Strategy, which affirms its commitment to improve criminal justice outcomes in this area and support victims. In the year ending September 2021, the CPS prosecuted 7,609 defendants, in cases where Fraud and Forgery was recorded as the principal offence. The conviction rate was 84.9%.
Taking into account judicial resolutions such as DPAs, the SFO’s successful judicial outcomes rate is 85% by case and 50% by defendant over the past four financial years [2018/19 – 2021/22].
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the (a) total number and (b) proportion of prosecutions of each type of crime in each (i) region and (ii) local justice area of England and Wales is that have stopped post-charge because a victim did not provide evidence or has withdrawn in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The total number and proportion of prosecutions for cases that have stopped post-charge because a victim did not provide evidence or has withdrawn, is not publicly available for each crime type by region and local justice area of England and Wales, in the format that has been requested. Figures for victim attrition for all crime by region are included in the local criminal justice scorecards, which can be found at www.criminal-justice-scorecard.justice.gov.uk/.This shows that the percentage of prosecutions that are stopped post-charge because a victim did not provide evidence or has withdrawn ranges from 11% in South West to 26% in North East in Q3 2021.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to her Answer of 28 February 2022 to Question 128272, on Fraud: Criminal Investigation, how many prosecutions for fraud and forgery were dropped in each (a) region of the country and (b) local justice area in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of defendants whose prosecution was dropped where the Principal Offence Category allocated at finalisation was Fraud and Forgery. This information can be further disaggregated to show the number in each CPS Area and further into each Local Criminal Justice Area.
The tables below show the number of defendants allocated the Principal Offence of Fraud and Forgery whose prosecution was dropped during each of the last five years.
(a) Fraud and Forgery Prosecutions Dropped in each CPS Regional Area
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 |
Cymru Wales | 60 | 44 | 62 | 56 | 32 |
Eastern | 82 | 47 | 54 | 41 | 47 |
East Midlands | 92 | 78 | 89 | 76 | 80 |
London North | 172 | 124 | 118 | 109 | 78 |
London South | 201 | 163 | 135 | 113 | 79 |
Merseyside & Cheshire | 38 | 44 | 80 | 82 | 55 |
North East | 61 | 70 | 47 | 33 | 31 |
North West | 59 | 75 | 72 | 48 | 31 |
South East | 76 | 53 | 55 | 41 | 35 |
South West | 49 | 43 | 39 | 28 | 45 |
Thames and Chiltern | 72 | 74 | 75 | 48 | 31 |
Wessex | 51 | 32 | 79 | 98 | 67 |
West Midlands | 161 | 154 | 149 | 93 | 95 |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 92 | 85 | 79 | 69 | 68 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||||
The table above excludes prosecutions dealt with by the central specialist casework teams.
(b) Fraud and Forgery Prosecutions Dropped in each Criminal Justice Area
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 |
Avon & Somerset | 20 | 12 | 22 | 14 | 20 |
Cambridgeshire | 8 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 11 |
Cheshire | 10 | 21 | 13 | 15 | 11 |
Cleveland and Durham | 23 | 22 | 20 | 11 | 17 |
Cumbria | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 |
Derbyshire | 27 | 15 | 21 | 19 | 22 |
Devon & Cornwall | 21 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 16 |
Dorset | 10 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Dyfed-Powys | 9 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
East Midlands | 63 | 63 | 68 | 51 | 58 |
Essex | 47 | 30 | 16 | 14 | 20 |
Gloucestershire | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
Greater Manchester | 35 | 48 | 38 | 25 | 14 |
Gwent | 11 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
Hampshire | 28 | 18 | 25 | 23 | 7 |
Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire | 37 | 34 | 48 | 25 | 14 |
Humberside | 12 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 18 |
Kent | 31 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 14 |
Lancashire | 17 | 24 | 28 | 16 | 19 |
London | 397 | 302 | 274 | 248 | 156 |
Merseyside | 30 | 21 | 25 | 22 | 12 |
Norfolk and Suffolk | 24 | 13 | 20 | 18 | 17 |
North Wales | 15 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 6 |
North Yorkshire | 17 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 |
Northumbria | 37 | 48 | 32 | 22 | 14 |
South Wales | 29 | 27 | 27 | 9 | 15 |
South Yorkshire | 18 | 20 | 28 | 11 | 13 |
Staffordshire | 22 | 26 | 16 | 5 | 8 |
Surrey | 29 | 14 | 18 | 7 | 14 |
Sussex | 18 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 7 |
Thames Valley | 38 | 39 | 27 | 21 | 16 |
Warwickshire | 19 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
West Mercia | 16 | 23 | 29 | 14 | 9 |
West Midlands | 47 | 39 | 30 | 18 | 22 |
West Yorkshire | 45 | 47 | 38 | 33 | 29 |
Wiltshire | 9 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 6 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||||
The table above excludes prosecutions originating from other investigatory authorities such as the Department of Work and Pensions or HM Revenue and Customs.
The Fraud and Forgery category includes offences created by the Fraud Act 2006, forgery or copying false instruments, bribery, money laundering, bankruptcy offences and cheating the public revenue. It is not possible to separately report prosecution outcomes by the individual offences allocated to this category.
During the last five years, the CPS has prosecuted 67,817 defendants for fraud and forgery offences and convictions have been obtained against 58,671 (86.5%) of these defendants.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment her Department has made of the potential cost to Secretary of State for Justice's Department of the Crown Prosecution Service converting a broader background of lawyers into solicitors via the Prosecutors Pathway Programme.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Prosecutor Pathway Programme provides a unique career and development route for our people into the legal profession and ultimately that of a qualified criminal lawyer trained and suitable for deployment in the role of Crown Prosecutor. This sponsored programme seeks to promote development opportunity for those who might otherwise have been unable to consider a career in law due to socio-economic, cultural, or early life opportunities and assure an inclusive and diverse profession for the future.
The Crown Prosecution Service has not made any assessment of the potential cost to the Secretary of State for Justice’s Department through its use of the Prosecutor Pathway Programme.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many fraud cases have been discontinued in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of cases of fraud which have been discontinued. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
While no data is held reporting the number of cases of fraud prosecuted, records are collated providing the number of defendants whose prosecution was completed where the case was marked as ‘Fraud and Forgery’.
During the last five years, the CPS has prosecuted 67,817 defendants for fraud and forgery offences and convictions have been obtained against 58,671 (86.5%) of these defendants.
The table below shows the number of defendants with cases marked as ‘Fraud and Forgery’ where the prosecution was dropped during each of the last five years.
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
Prosecutions Dropped | 1,639 | 1,556 | 1,433 | 1,056 | 811 |
|
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | ||||||
The Fraud and Forgery category includes offences created by the Fraud Act 2006, forgery or copying false instruments, bribery, money laundering, bankruptcy offences and cheating the public revenue. It is not possible to separately report prosecution outcomes by the individual offences allocated to this category.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of prosecutions have been suspended once charges have been made as a result of a victim (a) not providing evidence or (b) withdrawing in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The below table sets out the number and percentage of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cases over the last five years where a non-conviction outcome occurred due to complainant/victim issue.
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
Complainant/Victim Issues | 20,774 | 17,811 | 15,399 | 11,713 | 9,609 |
|
% of Total Prosecutions | 3.5% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 2.6% | 2.6% |
|
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | ||||||
Non-conviction outcomes involving complainant/Victim issues occur when one or all of the following apply: failure to attend or refusal to be called to give evidence, withdrawal of a complaint, including cases where complainants/victims have been intimidated but it is inappropriate to compel them to attend court and if the evidence of a complainant/victim fails to support the prosecution of the defendant, including issues of credibility, but there has been no retraction.