Almost one in every two letters the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) sends to people who have made complaints – including victims of crime – are not good enough, with many containing incorrect basic details or spelling mistakes, or lacking information about delays, according to a damning official report.
The watchdog for the CPS has urged the organisation to “act urgently to get a grip of this situation”, warning that mistakes undermine public confidence.
While some improvements have been made, the report states that overall, “the quality of letters has deteriorated” since the inspectorate last examined complaints in 2018. An inspection of 351 written responses from the CPS to complainants, about two-thirds of whom were victims of crime, found that only 66 were considered to be of “good quality”, about a third (32%) were “adequate”, while 49% did not meet the required standard.
The report on complaints follows a thematic inspection in 2018 in which almost 75% of letters were not meeting the standard expected. But while the overall percentage of acceptable letters had increased, the number of good letters had fallen from 25.7% to 18.8%. There had been “insufficient overall progress”, said HMCPSI’s chief inspector, Andrew Cayley KC.
Cayley said: “Many written responses go to victims of crime, and the fact they are still receiving formulaic letters, or where basic details are wrong, is disappointing. The CPS must act urgently to get a grip of this situation. This is not a case of us singling out letters which had simple spelling mistakes – there were real inadequacies, and a review of the system is needed now to restore confidence.”
The inspection found that 32.5% of responses were sent late, but there were significant regional variations, with the worst performing CPS area responding to only 16% of letters on time.
The CPS was “also poor at informing complainants of delays in the handling of their complaints”, according to the report. Of the 116 cases where there was a delay, the CPS failed to send a holding letter in 61 cases. And while the majority of holding letters informed the complainant when they could expect a response “many failed to give a reason for the delay”.
A CPS spokesperson said: “We are pleased there have been significant improvements since our last inspection in 2018, with empathy, timeliness and our acknowledgment of mistakes all highlighted as strengths. We recognise that there is more that can be done, and we will continue to drive forward improvements so that we can provide the best possible service for victims.”
Andrea Simon, executive director of End Violence Against Women Coalition, said victims too often received CPS letters “containing generic and vague ‘cut and paste’ [text] from templates, having a general lack of compassion towards the recipient”.
She added: “It is highly concerning that such poor progress has been made […] and that there are still significant failures to notify victims about delays to their cases or signpost them to help and support.”
Harriet Dowse-Bland, from the Centre for Women’s Justice, said the findings were likely to be the “tip of the iceberg”, adding: “It’s essential that there are proper avenues for accountability where things go wrong.”
Anthony Rogers, the CPS deputy chief inspector, said that since 2018 “the level of empathy” had risen significantly in letters responding to complaints, with 83% of letters expressing empathy, compared with just 54% of letters in 2018. “I think the CPS are now starting to understand what empathy looks like and how they can express that in words,” he said.
In the foreword to the report ,Cayley added: “The best way to respond to a complaint, is by putting yourself in the shoes of the complainant. The CPS has a long way to go to reach this point of self awareness.”
