Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Deferred
Paragraph: 137
CPS victim communication needs improvement, suggesting video link as general practice.
Conclusion
We have heard from victims and survivors that the CPS’s level and quality of communication could be more effective and sensitive. We welcome the fact that the CPS has designed new letters to engage better with victims at key moments. However, as part of the CPS’s work designing a new approach to victim engagement that should be more two-way, we would also recommend that the CPS consider speaking with complainants via a video link as more general practice, to give people the opportunity to ask questions about their individual case. This would be less impersonal. Any concerns prosecutors might have should be taken into account.
Government Response Summary
The government committed to working with the judiciary to reduce waiting times and prioritize vulnerable cases, and is launching pilots of enhanced specialist sexual violence support in specific Crown Courts to improve in-court support and tackle backlogs, but did not commit to the CPS adopting video link communication with complainants.
Paragraph Reference:
137
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government is committed to working with the judiciary, including to overcome challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created for all users of the justice system, including those for whom access to justice has been delayed. We continue to work to reduce the length of time victims and witnesses wait for their cases to be heard. The allocation and listing of cases are judicial responsibilities. Judges continue to work to prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses (including youth cases), domestic abuse and serious sex cases, as well as custody time limit cases. The judiciary also try to avoid ‘floating’ rape and serious sexual offence cases in the list and instead give them fixed trial dates wherever possible. We are launching pilots of enhanced specialist sexual violence support in the Crown Courts at Leeds, Newcastle, and Snaresbrook in London with the aim of improving the support on offer in court for victims of rape and sexual violence. Working closely with the police, CPS and judiciary, we will also look to use learning from the pilots to identify ways of tackling the backlog and improving case throughput so that cases come to court as quickly as possible. These pilot locations have been selected because they are currently dealing with a higher- than-average number of sex offence cases, higher backlog and have important facilities available including section 28.