§ 27. Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Solicitor-General what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposal to restrict trial by jury on the Crown Prosecution Service's workload. [142365]
The Solicitor-GeneralIt is estimated that the proposed Bill to amend the procedure for determining mode of trial for offences triable either way will result in a reduction in the number of trials taking place in the Crown court of around 14,000 per annum. These trials will take place in the Magistrates court. The reduction in the number of Crown court trials will enable the Crown Prosecution Service to focus more effectively on the serious and complex cases that are tried in the Crown court.
§ 33. Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Solicitor-General what steps he has taken to raise the profile of the Crown Prosecution Service within local communities. [142371]
The Solicitor-GeneralThe Glidewell report recommended that the CPS should establish a more positive relationship with the public. Each of the 42 Chief Crown Prosecutors has taken on this role at a local level by establishing and maintaining links with MPs, the press and local community groups.
CCPs explain the Service's role and listen and respond to local concerns in a number of ways. They include attending local community and ethnic minority interest group meetings, visiting schools, hospitals, universities, places of worship, and court "open days". Many CCPs also host CPS "open days" for the public and the CPS has translated the Code for Crown Prosecutors into twelve community languages, available on the CPS website.
Each CCP accounts for the performance of their Area to the communities they serve in a local Annual Reports. The reports on the first year of performance were published in October 2000.