§ Lord Windleshamasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to reduce public expenditure in the coming year on the Crown Prosecution Service; and if so what are the reasons. [HL2921]
§ The Attorney-General (Lord Williams of Mostyn)I am pleased to say that an additional £15.8 million has been allocated to the CPS budget this year. This recognises the place of the CPS at the centre of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and the contribution it can make to improving the performance of the CJS, including the police and other agencies. The £15.8 million will allow performance to be raised on prosecutions, on information technology (IT), on diversity and on the Human Rights Act (HRA). Performance improvements will be targeted towards better working with the police, thereby saving police forces' time and money and ensuring that their work in catching suspects is more effectively translated into prosecutions. Consequently, some £4.5 million of the money is to come from the Budget's £100 million police modernisation fund.