§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Solicitor-General how many trained specialists there are in Merseyside Crown Prosecution Service dealing with victims of(a) domestic violence, (b) rape and (c) child abuse. [170339]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralAll prosecutors in CPS Merseyside deal with domestic violence cases. Last year a compulsory refresher course was run, following the introduction of the new CPS policy on these cases. The training was delivered to 60 Crown prosecutors and to police officers with help from Sefton Women and Children's Aid. It focused on raising the awareness of the needs of the victim and the role of Women's Aid, as well as on the legal aspects of dealing with these cases.
Like all CPS areas, Merseyside has a domestic violence co-ordinator, who is part of a national network which shares and disseminates policy and good practice across the CPS. In addition, each branch within CPS Merseyside has a branch co-ordinator whose responsibilities include liaison with local agencies and to assist in securing a consistency of approach across the area.
All 22 prosecutors permanently assigned to the Crown court branch are rape specialists. Compulsory training for all prosecutors (including those in other branches) in sexual offences has just commenced.
20 prosecutors are trained to deal with child abuse cases. Most of these are based in the Crown court branch, which deals with the vast majority of these cases.
§ Mr. GarnierTo ask the Solicitor-General how many Crown Prosecutors have been recruited in each Crown Prosecution Service in each financial year since 1 May 625W 1997 for which figures are available, broken down by grade. [167304]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe structure of the Crown Prosecution Service changed in 1999, following the implementation of the review conducted by Sir lain Glidewell.
Annexe A: Table showing the number of Crown Prosecutors recruited in each CPS area since 1 May 1999 Total 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 Grand total Derbyshire 2 — 4 3 5 14 Leicestershire 1 — 5 9 4 19 Lincoln 1 — 2 4 3 10 Northamptonshire 2 1 3 2 — 8 Nottinghamshire 3 1 7 13 11 35 Bedfordshire — — 5 1 1 7 Cambridgeshire 1 1 1 6 2 11 Essex 1 1 5 5 3 15 Hertfordshire 2 1 — 7 3 13 Norfolk — — 2 2 3 7 Suffolk — — 1 5 1 7 London 13 7 85 71 39 215 Staffordshire — — 5 — 6 11 Warwickshire — — 1 — 2 3 West Mercia — — — 3 5 8 West Midlands 9 14 12 21 9 65 Cleveland 1 — 4 7 1 13 Durham 3 — 3 3 1 10 Northumbria 2 — 7 9 12 30 Cheshire 1 2 5 6 4 18 Cumbria — — 1 2 1 4 Greater Manchester 4 1 23 12 14 54 Lancashire — — 8 — 13 21 Merseyside 2 — 6 8 9 25 Hampshire and Isle of Wight — — 12 2 9 23 Kent 2 — 6 9 3 20 Surrey 2 1 5 3 2 13 Sussex 3 3 8 5 5 24 Thames Valley 1 5 6 13 11 36 Avon and Somerset 1 6 9 4 8 28 Devon and Cornwall — 1 2 6 3 12 Dorset 1 — 1 1 3 6 Gloucestershire — — 2 — 3 5 Wiltshire — 1 1 5 2 9 Dyfed-Powys — 1 2 — — 3 Gwent — 1 7 3 — 11 North Wales — — 1 — 3 4 South Wales 4 1 9 3 8 25 Humberside 1 1 1 3 5 11 North Yorkshire — — — 2 3 5 South Yorkshire 3 1 4 6 10 24 West Yorkshire 2 1 11 14 18 46 Total 68 52 282 278 248 928