"The Streamlined Process initiative holds
the promise of cutting police paperwork thereby saving money and
freeing officers up for other tasks, without reducing the
effectiveness of courts. But its roll out did not follow the
principles of good project management, it is unclear whether
savings have been made and local police areas have not all bought
in equally to the need to implement the
guidance."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 2
November 2011
A national initiative introduced in 2008 by
the Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police
Officers to cut the amount of paperwork in prosecution files when
dealing with straightforward cases can reduce the time burden on
police forces, without diminishing the effectiveness of the
magistrates’ courts. But a National Audit office report has
found that there are wide differences between individual police
forces in how far they are complying with the guidance and lack of
awareness among police officers about what to include in
prosecution files.
Alongside an estimated £10 million a year
which the initiative could save police forces, it has the potential
to reduce the size of prosecution files without increasing
adjournments in court or reducing the number of guilty
pleas. The NAO review has found that the Streamlined Process
has not yet achieved its potential value for money, but has not had
a negative impact on the progression of cases through the
magistrates’ courts.
The project management of the national
roll-out of the initiative, known as the Streamlined Process, was
flawed, leading to variations in compliance between police
forces. Almost 80 per cent of police files examined by the NAO
in partnership with Her Majesty’s inspectorates of Constabulary and
the Crown Prosecution Service contained a disproportionate amount
of paperwork and more than half of the files reviewed did not
summarize key evidence to a high enough standard.
Police officers interviewed by the NAO did not
generally know which documents the Streamlined Process guidance
recommended to include or exclude in prosecution files. Crown
Prosecution Service staff also reportedly requested more evidence
from police officers on some cases than the guidance recommended.
The process was rolled out nationally before its pilots were
completed and evaluated.
Among the recommendations in today’s report are that, when
government departments design initiatives, they must bear in mind
the powers of the national and local bodies that will be driving
the initiatives forward and the relationships between those
bodies.
Publication details:
HC: 1584, 2010-2012
ISBN:9780102976755