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Are you ready to work digitally? Loveday Ryder, CJS Efficiency Programme Director, Ministry of Justice Nazir Afzal OBE, Chief Crown Prosecutor from the North West Area, Crown Prosecution Service
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Loveday Ryder: Programme Director
Paul McGladrigan: HMCTS Head of Crime North West
Nazir Afzal: Chief Crown Prosecutor CPS North West
Efficiency Programme
The Vision
Case paperwork printed
by the CPS and courts
service amounts to
approximately 160 million
sheets of paper a year.
routine use of
digital case files in
criminal justice
proceedings
Over 800,000 prisoner
escorts for court
appearances in 2012/13
– many could be heard
over video.
minimise the
unnecessary
movement of people
around the system
Our aims
• A digital courtroom
– undertaking hearings,
including trials, using
digital files rather than
paper.
• Increased utilisation
of video technology
– minimising the
unnecessary
movement of people in
the CJS.
A snapshot of national level progress
• 90% of all case files are transported
electronically by Police forces to CPS
with paper by exception.
• 100% magistrates’ courts are able to
receive digital case files from the CPS.
• 100% of CPS areas are transferring
information for pre-sentence reviews
electronically to the National Offender
Management Service.
• 100% of Witness Care units and are
working digitally, negating the need to
print, store and ultimately dispose of
case files.
• 75% of cases in some CPS areas are
already being presented electronically
• 2 million messages a month sent
over Criminal Justice Secure eMail
• Although 65% of Defence
Practitioner contract holders with
the Legal Aid Agency have a secure
e-mail account – usage remains
low.
• 7,000 cases approx are dealt with
annually by the virtual courts in
London, Cheshire, Kent and
Hertfordshire, and nearly 400 police
hours have been saved – though
there is much more scope for
savings in police time.
• 32,500 prison to court video
hearings between June and
December 2012, saved time,
money, and reduced risk and
disruption.
What’s worked well
• Cross-agency working – a true CJS Partnership approach – acting in the interests
of the system
• Focussing on developing a concept court. Demonstrating results builds buy-in!
• Generating energy and momentum nationally and locally for change
Lessons
• Engagement with the defence community needs early and clear messaging on the
necessity and potential benefits of engagement with the emerging digital CJS
• Getting all the parts of the system to pull in the same direction, at a time of
significant change – is a complex task
• Introducing digital processes won’t solve underlying problems with file build quality
but DO present opportunities to work in partnership on solutions
The next 12 months
• Securing investment for technology:
• a robust data store
• in-court web connectivity
• in-court presentation in the magistrates’ court
• a digital solution for the Crown Court
• Agree an aggressive timeline for delivery to meet minister’s expectations
• Drive up the utilisation of video technology across the system for all allowable
hearing types and meetings, where it represents a smarter way of working
• Manage the business change required to support the move to in-court digital
working
• Harness the potential of a digitally enabled courtroom
So how is it making a difference?
North West of England – a case study
CPS (Nazir Afzal)
HMCTS (Paul McGladrigan)
NW CPS
• Real progress made in digitally linking up the CPS and Police;
• For example 2nd version of two way interface (TWIF) implemented November 2011, delivering range of benefits including:
– Reduced re-keying of information already entered in one system;
– Pre-charge decisions and post charge action plans returned to Police electronically and without need for manual intervention;
– Electronic material is created earlier in a case lifecycle;
– Police have saved c. 14,630 hours via the introduction of TWIF, or 1,800 working days.
NW CPS
• Enhanced support for Witness Care Units with witness information supplied before charge and all systems have the most up to date witness information digitally. A change of witness details in any one of the systems updates the others automatically;
• Police staff no longer need to upload emails into their case management systems;
• Digital file build the norm and automatic transfers between case management systems;
• Files are necessarily finalised on the Police system when the result is entered into the CPS system;
• Without TWIF its impossible to produce a full electronic case file in any case that has CCTV, digital interviews, photos etc. (almost all cases these days!).
NW CPS
• GMP working with other forces to develop digital repositories for video and audio and to record interviews digitally;
• TWIF will then provide links to enable prosecutors to access things directly from their desktops;
• CPS NW also early test bed for in court digital hearings for guilty plea cases at Trafford Magistrates Courts;
• informed move towards full adoption across the Region and other Regions of prosecutors working digitally in court from tablet devices
• In Greater Manchester alone, today there are over 100 prosecutors who present cases from tablet devices in the Magistrates Courts
• By end of 2013 an Evidence management System will be in place, hosted on a G-cloud and enabling Complex Casework Unit cases to be managed digitally;
• Common digital file seen as the future for Crown Court cases and will be trialled in Croydon soon;
• Strategic aim is to have a Common Platform linking us and HMCTS to eradicate double keying and fully support the sharing of a single information source.
NW HMCTS
• Cheshire Virtual Court pilot
• defendants dealt with while in Police custody suite - cutting out costly transportation to court
• currently deals with c. 60% of all Cheshire overnight remand cases
• Prison to Court Video Links
• again, avoids the need to transport remand prisoners to court
• Liverpool Crown Court and Manchester & Salford Magistrates Court are national best-practice centres in relation to PCVL utilisation
• Liverpool QEII centre recently handled early hearings for a 21 handed drugs case through PCVL – achieved cost savings and minimised security risks
NW HMCTS
• Merseyside Magistrates Courts one of the first in the country to be working digitally to ‘the point of the court door’ for first hearings;
• established the platform for in-court digital hearings in the not too distant future
• very good example of agencies working together locally to address blockers and adopt an end to end CJS view of the potential benefits
• Merseyside now an Early Adopter Area for the CJS Efficiency Programme;
• National test bed for a range of initiatives that underpin the Programme’s pace;
• for example, overnight remand cases where digital-file-build needs to be carried out rapidly
• also, digital case management form which is critical to effective case management and avoiding adjournments
HMCTS nationally
• And looking ahead both for the NW and nationally
• Testing a vision of the future through a ‘concept court’