Crown Prosecution Service
(asked on 29th January 2019) - View Source
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the change has been in the overall case load for the Crown Prosecution Service between May 2010 and September 2018.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the volumes of completed prosecutions, or caseload, as a count of the number of defendants and collates the data collected in financial years.
The table below shows the number of finalised prosecution outcomes during each year from 2010-11 to 2017-18 and the year on year change in both volume and percent.
| Prosecution Caseload | Volume Change | % Change |
2010-2011 | 958,834 | - | - |
2011-2012 | 896,505 | -62,329 | -6.5% |
2012-2013 | 806,458 | -90,047 | -10.0% |
2013-2014 | 736,696 | -69,762 | -8.7% |
2014-2015 | 664,490 | -72,206 | -9.8% |
2015-2016 | 637,778 | -26,712 | -4.0% |
2016-2017 | 588,021 | -49,757 | -7.8% |
2017-2018 | 533,161 | -54,860 | -9.3% |
Data Source: CPS Management Information System
It is important to be aware that the types of cases prosecuted have changed significantly in the period between 2010 and 2018. The CPS is prosecuting more serious and complex cases as evidenced by a 38% increase in homicide, a 26% increase in fraud and forgery and a 26% increase in sexual offences cases. During this period, minor motoring cases have fallen by 67% across England and Wales. This followed changes to the list of specified offences made in 2012 which transferred responsibility for prosecuting many low level motoring offences back to the police.