Surrey & Sussex Joint CJS Efficiencies Group
Wednesday 2nd December, 10:00-13:00hrs
Meeting Room – Crawley Magistrates’ Court
Notes
1.
Introductions, Welcome and Apologies
Attendees:
2.
Stephen McAllister (Acting Chair)
Dave Manning
Lise Buckingham
Sam Barrey
Nigel Knight
Tony Grant
Miles Ockley
Jenn Marshall
Frances Amos
Brian Watson
Natalie Clarke
Bruce Tippen
Lindsey Parris
Felicity Leeson
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
CPS
Surrey Police
Sussex Police
Sussex Police
Victim Support
HMPS Lewes
Youth Support, Surrey
SSCJP
SSCJP
SSCJP
SM
DM
LB
SB
NK
TG
MO
JM
FA
BW
NC
BT
LP
FL
Apologies received from:
Alison Barlow
Nick Sloan
Mark Streater
Chris Collins
Rob McCauley
Anna Gianfrancesco
Gay Larter
Alex O’Keefe
Surrey Police
OPCC
OPCC
CTO
Legal Aid Agency
Sussex YOS
Citizens Advice
National Probation Service
AB
NS
MS
CC
RM
AG
GL
AO
Matters arising and Actions from 26/08/15
There were no matters arising.
The action log from the previous Surrey & Sussex CJS Efficiencies Group was reviewed and updated.
3.
Single Justice Process (SJP)
LB reported Surrey & Sussex were looking to start slowly with SJP and therefore would concentrate on traffic
cases on a county basis rather than a cluster basis.
LB confirmed listing changes would be required in both Surrey and Sussex. Ian Matthews would be
managing listing changes in Sussex.
LB reported Surrey plan to introduce SJP in April 2016 at Guildford Magistrates’ Court. Surrey agreed to
adopt “Scheduled Listed Sessions”. Fortnightly 2 traffic courts would be sitting side by side leaving the 2 nd
fortnight to become a dedicated SJP session.
LB reported communications had already been sent to Portia Ragnauth (CPS) however a meeting was due
to be held on 14th December 2015 with all local agencies to discuss SJP, Traffic Courts and Listing and Rota
changes in more detail.
LB reported in terms of regional SJP - a statutory instrument would be required before other agencies such
as Trains and TVLO could sign up. Currently only DVLA are in scope.
LB reported she had offered to take DVLA cases in Surrey.
SM stressed there was currently courtroom capacity to accommodate SJP as long as things don’t change.
LB reported reinstated cameras on the M25 may increase the volume of work.
TG reported he was not aware of anything being introduced by Surrey Police that would increase the volume
of work.
LB reported it was agreed to proceed with SJP based on what is known so far.
TG explained that any changes to listing patterns in the court would involve timely manually amendments to
the Niche case management system for Police staff.
Action: LB & IM to liaise with TG and JM in terms of any listing pattern changes resulting from the
implementation of SJP.
4.
Better Case Management
SB reported the Kent, Surrey and Sussex BCM LIT is chaired by HHJ Williams, Resident Judge at
Canterbury Crown Court. The next LIT meeting is scheduled for 11th December 2015.
DM reported HH Judge Barnes provided a BCM update at the Court User Group meeting held at Lewes
Crown Court last week. Chichester Crown Court would be holding their Court User Group meeting w/b 7th
December. DM confirmed Guildford Crown Court had also held their Court User group meeting where a BCM
update was provided by the Resident Judge.
NK confirmed CPS has a team of dedicated lawyers to deal with BCM cases. All lawyers will have been
trained by the end of week and CPSD lawyers have also received training.
TG reported he had attended the CPS training session but confirmed Surrey Police had prepared their own
PowerPoint training package outlining the BCM changes applicable to the Police.
TG requested CPS do not send memo’s simply stating “full file” upgrade required. CPS must ensure they
specify exactly what upgrade is required. Surrey Police will return any memo’s to CPS that simply state “full
file” upgrade.
JM reported Surrey and Sussex Police administration staff were going to meet CPS for a standard operating
procedure (SOP) presentation.
TG also reported there appeared to be an issue in allocating files for review by CPS. TG suggested the MG3
needs to be reviewed as well as the MG5.
Action: NK to discuss the potential issue of allocating files for review with CPS colleagues.
TG felt the BCM LIT was possibly aimed at a high level and as such there appeared to be very little lower
level input.
5.
Allocation – Crown Court Business (Item 11 on agenda)
SM reported revised Sentencing Guidelines would be issued soon.
The Sentencing Council will publish a revised definitive guideline for allocation, which will provide courts with
guidance on whether cases should be dealt with in magistrates’ courts or the Crown Court. This will enable
them to ensure that cases are tried and sentenced at the appropriate level. The guideline will come into
effect on 1 March 2016.
Its introduction will mean more cases will be retained for trial and sentence in the magistrates’ courts: the
guideline clarifies that cases should only be sent to the Crown Court for trial when they are clearly unsuitable
for trial in magistrates’ courts.
Reconsidering the guideline was one of the recommendations in Sir Brian Leveson’s Review of Efficiency in
Criminal Proceedings.
By encouraging the retention of more cases in magistrates’ courts, the guideline will enable more cases to be
dealt with more quickly, which benefits victims and witnesses and leads to greater efficiency in the criminal
justice system.
NC reported it would be good to keep youths out of the Crown Courts and keep them in the Magistrates’
Courts if appropriate.
Action: NK to ensure CPS colleagues are aware of the revised Sentencing Guidelines.
6.
Transforming Summary Justice – Performance (Item 5 on agenda)
Headlines:
 Guilty plea rates at first hearing improved to 68% but still below national rates.
 Effective trial rate improved substantially over the last 18 months with the best month to date
(45.5%).
 Guilty Plea timeliness significantly improved. From an average of 71 days Police charged cases in
April 2014 to an average 41 days in Oct 2015.
 Not Guilty plea timeliness has also substantially improved from 132 average days in April 2014 to
average 84 days in Oct 2015.
 Hearings per case for Guilty Pleas cases are reducing but an average of 4 hearings per Not Guilty
case remains high.
NK reported the benefits of Police Officer training are now beginning to show in terms of receiving better
quality prepared files.
SM reported receipt of timely IDPC is improving slowly.
TG expressed concern regarding CPS ability to serve IDPC to Defence 5 days before the hearing when CPS
still struggle to identify Defence. TG also reported that it is vital that Defence continue to engage with CPS.
NK reported very few Defence firms in Surrey are signed up to using secure email.
Action: RM to contact Surrey Defence firms to encourage them to sign up to use secure email.
NK reported Surrey and Sussex Police are both preparing good quality MG5’s.
SM reported having the support of a Police Officer or a specialised member of staff in the court room has
been working well and any issues are being dealt with on the day.
JM reported she sends out emails to divisions highlighting any issues retrieved from the IQM spreadsheet
supplied by CPS. She also emails officers who produce good Streamline Disclosure Certificates.
JM and TG reported they continue to review and monitor the IQM spreadsheets (supplied by CPS) on a
regular basis.
SM reported HMCTS will feedback to partners any examples of poor quality or late receipt of IDPC.
The group had a lengthy discussion regarding performance monitoring.
SM reported the National TSJ performance measures were due to be issued imminently and suggested the
group should align local performance data sets alongside the National TSJ measures.
The group agreed to review arrangements for performance monitoring across other sub-groups in an effort to
bring together a more joined-up approach and accountability for CJS Efficiencies performance and also
agreed that domestic violence performance measures sit with this group who will closely monitor DV
performance alongside the TSJ measures.
Action: BT and SM to liaise and discuss creating a performance measure action plan.
7.
Digital Overnights (Item 6 on agenda)
NK confirmed meetings had been held with Surrey and Sussex Police, business processes had been
confirmed and a “go live” date for the end of February had also been agreed.
NK reported one more workshop would be required once all Magistrates’ Courts had had WiFi installed.
SB confirmed all Magistrates’ Courts would be WiFi enabled within the next 2 weeks.
SB reported there would be no overnight remand hearings at the proposed closing courts in Sussex but
there would be at Redhill Magistrates’ Court in Surrey. However, it should be noted there would be no WiFi
installed at the proposed closing courts.
NK also reported Saturday and occasional courts would revert to a manual system due to administration staff
not working at the weekends and Bank Holidays.
8.
Search Warrants – SE Region Project (Item 7 on agenda)
SM reported Essex Police in collaboration with Cambridge, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire will be trialling a
new interactive process. The Police will have access to a web based diary where the Police can login and
book court slots. Testing is currently underway with a possible “go live” in March 2016.
SM reported he would send details of the Surrey Police representative to JM and TG.
LB confirmed the local representative for Surrey and Sussex was steve.boyle@sussex.pnn.police.uk
9.
Not 4 Release – SE Region Project (Item 8 on agenda)
SM reported Not 4 Release was a South East Innovation dealing with defendants who are in custody and
who are also wanted elsewhere. Essex Police are trialling new intelligence to check to see if the defendant is
wanted elsewhere and then agree to hear their outstanding business at the court hearing.
BW confirmed Lewes Prison are noticing an increase in out of area hearings.
10. LAA Contracts (Item 9 on agenda)
Item deferred until the next meeting due to apologies received from RM.
11. Sussex Youth Courts (Item 10 on agenda)
SM reported Surrey brought together their youth courts and youth panels.
Sussex is light on youth work and is currently looking at different scenarios. Sussex is different to Surrey due
to the different Youth Offending Service areas.
SM explained this would be discussed further at the next Judicial Business Group meeting being held on 3rd
December.
12. Digital Crown Court
SM reported there would be a 3 day regional lead workshop held in Sussex. Surrey would have a separate
workshop.
NK confirmed he had attended a training session in London.
SM reported implementation is scheduled for March 2016.
13. VEJ
The group noted the VEJ update submitted by VEJ Project Director Nick Sloan.
BT reported there was another VEJ workshop scheduled for 4th December at OSPCC – Lewes.
BT also reported the VEJ Regional Group will oversee the governance for the VEJ project and further VEJ
updates should come to this group just for mention.
SM reported that as most of the responsibility for VEJ falls outside this group VEJ should be removed from
this group.
14. Delivery Plan – Performance and Progress template
BT agreed to update the CJS Efficiencies SRO template and send to SM and JC for sign off.
Action: BT to update the CJS Efficiencies SRO template and send to SM and JC for sign off.
BW reported he would be meeting the Deputy Governor of Elmley Prison to discuss improvements in the
regional reporting of PVCL figures. There appears to be inconsistencies in the way these figures are being
reported.
BW also reported Lewes Prison now has 2 fully operational PVCL booths and the Prison had already
exceeded last year’s PVCL figures.
BW expressed disappointment that Judges still appear to be reluctant to sentence via video link.
BT agreed to provide commentary regarding performance figures and how they are worked out for future
meetings.
Action: BT to provide commentary regarding performance figures and explanation how figures are
worked out for future meetings.
15. AOB
None
Date of next meeting
2nd March 2016 – Crawley Magistrates Court – Meeting