Warwickshire LCJB First Year Performance

Warwickshire Criminal Justice Board reports strong first year performance

New figures show that Warwickshire LCJB is meeting challenging government targets one year after being set up.

The Board’s results are amongst the best in the country across a range of Government performance targets, proving that the criminal justice agencies in the county are working together effectively to deal with crime in the region.

During its first year the Board has faced a number of targets designed to address different issues within the Criminal Justice System

• To increase the number of offences brought to justice
• To tackle persistent youth offending and meet a pledge to bring young offenders to justice within 71 days
• To tackle persistent adult offending
• To increase victim and witness satisfaction and improve public confidence in the CJS
• To reduce the number of ineffective trials in court
• To improve the efficient execution of arrest warrants
• To improve the time it takes to progress cases through the system

In each of these areas Warwickshire is performing well:

• The county is on course to achieve its offences brought to justice target for 2003/04 and is already achieving its target on persistent offenders brought to justice – one of only five areas to meet this target and the second best in the country. Warwickshire has seen a 14.4% increase in the number of offences brought to justice against a target figure of 5%. Warwickshire LCJB is now 7th out of the 42 agencies in the country
• Warwickshire has achieved its target on Persistent Young Offenders
• The percentage of discontinued trials for the year 2003/04 is 9.62% against a national average of 13.79%. Warwickshire continues to achieve one of the lowest numbers of discontinued trials in the country and has met its discontinuance target for 2003/04
• The county has the lowest number of unsuccessful trials in the country
• The county has met its target of 20% or fewer ineffective trials in the Crown Court for May 2004 and has consistently achieved its target of 19% for 2004/05 in the Magistrates’ Court
• Warwickshire continues to show excellent performance in fine enforcement with a success rate across the county of 94%

During its first year of operation the Board has made a significant impact on the implementation of justice in Warwickshire and has instigated a clear performance improvement.

In addition to these achievements the Board is launching a number of key projects. The Victim & Witness Information Partnership (VIP) is a groundbreaking pilot initiative that provides the only fully integrated service to victims and witnesses in the country. VIP has been set up to ensure that victims and witnesses have as positive an experience of the Criminal Justice System as possible.

A pilot initiative to improve the efficiency of charging has been set up in Leamington Spa and Rugby. This involves the Crown Prosecution Service working together with the police at the point of charge with the aim of making sure the correct charges are brought. It is intended that this scheme will be introduced in the north of the county in due course. The Board is also in the process of setting up Criminal Justice Centres (CJCs) offering a ‘one-stop shop’ approach to improve the handling of cases in the region.

The Board aims to deliver a joined-up Criminal Justice System in which the public has confidence, victims and witnesses are cared for, offenders are brought to justice and the rights of defendants are respected.

During 2004/05 the Board will continue to build on its early achievements and strive to develop its systems and initiatives to strengthen the criminal justice system in Warwickshire.

Ends

For further information please contact James Reason, LCJB Communications Officer T 01926 415 324