PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Crown Prosecution Service (5 September 2024)

To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the number of cases awaiting charging decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service, broken down by (a) whether they are (i) summary only, (ii) either way and (iii) indictable only offences and (b) by Crown Prosecution Service region.

Asked by:
Shaun Davies (Labour)

Management information is held showing the number of cases with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which are awaiting a pre-charge decision.

The table below shows the overall number of cases which were awaiting a charging decision or administrative triage (completed on files sent by the police to the CPS for a charging decision) as of 25 March 2024. This data is provided in line with the last quarterly data release in March 2024.

25/03/2024
Cymru Wales	1,354
East Midlands	1,107
East Of England	868
London North	803
London South	833
Merseyside and Cheshire	733
North East	852
North West	1,088
South East	912
South West	1,167
Thames & Chiltern	759
Wessex	631
West Midlands	1,571
Yorkshire & Humberside	1,019
Total	13,697
Data Source: CPS Pre-Charge Decision Workload Report

These figures do not include cases that have been referred to the CPS but that are currently with the police to action, having been sent back to them with a request for further information.

This count is of the number of cases, not suspects. A single case may cover one suspect or several.

No data is available in the report showing whether the alleged offences are summary, either-way or indictable only. To obtain this information would require a manual review at disproportionate cost.

Answered by:
Sarah Sackman (Labour)
12 September 2024