Committee publication · Correspondence · 17 July 2026
Correspondence from Stephen Parkinson, Director of Public Prosecutions, dated 16 July 2026: Follow-up to the oral evidence session held on 30 June 2026
From: Justice Committee
Summary
Stephen Parkinson, Director of Public Prosecutions, provides follow-up detail to his 30 June 2026 oral evidence to the Justice Committee. He clarifies charging timeliness performance (improved to 75.1% of urgent custody cases meeting three-hour targets), custody time limit compliance (55 failures in 2025/26, 0.51% of CTL cases), and expansion of the Victims' Right to Review pilot for rape and serious sexual offence cases nationally from 13 July 2026.
Key findings
- CPS charging performance in urgent 'red' cases improved from 67.3% (December 2024) to 75.1% (Q3 2025/26) meeting three-hour target; 'green' cases improved from 61.7% to 72.3% meeting 28-day target.
- Custody Time Limit failures occurred in 55 cases (0.51% of live CTL cases) in 2025/26; 10,393 live CTL cases represent 4.8% of total caseload as of 23 June 2026.
- HMCPSI report on CTLs identified shared responsibility between police, CPS and courts; current assurance system unmanageable due to court backlogs and increasing Crown Court custody trials fixed outside CTL.
- Early Victims' Right to Review (VRR) pilot for RASSO cases expanded nationally from 13 July 2026; pilot across four areas since June 2025 saw 16 review requests and two decisions overturned.
- CPS accepting HMCPSI recommendations and implementing national programme to strengthen CTL management with revised assurance processes and risk-based oversight approach.
Tone
FactualTopics
Key actors
Stephen Parkinson, Crown Prosecution Service, Andy Slaughter MP, Justice Select Committee, HMCPSI, Solicitor General, Police (unnamed partners)
Notable line
“While any CTL failure is regrettable, they represent a very small proportion of the cases subject to a CTL.”
Key Quotes
“Timely charging decisions are important for victims, suspects and the wider administration of justice.”
“In Q3 2025/26, charging decisions were made within three hours in 75.1% of "red" cases.”
“The Inspectorate recognised the commitment of CPS staff and stressed that effective management of CTLs must be viewed as a shared responsibility between the police, the CPS and the courts.”
“I am assured that the number of overturned cases is low but pleased that the pilot has seen the CPS able to reverse decisions in these cases.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗