Chief Inspector, Kevin McGinty, introducing the event.

 

HMCPSI inspectors spoke to a range of representatives from charities and victims groups on Thursday 11 March 2016 about the experiences of victims and witnesses with the CPS and generally within the criminal justice system.

Lead inspectors gave a brief over-view of recent HMCPSI reports ‘Communicating with victims’, ‘Witness summons’ and ‘Review of Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units’ (RASSO), before taking questions from the audience.

Some of the main areas of concern for organisations – which were also strong themes across all three reports – were that of poor communications, and lack of information regarding support for victims. The discussion also highlighted the pressures to provide adequate support for victims  due to staff shortages within RASSO units and victims liaison units.

The event will help feed into decisions about and planning for future inspectorate reports, and well as being a chance for organisations to raise issues faced by their clients.

 

Deputy Chief Inspector, Asker Husain