| answer text |
<p>Records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), provide data showing the average
time (in calendar days) from receipt of the pre-charge case to the decision to charge.</p><p>
</p><p>The table below shows the average number of days from the date a charging decision
is requested by the police to the date the decision to charge is taken for the West
Midlands Area in each year from 2013/14 to 2017/18.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>
</p></td><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014-2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015-2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West
Midlands</p></td><td><p>10.54</p></td><td><p>10.95</p></td><td><p>11.65</p></td><td><p>14.41</p></td><td><p>17.31</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em>Data
Source: CPS Case Management Information System</em></p><p> </p><p>During this period
there has been a shift in the type of pre-charge decisions referred to the CPS. For
example, in the period between 2013/14 and 2017/18, there was an increase of over
26% in rape flagged pre-charge decisions referred to CPS West Midlands. Rape and serious
sexual offences investigations can be highly complex in nature and typically involve
the review of a large quantity of evidence resulting in an increase in the amount
of time required for the CPS to come to a charging decision.</p>
|
|
