Consultation on proposed criminal justice joint inspection programme for 2025 to 2027
Published 20 November 2024
Applies to England and Wales
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-criminal-justice-joint-inspection-programme/consultation-on-proposed-criminal-justice-joint-inspection-programme-for-2025-to-2027
The criminal justice inspectorates have a statutory duty to carry out a joint inspection programme.
Before we finalise this programme, a formal consultation must take place.
The consultation helps us make sure our joint inspection programme focuses on the right topics, is balanced and doesn’t duplicate the work of individual criminal justice inspectorates.
It is a two-year programme. This means we can carry out research and investigations to support the proposed inspections.
The joint thematic inspections we are proposing for 2025 to 2027 cover some of the issues facing the criminal justice system. We may not be able to carry out all these inspections during 2025 to 2027 because this work is in addition to our core inspection programmes. The amount of joint inspection work we can do depends on the resources available in the relevant inspectorates.
Proposed joint thematic inspections
| Topic | Lead inspectorate | Potential other inspectorates |
|---|---|---|
| Experiences of victims of child sexual abuse of the criminal justice system The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has recommended a joint inspection of compliance with the Victims’ Code in relation to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse |
HMCPSI | HMICFRS HMI Probation |
| Operation Soteria The second phase of our work to assess the progression and outcome of cases of rape and serious sexual offences that have been investigated and charged using the principles and tools developed through Operation Soteria |
HMICFRS | HMCPSI |
| Support given to offenders with drug addiction How well offenders with drug addiction are being supported by prisons and the probation service |
HMI Prisons | HMI Probation HMICFRS |
Notes
HMCPSI: HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate;
HMI: HM Inspectorate;
HMICFRS: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
Some of the inspections will be carried out jointly by two or more of our inspectorates. Others may combine findings from single agency inspections or may take a different approach.
In our joint inspection programme, we will consider how our work affects the experience of victims. We will also promote improvements in the wider criminal justice system.
Please send us your comments about our proposed joint thematic inspections.
Consultation questions
In particular, we would be grateful to receive your responses to the following consultation questions:
Which of the proposed thematic inspections should be prioritised?
Are there any other topics that you believe should be included in our criminal justice joint inspection programme?
Do you have any other comments about our proposed joint thematic inspections?
How to respond
Please provide your reasons with your comments. All comments on this consultation are welcome and will be considered. Please email them to: Melanie.Bowden@HMICFRS.gov.uk by 5pm on 7 January 2025.
We intend to publish our joint inspection business plan for 2025 to 2027 by Spring 2025.