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Our inspection activity
23. In 2025-26, we published one inspection report. This was a large joint inspection with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) – Citing witnesses in the sheriff court in March 2026. We are currently working on our first Focused follow-up inspection on communication with victims of domestic abuse in summary cases. We have also monitored progress made by COPFS in implementing recommendations arising from four previous inspections.
Focused follow-up inspection – communication with victims of domestic abuse in summary cases
24. Work is ongoing in relation to our current inspection which we hope to publish by the end of 2026. The terms of reference were published in May 2026.
25. In 2024, we published a thematic inspection report on the prosecution of domestic abuse cases at sheriff summary level by COPFS. We made 27 recommendations, all of which were accepted by COPFS. The implementation of that inspection report will be discussed further at paragraph 69 below.
26. In our 2024 report we found that communication from, and support by COPFS to victims of domestic abuse was inadequate. We reviewed communication for 61 victims and found the overall quality of communication to be unsatisfactory for 80% of those victims.
27. In our 2024-25 annual report we reported on action taken by COPFS in response to the 2024 report and noted that while there had been a number of positive developments across COPFS there was no evidence of immediate steps to ensure that victims of domestic abuse are receiving basic information about their case, including its outcome, timeously.
28. Summary Case Management (SCM) and enhanced victim engagement (EVE)[43] in summary domestic abuse cases is now the model of work across all COPFS offices. IPS was advised by COPFS that in August 2025 74% of SCM domestic abuse cases had recorded prosecutor contact made with victims. This focused follow-up inspection affords IPS an opportunity to assess and report on a key element of communication with victims of domestic abuse that is now the national model.
29. We will consider whether COPFS is providing basic information to victims of domestic abuse about their case after the following key stages of a case:
first appearance of an accused in court
case management hearing or intermediate diet
trial diet
sentencing
when a case is concluded
30. In respect of enhanced victim engagement (EVE) we will consider:
whether EVE has taken place
whether EVE has been recorded
the quality of the EVE record
31. We will also consider the COPFS response to part (b) of recommendation 12[44] and part (a) of recommendation 19[45] of our 2024 report to determine what practical changes has been brought about since April 2024.
Citing witnesses in the sheriff court
32. Along with HMICS, we considered the citation process holistically – from the moment a witness statement is taken to the day the witness attends court to give evidence. The inspection was wide-ranging and despite being such a fundamental part of the criminal justice process, citation of witnesses has never been fully scrutinised across the criminal justice system.
33. There are 50 recommendations in the report that would, if implemented, allow for a more efficient witness-centred approach to citation. The recommendations are for COPFS and Police Scotland, but many will require collaboration with other justice partners including Police Scotland, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services.
34. We reported that during 2024-25, 398,714 witness citations were issued across Scotland for trials in the sheriff court. While witnesses in other parts of the UK are commonly notified of trial dates initially by email, in Scotland most civilian witnesses still receive formal legal citations by second class post. We recommended that COPFS should use email or another electronic method as the principal means of citing all witnesses.
35. A large number of citations are also hand delivered to prosecution witnesses by police officers. Police Scotland estimated that in the year 2023-24 it had 154,000 witness citations to serve. Despite this volume of work, we found lack of oversight, leadership, governance, strategy and monitoring of the citation process across both Police Scotland and COPFS. This includes an inability to accurately identify the costs of the citation process.
36. While the summary case management approach, now rolled out across Scotland, has significantly reduced the number of citations issued, it does not address the problems in the citation process itself. A failure by COPFS to effectively deal with witness excusal requests was found to be extremely impactful on all witnesses including police officers who may be cited to give evidence in court when on rest days, nightshift or annual leave.
37. The recurring theme of ‘churn’ in the system, with trials being repeatedly adjourned, was again evident. Our case review found evidence of witnesses receiving as many as six citations to appear at court on different dates in the same case.
38. We undertook benchmarking with other jurisdictions and found that there was much to be learnt from how other jurisdictions cite witnesses. This included the use of a ‘notice of trial’ letter (usually emailed) to inform witnesses of the trial date and secure the attendance of engaged witnesses, leaving personal service of the heavier handed formal legal citation for more challenging witnesses. This would provide a more trauma-informed approach.
39. We considered whether the experience of being cited to attend court as a witness can be improved. Our report focuses on modernisation and achieving greater efficiency and effectiveness in the citation process, in particular through the use of digital technology across the entire process.
40. Two key recommendations are that COPFS should use email or other electronic methods to cite witnesses and that the Scottish Government work with COPFS and other justice partners to provide an integrated digital trial scheduling solution or algorithm that would take account of all witness availability in fixing trials. We acknowledge that budgets are restricted across all public sector funding, however if this investment is made it will in turn reduce excusals, adjournments and churn in the justice system, the significant attendant costs, and improve the witness experience.
41. COPFS and Police Scotland have accepted all of our recommendations and are working together to implement them. Given the number and nature of some of the recommendations we understand that they will take some time to implement. We have recently had sight of the COPFS action plan in response to this inspection and are advised that COPFS has decided to prioritise development of a national strategy. This is based on a set of key principles which will underpin all COPFS processes and communications in relation to the citation of witnesses. We understand that the strategy addresses points raised in our report, including witness feedback, with the objective of improving the experience of witnesses and maintaining public confidence. COPFS advises that the strategy also focuses on modernising and streamlining processes to ensure they are as efficient as possible, supported by effective governance arrangements. COPFS plan to share the draft strategy with Police Scotland and other key partners for feedback prior to it being finalised and published.
42. Following publication of the national strategy, further information will be made available to support its implementation. This will include COPFS commitments to witnesses, and clear guidance about what witnesses can expect at each stage of the citation process, to ensure transparency and promote engagement.[46]
43. As already discussed, there was an unfortunate initial delay to implementation of this inspection while COPFS considered its governance model. However, we are heartened to see that joint work is now underway with Police Scotland, including establishment of a Governance Board chaired by the COPFS lead, which meets monthly. The Board is attended by Police Scotland, SCTS and other relevant COPFS staff. It is intended that the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the Scottish Government will also be represented in due course.
44. As I have commented on in the Foreword to this report, for the first time, we made a limited number of recommendations (3) which had time limits for implementation. Two recommendations related to process change, one of which was to be implemented with three months[47] (by 3rd June 2026) and the other within six months of publication (by 3rd September)[48] and another related to training which required to be carried out within six months.[49]
45. We have recently been advised that the recommendation that COPFS should implement a consistent national process on responding to sheriff court excusals and monitor compliance has not been achievable within six months. We understand that COPFS is developing a national process for responding to excusal requests from all categories of witnesses that is not only restricted to local court cases. Initial discussions between COPFS and Police Scotland have identified that system enhancements may be required to ensure excusal requests are submitted to COPFS in a way that clearly differentiates them from other correspondence, to enable them to be effectively tracked and managed. This will impact on timescales for delivery of the new process, but COPFS advise that this work remains a strategic priority and will be progressed as quickly as possible. We also understand that the Joint Protocol for the Excusal of Police Witnesses is also currently being reviewed by COPFS and Police Scotland.
46. Once finalised, COPFS intend to publish the process on the COPFS website. It will be incorporated into training for legal and administrative staff, and measures will be put in place to monitor compliance.
47. In relation to our recommendation that within three months COPFS should issue guidance and train staff to ensure that Police Scotland is advised when witnesses are countermanded, we understand that a manual process has been developed and shared with staff. The updated process has also been shared with Police Scotland. We also understand that training is being devised and COPFS recognise the need to raise staff awareness about the requirement to advise Police Scotland when witnesses are countermanded and subsequently put in place quality assurance and compliance monitoring arrangements.
48. COPFS is also carrying out scoping work to explore options for automation of this countermand process. Discussions are ongoing between COPFS and Police Scotland to assess the feasibility of delivering an automated solution through the Legal Documents Database (LDD).[50]
49. Finally, in relation to the recommendation that sheriff and jury prosecutors are adequately trained on the Sheriff Court Solemn Procedure Criminal Courts Practice No 1 of 2024 within six months, e-learning has been devised by the Scottish Prosecution College (SPC) to complement an existing Policy guidance note. The e-learning was launched on 2nd September 2026 via SPC Online and we understand that line managers will be asked to support the training locally. We will report next year on the level of success COPFS has achieved in ensuring that sheriff and jury prosecutors have undertaken the training in respect of this time limited recommendation.
50. These recommendations are therefore not yet achieved but are in progress.
51. We will provide a full update on the implementation of this inspection in our 2026-27 annual report.
Following up on previous recommendations
(these are listed in date order from publication)
Inspection of the management of criminal allegations against the police by COPFS
52. In 2021 we published a report on how COPFS manages criminal allegations against the police. We concluded that the quality of decision making by COPFS in such cases was good, and that the public should be reassured by the robust scrutiny which is applied to on duty criminal allegations against the police. This had been assisted by the creation of the Criminal Allegations Against the Police Division (CAAP-D), a unit staffed by specialist prosecutors who had developed effective relationships with stakeholders. To improve how criminal allegations against the police were managed we made 18 recommendations.
53. By the time of our last annual report all but two of the recommendations had been achieved. One of the outstanding recommendations related to COPFS monitoring and publishing information about the protected characteristics of those who make criminal allegations against the police. We are pleased to note that, for the first time, COPFS published information on the protected characteristics of complainers who had responded to questionnaires issued by CAAP-D in July 2026. Continued monitoring and publishing of this information will hopefully go some way to improving the confidence of the most vulnerable groups in Scotland through a more transparent process.
54. The final outstanding recommendation relates to COPFS, in conjunction with criminal justice partners, introducing an electronic reporting system for criminal allegations against the police. There has been no substantive change in the position of this recommendation in this reporting year, and such a system will only be implemented as part of the development of wider case management systems by COPFS. Notwithstanding this, it is our intention to report on this recommendation each year in the hope that COPFS takes account of the needs of specialist units such as CAAP-D when the design stage of the next generation of case management systems is reached.
55. Further detail on the action taken to implement the recommendations is available at Appendix 2.
Joint review of diversion from prosecution
56. The joint review[51] of diversion from prosecution was published in February 2023. The aim was to assess the operation and impact of diversion from prosecution in Scotland and sought to provide an overview of diversion practice from policing, prosecution and social work perspectives to highlight what worked well and any barriers to effective use of diversion.
57. The report highlighted that diversion from prosecution, which is designed to address underlying causes of offending, was well established and an effective intervention for young people[52] but more could be done to promote confidence in their use for adults.
58. The report made 34 recommendations, 14 of which related to COPFS, to assist in ensuring efficient and effective processes in decision making and management of diversion cases. These included improved and focused collaboration between agencies; standardisation of reports; enhanced record keeping; provision of adequate guidance and training; and communication with victims and the accused person.
59. A cornerstone recommendation of the joint review was that Community Justice Scotland should ensure the National Guidelines on Diversion took account of the joint review and were re-launched. The revised National Guidelines describe the aims and benefits of diversion, the diversion process and the role played by the police, prosecutors and local authorities and is an essential joint reference and guidance document for bodies involved in the diversion process. The revised National Guidelines were published on 10th June 2026 ahead of a launch date of 10th August 2026.
60. Community Justice Scotland, on launching the new guidelines described them as ‘providing greater consistency and transparency’ for those involved in the diversion process.[53] Key elements of the new guidelines include structured pathways for managing cases with differing levels of oversight depending on the complexity of each referral and defined timescales for assessment, reporting and intervention.
61. The creation of two different diversion pathways, that will largely be differentiated by the seriousness of the offending, is an important step in addressing important issues found in the joint review. If successfully implemented this has the potential to allow local authorities to commence diversion work more swiftly and with less bureaucracy once COPFS has referred someone for diversion from prosecution. The new pathways should also ensure appropriate focus and oversight by prosecutors of accused diverted in more serious or complex cases.
62. While work has been ongoing within COPFS to address the recommendations of the joint review, progress towards implementing many of the recommendations could not be achieved until publication of revised National Guidelines and, importantly, associated internal COPFS guidance. Had internal guidance been finalised and provided before we came to publish this report then it is likely many of the 13 outstanding recommendations could have been assessed as achieved in this reporting period.
63. As of the 10th of August 2026, COPFS internal guidance for its staff on the processes to be followed in the diversion process had not been finalised. Against this background we are unable to conclusively assess many of the recommendations that are contingent on finalised COPFS internal policies and procedures, which is disappointing. We are also unable to assess the current position of many recommendations that require evidence of a change in procedure having a practical result due to the launch of the National Guidelines and new processes being beyond our reporting period.
64. Notwithstanding the finalised internal guidance not being available to coincide with the launch of the National Guidelines which was anticipated and would have made practical sense, it is evident that much work has been done by COPFS to progress the recommendations of our 2023 inspection in the last reporting year. Of the 13 recommendations[54] that relate to COPFS two have now been assessed as achieved, eight have moved from in progress to substantial progress and three that were in progress remain at that level.
Status | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|
Achieved | 0 | 2 |
Substantial Progress | 0 | 8 |
In Progress | 13 | 3 |
No longer accepted | 1 | 1 |
65. We consider the implementation of what is now a longstanding and well embedded Community Justice Group within COPFS to be a useful forum to allow issues that arise in the many Community Justice Partnership meetings to be filtered back through COPFS. This has helped overcome the practical difficulty of aligning the work of over 30 separate justice social work areas and six different sheriffdoms. We have learned that there will be increased attendance by staff from COPFS National Initial Case Processing unit[55] (NICP) at Community Justice Partnership meetings and direct communication between those instructing diversion and those delivering diversion processes is to be welcomed.
66. We have been advised that the management of diversion cases within COPFS for all cases other than High Court cases will be by NICP staff. This should help provide consistency of approach across all casework and it is to be hoped that in our next reporting period we will have seen internal COPFS guidance that is unambiguous about how the process should be managed within COPFS and by whom. We remain concerned whether NICP staffing levels are sufficient to ensure adequate tracking and management of the procedural steps of the diversion process.
67. A recommendation that COPFS should ensure training for staff involved in the diversion process has been achieved with awareness raising sessions at the time of the launch of the National Guidelines and mandatory e-learning created for relevant staff to complete.
68. Several of the recommendations made in the joint review were to ‘ensure’ certain processes or procedures had been carried out. We have started to see dip sampling evidence undertaken by COPFS in some of our other inspection implementation. We consider that dip sampling may also be helpful in relation to this inspection, however COPFS do not currently plan to do this. It is hoped that ahead of our next annual report COPFS is in a position to provide other evidence that guidance is being followed in practice.[56]
69. Communication with victims, accused and victims’ right to review[57] were all the subject of recommendations in the joint review. It is hoped that finalised COPFS guidance and internal policies along with evidence that such policies and guidance are being followed will allow IPS to fully assess these recommendations in our next annual report. If achieved these recommendations will make important and practical differences for members of the public involved in cases that are diverted from prosecution. It may also be of longer-term value in reducing the numbers of accused persons that would otherwise appear in court.
70. We have repeatedly touched upon the lack of internal COPFS guidance being an impediment to our assessment of COPFS progress and have concerns that a lack of alignment between outdated COPFS internal guidance and processes and the revised National Guidelines has the potential for delay in cases or confusion between COPFS and local authority staff. It is to be hoped that COPFS prioritise the completion of internal guidance and associated processes and templates as soon as possible to prevent such issues arising.
71. IPS will provide a full update on the implementation of this inspection in our 2026-27 annual report.
72. For further details see the associated table in Appendix 2.
The prosecution of domestic abuse cases at sheriff summary level
73. This inspection assessed how well COPFS prepared, managed and prosecuted domestic abuse cases at sheriff summary level, as well as how efficiently such cases are progressed. We made 27 recommendations which COPFS accepted. These standalone recommendations are sub-divided, which result in 47 assessments overall from the 27 recommendations.
74. Our current assessment of the overall 47 recommendations compared to our 2024-25 assessment is as follows -
| 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|
Achieved | 2 | 9 |
Substantial progress | 8 | 10 |
In progress | 27 | 22 |
Not achieved | 10 | 1 |
Superseded | N/A | 5 |
75. Further detail can be found in the associated table at Appendix 2.
76. Over the course of the last year we have focused on the extent to which implementation of this inspection has brought about change for victims and those prosecuting these challenging and sensitive cases on a daily basis. We are pleased to see some changes and improvements which are reflected in the updated assessment of our recommendations.
77. Following publication of our 2024-25 annual report, COPFS appointed an additional implementation lead for this inspection, a Sheriffdom Procurator Fiscal and Chair of the COPFS National Domestic Abuse Forum, to work alongside the COPFS National Lead on Domestic Abuse. It has been helpful for IPS to engage with an operational Local Court procurator fiscal in addition to Policy practitioners.
78. COPFS commitment to improving the experiences of women and children in the justice system[58] and a desire to bring about cultural change across the prosecution service remains clear. There is a strong focus on ensuring training, guidance and policies are current[59] albeit it is not possible for COPFS to provide accurate data about how many staff are attending the training.[60]
79. We were invited by the COPFS National Lead on Domestic Abuse to attend the Domestic Abuse Case Marking Training last September at the SPC. There, the then Solicitor General spoke about the priority which the Law Officers place on domestic violence and highlighted that COPFS were appealing sentences in sheriff court domestic abuse cases which they considered to be unduly lenient.
80. The Domestic Abuse Manual[61] has been updated over the year including to take account of some of our recommendations. It now provides instructions to case markers in relation to advising victims about postponed undertaking dates, recognising that victims need to know urgently if an undertaking is cancelled.[62] From a practical perspective, we would note that the Domestic Abuse Manual does not make it entirely clear whether case markers or VIA staff require to contact the police or the victim directly to provide this information. This could lead to no such contact being made. There is also an increased focus on considering domestic abuse cases through a ‘risk lens’[63][64] and ‘intersectionality’,[65] with corresponding updates to the relevant domestic abuse training.
81. The Lord Advocate’s Guidelines to Police Scotland on domestic abuse were finalised in July 2026. The guidelines are confidential for internal police and prosecution and will not be published meantime. They instruct police to approach domestic abuse as a course of conduct offence and shift away from incident-focused policing. Mirroring prosecution policy, they invite policing through a risk lens. The guidelines are relevant to implementation of the recommendations which require COPFS to work with Police Scotland.[66]
82. We have been encouraged to see increased recognition and specific reference to our domestic abuse inspection recommendations in COPFS guidance, communications with staff on the COPFS intranet and within the Local Court Business Plan for 2026/27. COPFS updated their Victim and Witness Manual to provide guidance to staff on Non-Harassment Orders in April 2026. The associated guidance published on the COPFS intranet made specific reference to our recommendation[67] and the importance of placing victims’ views before the court and the requirement to consciously balance this against the need to prioritise victim safety.
83. Further, as part of wider improvements to the COPFS digital case management system there is now a mandatory step in the online case checklist for case markers to consider statutory aggravations in domestic abuse cases.[68] It is also now possible for case markers to refer cases to VIA before making a final marking decision.[69]
84. It has also been beneficial for COPFS to start to submit dip sampling to IPS in relation to implementation of some recommendations.[70] We will continue to work with COPFS to consider further dip sampling evidence over the next year. This data is required to confirm if changes made by COPFS in response to our recommendations are working in practice and address the issues identified in the inspection. This is valuable along with how the impact of SCM, training and other initiatives are being monitored across COPFS.
85. We previously noted in our last annual report disappointment that some of the most urgent, practical recommendations at the heart of the inspection report had not yet been implemented, or some even commenced, particularly given the implications on service delivery for victims of domestic abuse. It is encouraging that some of these recommendations are now being progressed including our recommendation that COPFS should review whether summary VIA is fit for purpose[71] which has prompted an overdue evaluation of VIA’s remit.
86. We reported that COPFS had not taken immediate steps to ensure that victims are receiving basic information about their case, including its outcome, timeously. While we have now seen some evidence of this taking place, owing to the dip sampling mentioned above, we remain concerned about to what extent this is happening. This prompted our 'focused follow-up inspection – communication with victims of domestic abuse in summary cases'. We are also still advised that almost two and a half years after publication of our inspection report many of the VIA related recommendations require the VMP to progress, which has now been paused owing to ongoing wider COPFS structural change.
87. An evaluation of SCM published in May 2026[72] contains positive comments from prosecutors and 3rd sector agencies about the difference SCM has made in domestic abuse cases. SCM has brought about seismic change across the criminal justice system and is now embedded across COPFS.
88. Data shows that, as at January 2026, scheduled domestic abuse trials were reduced to 30% below the pre-pandemic baseline, first witness citations in domestic abuse cases have fallen by 36% since May 2023; witness citations in domestic abuse cases have reduced by 41% since May 2023 and the percentage of trials adjourned in domestic abuse cases fell from 40% to 30%.
89. The application of SCM principles, including Early Victim Engagement (EVE), has led to a significant reduction in the volume of domestic abuse complaints called for trial, from 1544 in August 2022 to an average of 901 in the last year, a 42% reduction. There has also been a decrease in Crown adjournments. The volume of Crown motions to adjourn summary domestic abuse trials due to absent witnesses has also fallen consistently since the start of the pilot courts, but at a much higher rate, from 187 per month (August 2022) to an average of 74 per month in the last year, a 61% reduction.
90. Taking account of the changes which SCM has made to COPFS processes we now consider 5 of our recommendations to be superseded.[73]
91. Last year, COPFS provided data about ‘prosecutor contact’ with domestic victims which we included in our annual report.[74] We had hoped to compare this with current data, but COPFS advise that no such data has been available since the beginning of 2026 owing to issues in recording it. It is therefore difficult to properly assess whether prosecutors are contacting victims and whether they have the capacity to do so.[75] It is important for COPFS to remedy this and track this data to ensure that victims are receiving this contact.
92. There is no doubt that SCM has brought about incredible change to summary justice and the published statistics are compelling. We will consider the impact of SCM and EVE in our focused follow-up inspection – communication with victims of domestic abuse in summary cases. It may, however, be useful for COPFS to consider their own wider assessment of SCM to determine the full impact of SCM for their organisation and its service users. It may also identify any risks to the efficient progression of domestic cases.[76] Meantime, we remain concerned about prosecutors’ capacity to carry out all of the work which SCM requires of them in domestic abuse cases.[77]
93. In the domestic abuse inspection report we recommended that in the short term, COPFS should take immediate action to ensure that all staff are aware where victim and witness contact with Enquiry Point is recorded, and that staff use this information when preparing and managing cases.[78] We are aware from subsequent inspection work in relation to the Enquiry Point, Citing Witnesses in the Sheriff Court and our current focused follow-up inspection that this is still not happening in practice.
94. Over the year ahead we will continue to concentrate on what practical change implementation of this inspection has brought about for victims and COPFS staff dealing with these difficult cases. Our focused follow-up inspection will also shine a light on communication with victims of domestic abuse in summary cases.
Responding to enquiries: service delivery through National Enquiry Point
95. This inspection assessed how COPFS responds to enquiries received by National Enquiry Point (Enquiry Point), its customer contact centre. Enquiry Point deals with call and email enquiries from victims, witnesses, next of kin and accused, as well as professionals working in the justice system. We made 21[79] recommendations which focused on customer service, improved governance, awareness raising about the role of Enquiry Point and training for COPFS staff.
96. COPFS committed to implementing all our recommendations by the end of March 2026. Unfortunately, this has not happened.
97. We reported in our 2024-25 annual report that we were heartened by the enthusiasm of COPFS staff leading on implementation of the report and the implementation lead had been ringfenced, away from their day job, to focus solely on our recommendations. An associated working group was also established to provide support and governance. With this structure we expected progress at pace. This approach was not sustained and work on the majority of the recommendations was placed on hold while COPFS undertake the ‘Designed for Success’ restructure.
98. Enquiry Point now sits under a new Director of Performance and Service Improvement, which is part of Corporate Services in the new governance structure. Much of the initial implementation work that was commenced by senior Enquiry Point staff was paused until the Director of Performance and Service Improvement took post in late 2025. The implementation action plan and timeline were revisited and revised by the new Director with a focus on wider strategic delivery plans for the Directorate. As a result, a different approach to implementing many recommendations and a great deal of the original work and progress was discontinued, which has caused delay. We have reassessed progress of the recommendations, taking account of the new approach.
99. We further understand that work on many of the recommendations will not commence until a Head of Customer Care takes post later this year and considers issues and maps a way forward. Disappointingly, we expect it to be into 2027 before much of the work commences.
100. One of the advantages of Enquiry Point being governed by the new Directorate is the recommendations that require a COPFS wider corporate approach to implementation, rather than those internal to Enquiry Point, can be driven forward with authority at a strategic level.
101. We assessed the implementation progress of the 21 recommendations as follows:
Achieved | 3 |
|---|---|
Substantial progress | 4 |
In progress | 6 |
Not yet started | 8 |
Further information can be found in the table at Appendix 2.
102. We were pleased to find that three of the recommendations were achieved.[80] There is improved information for those who contact Enquiry Point through an amended recorded welcome message and updated information on the corporate COPFS website. The staff retention and the high staff turnover issues identified have been addressed with an improved recruitment process involving role-play to identify candidates more suitable to the operator position. A retention allowance has also been introduced from January 2026 which will be reviewed on annual basis. This recognises the broad knowledge of COPFS and the justice system required by Enquiry Point operators, to encourage staff to remain in Enquiry Point rather than moving to another role within COPFS at the same grade and to improve the attractiveness of working within Enquiry Point for other COPFS staff.
103. Drafts of corporate guidance documents have been produced, namely:
a Customer Care Charter
an updated Chapter 8 of the Victim and Witness Manual
an Identity and Verification Policy
IPS looks forward to these drafts being finalised and published to provide additional guidance to COPFS staff, to ensure consistency and an enhanced service level to the public.
104. Enquiry Point training has been advanced with managers appointed to dedicated training roles and focused refresher training undertaken. The intention is to work with the SPC to develop an Enquiry Point learning package. We would reiterate the necessity of consistent baseline training for Enquiry Point operators and the use of legal trainers to develop and deliver modules on the justice system, court process and key legal topics for operators.
105. As we have already noted, COPFS has not yet advanced some of our key recommendations although we understand that this responsibility will sit with the new Head of Customer Care. One key recommendation is the important work required to understand the demand for the Enquiry Point service from its users. In our report we found there was a substantial, unmet demand as in the year to September 2024, 19% of callers were turned away because call queues were full and a further 50% of callers abandoned their call before it was answered. This analysis will enable a workforce plan to be developed to ensure there are sufficient resources within Enquiry Point to provide the desired level of service. It is accepted this will have to be realistic given current budgetary restraints.
106. Another key recommendation addressed the support Enquiry Point provides to COPFS more widely and the problems caused by staff across the organisation being unwilling or unable to answer calls from Enquiry Point. It is important that, if they are unable to deal with the query themselves Enquiry Point staff can pass calls onto the correct team who can assist and provide the caller with the information they require. If Enquiry Point are unable to transfer these calls this impacts on the service to the user who may already have waited for some time to have their call answered by Enquiry Point, together with an increased delay for other callers wating for an operator. Despite initial strong messaging from a Deputy Crown Agent on the COPFS intranet about the requirement for COPFS staff to answer calls from Enquiry Point colleagues, work to understand why this happens and to address the issue has not yet commenced in COPFS. It is planned to use business mapping and standard operating procedures, and we hope to observe initial progress on this later in the year.
107. As commented on elsewhere in this report, we remain concerned that contact with victim and witnesses is not recorded in one centralised place on COPFS case management systems and accessible by all staff. Enquiry Point staff continue to record information in the witness contact record despite the wider COPFS staff being generally unaware this record exists.
108. In response to this issue identified in recommendation 12 of the Enquiry Point inspection report, we were informed by COPFS last year that a working group had been established to explore interim options of capturing the information in one document in the COPFS case management system. We reported on this in our 2024-25 annual report published in November 2025. We have subsequently been advised that there was an initial discussion but thereafter the working group has not been established. We remain concerned about the lack of any progress on this or indeed any real consistent plan within COPFS to address this with the urgency it requires.
109. The ultimate aim of COPFS is for the Enquiry Point contact centre system to be integrated as part of their new case management system. There is no timescale for a new case management system at present. In the interim senior Enquiry Point staff and COPFS ISD are exploring maximising the features of the current system to improve the Enquiry Point service.
Inspection programme 2026-27
110. Our focused follow-up inspection in relation to communication with victims of domestic abuse in summary cases is ongoing. We continue to keep our future inspection programme under continuous review and will consult with the new Law Officers, COPFS and other stakeholders on other issues that would benefit from independent scrutiny. There remain a number of areas across COPFS which I consider would benefit from inspection by IPS and I anticipate publishing terms of reference for a new inspection topic in early 2027.
111. In 2026-27 we will also continue to review progress made by COPFS in implementing recommendations from our Joint review on diversion from prosecution, The prosecution of domestic abuse cases at sheriff summary level inspection, Responding to enquiries: service delivery through National Enquiry Point, Citing witnesses in the sheriff court and, in due course, as necessary, Communication with victims of domestic abuse in summary cases.