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Glidewell Report

The Glidewell report was commissioned by the government in 1997 to review the Crown Prosecution Service. It was published in 1998 and included in excess of 70 recommendations.

While the majority of the recommendations focused on Crown Prosecution Service internal activities, there were also particularly significant aspects affecting the Police and Crown Prosecution Service working relationships.

In essence, Sir Iain Glidewell proposed a move to a single administrative unit, permanently co-locating police and CPS staff in one location in order to maximise efficiency and eliminate duplication.

The Glidewell recommendations were generally built on the principles of Martin Narey who had already published his report - "A review of Delay in the Criminal Justice System".

The Narey reforms, implemented in November 1999, have already proven the benefits of the collaborative approach, and have provided the foundation for Glidewell.

An agreed costed partnership plan between Hampshire Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service was submitted to, and approved by, the national Trials Issues Group in July 2000.

The plan for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will achieve all the main principles of the Glidewell report, and will take the form of full co-location of Police and CPS staff in joint administrative units, mainly within Police buildings.

This is acknowledged to be one of the most ambitious, imaginative and innovative plans submitted, with a time scale that will place Hampshire at the very forefront of these important changes within the Criminal Justice System.

Reference is now made to Hampshire as being a "beacon area" in this field.

Anticipated efficiency savings amount to £298,000 per year arising from the Narey and Glidewell process, based upon the 1999 file throughput.

These savings are achieved by moving to a single archive rather than two as now, a reduction in telephone and fax costs, (the majority of current Police Criminal Justice Unit calls are to the CPS and vice versa), less photocopying (one less file copy required), and a move to one case tracking system in the future.

In addition, incidental savings through closer working relationships are anticipated.

One of the key gains arising from Glidewell will be the formation of improved witness warning and witness care teams.

The current geographical gap between the CPS lawyers who select witnesses and police administrators who warn witnesses will be bridged.

The action of warning and caring for witnesses will be directly adjacent to the decision making and case management functions.

To see the full detail of the recommendations, download the Glidewell Implementation Plan in full (.pdf, 1.5MB).

You can also download a report on the implementation of Glidewell in Southampton (.pdf, 28KB).