Joint Enterprise

Request

I would like to request the following information as an FOI. I understand that in January 2024 there was due to be a scrutiny panel “with a focus on joint enterprise cases where evidence of gang association is a feature”. Could you please supply:

1. The minutes of this meeting
2. Any descriptions of the role and purpose of the panel
3. The list of people present at the meeting
4. Any documentation produced as an outcome of the meeting - e.g. summary documents, draft policies, etc
5. Can you confirm how often the panel will meet in future and when the next dates will be this year

Then - if possible could I also get the following:

6. For each year 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 - how many cases has the CPS prosecuted involving conspiracy to murder.
7. If possible - each year, how many of the defendants prosecuted for conspiracy to murder were: White, Black, Asian, Mixed race, Other

Response

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does hold some recorded information falling within the scope of your request which I will address individually below. We understand the National Scrutiny Panel that you refer to in your request to be that outlined on the CPS website at: Crown Prosecution Service Joint Enterprise Pilot 2023: Data Analysis  

1.    The minutes of this meeting
This National Scrutiny Panel was moved from an anticipated date in January 2024 to 1 February 2024. There were no minutes taken of the meeting.

2.    Any descriptions of the role and purpose of the panel
There are no formal Terms of Reference for the role and purpose of the panel.
However, the CPS can confirm a contemporaneous description of the role and purpose of the panel is that the Joint Enterprise National Scrutiny Panel comprises of the CPS and third sector stakeholders, to review anonymised completed cases (including cases falling within the ‘Decision making in Gang-related offences’ guidance) with the purpose of answering stakeholder questions and receiving feedback from stakeholders. The work of the Panel supports the CPS 2020 pillar ‘ensuring public confidence that we are fair, independent and effective’. It also supports the CPS Defendants: Fairness for All Strategy 2025, by ensuring that the right person is prosecuted for the right offence.

3.    The list of people present at the meeting
Present at the 1 February 2004 Joint Enterprise National Scrutiny panel were:

• CPS Director of Strategy & Policy (Chair)
• CPS Deputy Director of Strategy & Policy
• CPS Head of Policy
• CPS Senior Policy Adviser
• CPS Senior Personal Assistant
• CPS Chief Crown Prosecutor National Lead for Race Disproportionality & Joint Enterprise
• CPS Senior District Crown Prosecutor (for part of the meeting, to present a case for scrutiny from the North-West Area)
• CPS Senior District Crown Prosecutor (for part of the meeting, to present a case for scrutiny from the London Area)
• Barrister, Kings Counsel, Church Court Chambers (independent legal representative to the panel)
• Co-founder, Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association
• Co-founder, Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association
• Solicitor, ITN solicitors
• Academic, St. Mary’s University
• Academic, Manchester Metropolitan University

4.    Any documentation produced as an outcome of the meeting - e.g. summary documents, draft policies, etc
There was no documentation directly produced as an outcome of this meeting, the learning goes into a range of policy and assurance work. The CPS has undertaken to review its guidance on gangs and policy on drill music which is intended to form part of a public consultation later in the year.

5.    Can you confirm how often the panel will meet in future and when the next dates will be this year
National Scrutiny Panels are held when necessary or needed and there is no current plan to hold a further one this year. A Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panel on joint enterprise is planned to take place this financial year in each CPS Area, but no dates have yet been fixed.

6.    For each year 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 - how many cases has the CPS prosecuted involving conspiracy to murder.
7.    If possible - each year, how many of the defendants prosecuted for conspiracy to murder were: White, Black, Asian, Mixed race, Other

With regards to your questions 6 and 7, the CPS does record and collate some limited data within scope of this request and I attach for your reference an Excel spreadsheet labelled ‘12187 DATA’. Please note the caveats appended to this data when considering this disclosure.

In simple terms the data set shows a total of 261 conspiracy to murder offences which were charged and reached a first hearing at a magistrates’ court from 2018 to 2023.

This data set does not however show how many defendants or how many cases were prosecuted, only how many conspiracy to murder offences were charged and reached a first hearing. Please note that a prosecution may commence based on a different charge, with a conspiracy charge added at a later stage in the proceedings, and this dataset would not capture that. Further, where conspiracy to murder has been charged, but a later indictment proceeds with a substantive offence of murder, or the case proceeds otherwise without prosecuting the conspiracy, again this dataset would not capture that.