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Helping the Crown Prosecution Service improve the victim experience

  • Helena Procopis
  • 6 minutes ago
  • 3 min read

Consultancy Perspective

Helena Procopis, Analyst


Thursday 7 August 2025


Feet standing on an arrow pointing in two directions

Helping the Crown Prosecution Service improve the victim experience


Like all parts of the criminal justice system, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been seeking to improve the experience of victims. In particular, the CPS has been ambitious to improve the timeliness, quality and empathy of its communications with victims of crime, key issues identified by His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in 2018 and in 2020. 


Following these reports, the CPS asked Crest to produce a victims strategic needs assessment, to better understand what victims need from the CPS. The findings of our research were embraced by the CPS and in response they launched the Victim Transformation Programme (VTP). To help implement this transformation programme, the CPS subsequently asked Crest, with our partners RSM, to provide monitoring and evaluation. As we enter the second year of our support to the CPS, we’ve been taking stock of what has been achieved.


What is the VTP?


The VTP consists of a new service that aims to give a better experience to all victims of crime, with a differentiated service for victims with the greatest needs. Alongside this, an internal CPS team is overseeing victim-related standards, communication and guidance. (1)


What is the purpose of the evaluation?


The VTP evaluation is running from March 2024 - March 2026. In its first year, the evaluation focused on laying the foundations and processes for high quality data capture, ethical and trauma-informed engagement with victims, and a robust impact evaluation that will support a credible cost-benefit analysis. 


Crest has worked closely with service delivery leads and wider VTP stakeholders to develop theories of change, providing clear purpose and direction to piloting and evaluation activities. Together, we’ve broken down the short-, medium- and long-term outcomes that VTP activities should achieve. Ultimately, these outcomes support the CPS’s strategic aims which include collaboration across the criminal justice system and working with partners to better service victim needs. By achieving these aims, the CPS hopes to improve the experience for victims, reduce victim attrition (2) and secure greater public confidence in the criminal justice system.


What does the evaluation involve? 


Across both years, the evaluation addresses three critical research questions: 


  1. How effectively is the programme being implemented?

  2. Is the VTP achieving its intended impact?

  3. Does it represent value for money? (3)


We are using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to answer these questions.  Qualitative research methods included focus groups, interviews and dip samples of CPS communications to victims to understand whether they are clear and concise, professional, and empathetic. We continue to engage with a range of VTP stakeholders, including CPS delivery staff, CPS legal staff, police officers, victim advocates and, crucially, victims themselves. (4)


Off the back of successful engagement with CPS delivery staff, we have begun to implement in-person observation days where Crest staff conduct on-site visits to the CPS office. As well as providing an in-depth look at how the VTP is working in practice, this has been an enjoyable and mutually beneficial exercise that has helped to embed strong working relationships between Crest and CPS staff.


By drawing together a range of perspectives and insights, we are building a comprehensive picture of how effectively the VTP is being implemented and what impact it is having on victims. This is enabling the CPS to make evidence-based decisions about how to expand the service from the current pilot scheme in the most effective and efficient way possible. 


In the first year of the evaluation we set up substantial primary data collection systems to enable the impact of the VTP to be quantified robustly. This has included a survey of CPS staff, a number of victim surveys to understand how different parts of the new service are being experienced by victims, and new management data that will be combined with already existing CPS data to quantify the impact and value for money of the VTP. This analysis will be a key focus in the evaluation’s second year.


Combining our qualitative and quantitative insight, we regularly feedback on our findings to the CPS to help them iterate and improve the programme through the piloting phase. A full evaluation of the process, impact and value for money of the programme will be completed by March 2026. 





(1) More details about the VTP are available here https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/victims-programme 

(2) ‘Victim attrition’ in the context of the courts in England and Wales refers to where victims of crime disengage from the criminal justice process before their case reaches a conclusion.

(3) On this arm of the evaluation, Crest is partnered with RSM.

(4) Our engagement with victims was trauma-informed and guided by a strong ethical framework. Having worked with vulnerable cohorts across a range of projects, Crest are experts in sensitive engagement. More details about our trauma-informed work are available here: https://www.crestadvisory.com/trauma-informed-practices-in-youth-justice  

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