'We are already taking action to improve prosecution of criminals'

The inspection report into the Crown Prosecution Service in London makes it clear that our performance must unequivocally, and urgently, improve.

CPS London takes more than 134,000 criminal cases in the magistrates' courts and over 21,000 in the crown courts, a figure which is rising year on year. Of these cases, 86 per cent result in a conviction in the magistrates' courts and 73 per cent in the crown courts. This should reassure Londoners that criminals are being brought to justice day in, day out, although I know there are occasions when we don't get it right.

Indeed, the report acknowledges there are cases in London which are not being dealt with in the way they should. That is why we are already taking action, so that both the prosecution of criminals and support of victims and witnesses continues to get better.

A number of advances have been made since the inspections. Under a new management team headed by London's chief crown prosecutor, Alison Saunders, dozens of prosecutors are being redeployed to the front line to deal with the core business of prosecuting cases. More paralegal support officers are also being trained to help with case preparation.

The inspection by the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate said that a number of initiatives introduced in CPS London have not been implemented as well as they might. I recognise this. Many of the initiatives are changes which will have long-term benefits but which need time to embed into our everyday business. This is now happening, and the day-to-day running of prosecutions is where our focus sits.