The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) charging scheme - where CPS lawyers take on responsibility for charging from the police - looks to be forging ahead as it has rolled out formally into another area.

The move follows successful assessments of CPS lawyers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which will allow the area to switch from the pilot charging stage to full statutory mode. It is the first non-priority area to make the switch.


A CPS spokesman said it had inspected every charging area in the country to see if 24-hour cover could be provided and rolled the scheme out accordingly. 'By the end of May next year they should all be in on it,' he added.


Hampshire chief Crown prosecutor Nick Hawkins said the CPS tests had proved to be extremely stringent and at times 'intrusive and adversarial'. But he added: 'I'm pleased that it has been recognised that this has been our number one aim as an area over the last 12 months, to make sure we go into statutory charging.'


Kris Venkatasami, national convenor for prosecutors' union the First Division Association, agreed that the scheme was a welcome development. 'It's going down well with the troops, who are very enthusiastic and are trying to make it work,' he added. 'The feedback has been very positive.'


However, Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said the scheme seemed to have created a 'big backlog' of cases where suspects had been bailed and also a reduction of 'not guilty' trials as the CPS seemed keener on pushing through cases where there was a guilty plea.