The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) case management system has received a thumbs-up from an independent review that praised its flexibility and resilience, as well as staff commitment to the programme.

The Office for Government Commerce (OGC) has awarded COMPASS - the first national electronic case management system to be used within the criminal justice system - 'green' status, its top ranking.


COMPASS, implemented in 2003 with IT specialists LogicaCMG, is now used by some 8,000 prosecutors across 42 CPS areas; this includes 140 CPS office sites and more than 300 remote sites such as police office charging rooms and magistrates and crown court centres. It provides a national IT network, desktop computer hardware and case management software tools.


Despite some previous teething troubles reported by crown prosecutors, the OGC multi-stage assessment process, which looks into the merits of technology investments in the public sector and the day-to-day impact on working practices, said the product had performed well in helping to deal with 1.25 million criminal cases each year, and now had high levels of support from staff. The OGC uses a 'traffic light system' when assessing public bodies; green means 'the programme or project is on target to succeed but may benefit from the uptake of the recommendations'.


The CPS and LogicaCMG signed a ten-year private finance initiative agreement in 2001. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald QC, said he was glad it seemed to have paid off. 'A modern and flexible case management system is absolutely essential, and the COMPASS system has already contributed greatly to increased efficiency and effectiveness across the service.'


Kris Venkatasami, national convenor for prosecutors' union the First Division Association, said most problems reported by staff had been rectified. He added: 'Many members would argue that there are still some problems, but it's getting there - most have noticed improvements.'