Crown Prosecution Service invests £52 million on data budgets and staffing

The data was retrieved under the Freedom of Information Act and analysed by the Parliament Street Think Tank, observing the spending of the CPS over the past three financial years.

The data budget for the 2024-2025 financial year is set at £18.4 million, which represents a slight decrease from the previous 2023-2024 financial year at £20 million. However, the budget for the 2022-2023 financial year stood at £14.6 million, duly showcasing a significant increase amid the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI tools are being tested to automate redactions, manage digital evidence and enhance efficiency in legal processes. The CPS is also developing an AI strategy to assess potential benefits and improve prosecutorial work, ensuring clearer presentation of evidence in court.

As of February this year, the CPS employed 15 staff members with ‘data’ in their job title with a total salary expenditure of £517,828. This reflects a decrease from the previous year’s headcount of 19 employees and a salary expenditure of £642,932.

Amid the Spring Budget announcement, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves invested £3.25 billion into public service reform to use AI and emerging technologies to boost efficacy and productivity.

Secure information

Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, commented: “AI is already transforming how Government bodies process data, but without clean, structured and secure information, even the most sophisticated systems will fail. AI is only as good as the data that’s put into it and businesses and other Government bodies should follow in the CPS’ footsteps to prioritise data governance and ensure accuracy, reliability and security at every stage.”

Harvey added: “Investing in technology isn’t just about keeping up with innovation. It’s also about ensuring decisions are driven by high-quality, well-managed and ethically sourced data. Without it, digital transformation efforts will fall short of delivering real impact.”

John Lucey, vice-president (EMEA North) at Cellebrite stated: “Public sector organisations are leveraging AI to streamline tasks such as reporting and data analysis, significantly improving efficiency and saving both time and money. However, AI’s potential is only fully understood when it operates within a robust data management framework and strict privacy protocols to ensure compliance and protect sensitive information.”

Lucey concluded: “In public safety and law enforcement, professionals must govern AI application’s to leverage it as a tool to accelerate manual processes. For digital forensics teams, AI-driven automation can drastically reduce case processing times by classifying content, prioritising evidence and extracting data from devices more efficiently. Currently, investigators spend an average of 58 hours per case reviewing digital evidence. With AI-driven solutions, this workload can be significantly reduced, expediting case resolutions and improving overall judicial efficiency.”