A national system of advocacy assessment will be introduced across the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure quality, the director of public prosecutions announced today.

Keir Starmer QC (pictured) said the new advocacy quality management strategy will monitor performance and target training. It will be implemented by a network of internally appointed assessors throughout the 15 CPS groups in England and Wales. They will be supplemented by independent external assessors, who will aim to ensure objectivity and consistency in the process.

Starmer said: ‘The delivery of high-quality advocacy is a mark of a modern public prosecution service and therefore I am determined that quality will be at the heart of the advocacy service the CPS provides. I am delighted the CPS is leading the legal profession with this development.’

Starmer also revealed figures showing the savings made by the CPS advocacy strategy, established in April 2005 to deploy in-house advocates throughout all courts in England Wales rather than instruct external counsel.

By conducting its own hearings in the Crown courts, the CPS saved £11.5m in the last financial year, up from £413,000 in the first year of the programme. ‘In the current economic climate, saving money is essential,’ said Starmer.

Before deciding to deploy a CPS advocate, chief crown prosecutors consider carefully the advocacy skills required as well as other relevant factors to achieve value for money, he added.

‘In-house advocacy brings about improvement across the board in the services the CPS provides to the public, the police and the courts. It improves the quality of our advice to the police about investigations, improves our charging decisions, contributes to better witness care and has significantly broadened the career opportunities open to our current and future staff,’ he said.

The CPS is working with the Legal Services Commission, which is currently piloting the Quality Assurance for Advocates scheme - a system of grading and assessing all publicly funded criminal advocates.