The new head of London’s Crown Prosecution Service has announced it will recruit 42 new lawyers in a bid to improve service following a review that found performance in over a third of the capital’s boroughs was ‘poor’.

The report of Her Majesty’s CPS Inspectorate on the performance of 20 of the 32 London boroughs assessed the performance of 12 as ‘poor’, seven as ‘fair’ and one as ‘good’.

Overall, the review found the main failings were in Crown court casework, disclosure, magistrates’ court casework, service to victims and witnesses, and the handling of serious violent and sexual offences, which were all rated as ‘poor’ across the boroughs.

However, the inspectors said the Complex Casework Unit, which handles murders and other serious and sensitive cases, performs well, and the management of custody time limits across the boroughs has improved.

London chief Crown prosecutor Alison Saunders said the service is recruiting 42 more lawyers and increasing the number of paralegal assistants in Crown courts.