To prove that this scheme is working, the statistics for discontinuing cases or for cases “failing” have to be seen to improve. Therefore, each CPS area is monitored and monthly statistics prepared for how it is doing. There are no prizes for taking difficult decisions. Moreover, the pre-charge decision is taken when there has been no input from the Defence. It is not until the case arrives at court that the Prosecution may become aware that the defendant is, for example, learning disabled or schizophrenic.

One effective way of dealing with domestic violence used to be to arrest the perpetrator for Breach of the Peace. Often the victim (usually female) would just want him removed for the night so she could have some breathing space and he could calm down after a family row. The defendant would then be produced in court the following morning and bound over to keep the peace. This warned him to be careful in future and imposed a sum of money he would have to pay if he was subsequently prosecuted for similar behaviour, but it did not count as a criminal conviction.

However, because proceedings for breach of the peace are a civil rather than a criminal action, any case ending in a bindover is considered a failed prosecution for the CPS. Prosecutors are therefore told not to use them.

In general, individual prosecutors no longer exercise the discretion they once enjoyed. Today it is line managers who decide if a case should be continued or not. These managers are much more vulnerable to political pressure through, say, a letter from a local MP complaining about why a certain person is not being prosecuted.