Bringing offenders to justice must always be a top priority for policing and our criminal justice system, Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has said.
The Commissioner has recently emphasised the importance of this top priority at both his Accountability and Governance Board and the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel.
Here he reflects on the subject in his own words.
“I have recently addressed the importance of bringing offenders to justice at my Accountability and Governance Board on 16 December 2025 and then again at the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel on 5 January 2026.
“The two reports submitted to my Board and the Panel are available by following the links.
“They convey the significant extent and scale of the action that is taking place across the West Midlands, to bring offenders to justice.
“The two reports provide an overview of the commitments made in the Bringing Offenders to Justice chapter of my Police and Crime Plan 2025-2029, and the action that is being taken, by West Midlands Police, criminal justice partners, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and myself as Police and Crime Commissioner, to deliver on these commitments.
“The starting point must always be the prevention of crime, because the prevention of crime is always better than having to deal with the consequences of crime. Whenever and wherever possible, we must aim to prevent crime from happening in the first place.
“However, if it is not possible to prevent crime from happening in the first place, then the basic requirements of an effective and efficient criminal justice system are that whenever and wherever a crime is committed, the offender: is identified and apprehended, held to account, brought to justice in accordance with due process, faces the consequences of their actions and is supported with their rehabilitation.
“And that must include: increasing positive outcomes; crimes recorded accurately; efficient and effective investigations; and an efficient and effective criminal justice system.
“Bringing offenders to justice is essential to ensure trust and confidence in our criminal justice system, from the point of view of victims of crime, the wider general public, the integrity of the system, safety, security and the rule of law.
“That is why one of the top priorities in my Police and Crime Plan, published on 26 March 2025, is Bringing Offenders to Justice. That aim is set out in Section 8 of my Plan, which if people have not already done so, I would recommend having a read.
“In particular, it includes the I WILL commitments to:
• Increase the positive outcome rate for reported crimes
• Ensure maintenance of the highest standards of crime data integrity
• Reduce investigations terminated due to insufficient evidence or victims withdrawing their support
• Increase use of evidence led prosecutions to enable justice to be delivered where victims are unable to support the process
• Work with partners to improve timeliness of case progression from charge to completion of trial in the Crown Court
• Increase the percentage of West Midlands Police (“WMP”) cases that meet Crown Prosecution Service (“CPS”) file quality compliance on first submission
“I will hold the Chief Constable and West Midlands Police to account, to deliver on these commitments.
“The Chief Constable must have regard to my Plan when implementing operational policing across the West Midlands. I use the Plan, to hold the Chief Constable and West Midlands Police to account, to ensure that offenders are brought to justice – effectively and efficiently.
“My team and I have been engaged in action and working hard to deliver on these commitments, together with West Midlands Police and wider criminal justice partners across the West Midlands.
“My statutory duty in connection with the wider criminal justice system is set out at Section 10 (3) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. It states that the Police and Crime Commissioner as:
‘The elected local policing body for a police area, and the criminal justice bodies which exercise functions as criminal justice bodies in that police area, must make arrangements (so far as it is appropriate to do so) for the exercise of functions so as to provide an efficient and effective criminal justice system for the police area.’
“In my capacity as Police and Crime Commissioner, I chair the Local Criminal Justice Board and the Regional Criminal Justice Board.
“We refer to our criminal justice system as a system for a reason. That is because it is a system and as such, it is dependent on all parts of that system working effectively and efficiently. As a consequence, there needs to be a range of collaborative, determined and sustained action by all partners locally, regionally and nationally, to bring offenders to justice.
“That includes West Midlands Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Court Service, the Probation service, the Prison Service, other partners identified within the Report, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice – and ultimately, that includes national government.
“However, it is important to reflect, on the chronic and lamentable failure of national government, to prioritise our criminal justice system over many years and that includes bringing offenders to justice.
“The fact of the matter is that, despite the constant, meaningless and vacuous rhetoric of successive governments – they have shamefully failed to adequately invest in and prioritise our criminal justice system. That was a big mistake, counter-productive and a false economy.
“It is disingenuous and ultimately pointless to talk tough about bringing offenders to justice, whilst at the same time engaging in ill-advised, misconceived and poor decision making that make it ever less likely that our criminal justice system is capable of effectively and efficiently bringing offenders to justice.
“In addition to the inexplicable, reckless and well documented failure to invest in policing – our wider criminal justice system has been seriously under-funded for the past 15 years or more.
“According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Ministry of Justice funding – is 14% lower in real terms – day to day spending – than in 2007/08 and 24% lower – in person terms – and strikingly, real terms day to day justice spending in 2025/26 is set to be no higher – than it was in 2002/03. Almost a quarter of a century earlier.
“That has had a serious adverse impact on our criminal justice system and it has undermined the ability of our criminal justice system to bring offenders to justice.
“If we want to bring offenders to justice – as indeed we must do – then it is not enough to will the aim, we must also will the means. We must believe in, value and invest in our criminal justice system.
“In the meantime, in the West Midlands, we are committed to constant and unremitting action to bring offenders to justice within the resources that are available to policing and the wider criminal justice system.”
Back to News Archive