Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panel

Norfolk and Suffolk Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panel has been set up to independently scrutinise the use of Out of Court Disposals. The role of the Panel is to ensure that the use of out of court disposals is appropriate and proportionate, consistent with national and local policy, and consider the victims’ wishes where appropriate. The panel membership comprises a range of criminal justice services professionals including representatives from the police, Criminal Justice Service, Youth Justice Service, Magistrates and Police and Crime Commissioner offices who aim to bring transparency to the use of Out of Court Disposals to increase public understanding and confidence in their use. The panel independently review and discuss a selection of anonymised case files that have been resolved by use of an Out of Court Disposal within Norfolk or Suffolk.

NB: Due to the Government restrictions in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panel meetings were unable to go ahead as planned during 2020 and early 2021. Furthermore, the meeting scheduled for the 6 June 2023 was cancelled due to the Chair stepping down and no replacement being appointed in time, which the PCC expressed disappointment in. Norfolk Constabulary datasets for Outcome Types between February 2023 to April 2023 are available upon request. Furthermore, the meeting scheduled for 6 June 2024 was cancelled due to Constabulary availability issues. The panel therefore scrutinised 2024 Quarter 1 disposals outside of the meeting and were content that they were appropriate, proportionate and consistent with national and local policy. Datasets for Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies on Outcome Types between January 2024 to March 2024 can be found here.

The next meeting is scheduled for 5 December 2024.

Please see below Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panel reports from the last three years. Reports outside of this timeframe are available upon request.