As a Domestic Abuse Ally, I offer a confidential 'first port of call' for CPS staff affected by domestic abuse and can point them in the direction of the advice and support they need.I joined the Crown Prosecution Service in April 2013 and have been lucky to have held several interesting posts since then. Some of my most rewarding roles have been those where I have had direct contact with victims and witnesses. In 2014, I helped to set up the London Magistrates’ Domestic Abuse unit. Here I took on the responsibility of Witness Liaison Officer where I personally handled communication from domestic abuse victims. In 2016, I became the Court Centre Manager for Inner London Crown Court. This was my first experience of dealing with vulnerable victims and witnesses in person. My court heard a lot of domestic abuse and RASSO cases, and I would often have to communicate with victims of these offences at one of the most difficult points of their lives. Though challenging, I was extremely passionate about this element of my role and it was great to see the positive impact myself and my team could have on a person’s journey through the criminal justice system. These experiences played an important part in my volunteering to become a Domestic Abuse Ally. I know how difficult it can be, and how much courage it takes, to seek help. As an Ally, I will be there for any colleagues who might need my support and, as a gay man, I am especially interested in providing support to male and/or LGBTQ+ colleagues who might be reluctant to talk to someone from a different background to them about the abuse they are experiencing.

• Leadership of a number of strategically important projects, including a review of the CPS’s clerking model and a review of how the Service handles its rape and serious sexual offence (RASSO) cases. • Launch of the case strategy project, looking at the fundamental role of Crown Prosecutors when analysing cases. Here I personally led the discovery phase of the project, hosting almost 30 individual focus groups with staff of all legal grades and with stakeholders from the CPS’s external inspectorate. Using my findings I created a 12-month action plan to improve case strategy capability which was signed off by all senior leaders and the Board. • Completion of the APMG accredited certificate in Change Management (foundation and practitioner). • Trained as a Domestic Abuse Ally to provide confidential support to colleagues experiencing domestic abuse.

• Direct line management responsibility for four Senior Executive Officers and oversight of a Directorate containing 144 members of staff.• Holder of the Directorate’s budget of £11.9m ensuring expenditure demonstrates value for money principles. • Preparation of Directorate business cases for submission to the CPS Investment Committee. In January 2021, I personally oversaw the completion of a number of business cases, all of which were approved and led to recruitment of an additional 26 posts and an increase in the Directorate’s budget of almost £2m. • Development of the Directorate’s People Action Plan ensuring feedback/areas of the concern flagged either ad hoc or in the annual Civil Service People Survey were acknowledged, addressed, and reported to all Directorate staff.• HR – Oversight of numerous, often complex, HR issues ensuring that policies and procedures were followed. • Job review and design – The drafting of new job descriptions ensuring they were properly reviewed and graded correctly. • Risk and Assurance – Responsibility for the Directorate’s risk and assurance returns ensuring that risk was managed and monitored using enterprise risk management and reporting on our key performance indicators. • Procurement – Overseeing any procurement activity to ensure any expenditure demonstrated value for money. • Covid – Responsibility for ensuring Covid guidelines were adhered to. In September 2020 I conducted a Pulse survey to gauge the appetite for office working. The results of this survey enabled me to safely offer office space to all who wanted it (for practical and well being reasons). The survey was also used to ensure that those working from home had the correct equipment, particularly those with reasonable adjustments.

I spent quite a short amount of time in this role and I joined the Strategy and Policy Directorate at a time when it was going through a period of review. During my time in policy I helped to facilitate a review of the CPS business planning function with Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), and played a lead role in a review of the CPS success measures; particularly in how the CPS measures the success of the service it delivers to victims and witnesses.

As a Private Secretary, I provided executive support to a number of Directors. This included commissioning briefings for use at meetings, writing speeches, writing emails and communications on behalf of the Directors, monitoring and managing the Director's inbox and flagging/responding to urgent emails. I accompanied the Director's on visits to capture actions and take minutes. In this role, I line managed the Director's personal assistant, ensuring she managed the Director's diary and travel arrangements efficiently.

I managed a team of six paralegal assistants who were permanently based at court to assist with the smooth running of all CPS hearings. It was my responsibility to ensure that all CPS cases listed for hearing were progressed and any outstanding casework actions were completed wherever possible to avoid unnecessary adjournments. I regularly had to liaise with CPS colleagues and stakeholders including court staff, members of the judiciary, prosecution and defence counsel, police officers and members of the court based Witness Service. In addition, I was the CPS representative responsible for supporting victims and witnesses of crime through their time at court. This was often challenging, particularly when dealing with vulnerable victims but was one of the most rewarding parts of my job.I ensured compliance with the CPS standard operating procedures and tackled issues with performance whenever necessary. I also completed thorough data integrity checks as it was essential we kept a record of the types of cases coming through the crown court particularly cases involving hate crime.

As a Senior Personal Assistant, my main duties were diary management, scheduling and facilitating meetings, taking and writing meeting minutes, drafting briefings for senior members of the department, checking and amending letters to Members of Parliament and booking travel/accommodation. I also assisted the the Governance Manager by scheduling Board meetings, commissioning briefings, preparing meeting papers and overseeing the Non-Executive Director's diary commitments and expenses.

As a case progression officer it was my responsibility to ensure that all admin work was completed on Magistrates' court cases that were listed for trial. This included but was not limited to:• Requesting new evidence/material from the Metropolitan and City of London Police• Responding to defence requests/queries.• Liaising with the witness care unit to promptly respond to queries from victims and witnesses.• Submitting financial authorisation requests for witness travel/accommodation, interpreters and expert witnesses.I spent a year working on the Domestic Violence Unit which I found hugely rewarding. I joined the DV unit at its inception and played a integral role in the development and implementation of the standard operating procedures within the unit.

Whilst a Private Secretary with the Crown Prosecution Service, I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to complete a six week secondment to the Attorney General's Office. Whilst with the AGO, I was responsible for responding to correspondece from MPs and their constituents, preparing meeting briefings for the Attorney and Solicitor General and I accompanied the Solicitor General on a visit to the National Pro Bono Centre. I was also extremely privileged to prepare a pack for use during Attorney General's Questions on the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme. In October 2019, the Solicitor General was tasked with answering questions on an extension to the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme in Parliament. I personally briefed him on this subject and accompanied him to Parliament to take notes and capture actions.