Adult Out of Court Resolution Scrutiny Panel Findings

April 2026

The overarching theme for the April panel meeting was assault on emergency workers. The panel previously scrutinised this theme in 2023, however, the panel agreed to revisit the theme to understand how offences of this type were being dealt with via Out of Court Resolutions (OoCR) in light of the recent changes to Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) charging guidance.

The new guidance allows a range of available offences to be considered when charging assaults against emergency workers. This change aims to speed up justice by ensuring charges reflect the seriousness of the case, enabling more cases to remain in the Magistrates’ Court for faster justice, as well as allowing for the use of more serious charges where appropriate.

This panel meeting marked the first Adult OoCR Scrutiny Panel following the merger with the Cautioning and Relationship Abuse (CARA) Scrutiny Panel. As agreed, alongside assault on emergency worker cases, the panel also scrutinised cases which involved a CARA intervention for domestic abuse offences. The panel reviewed six cases involving assaults on emergency workers and three domestic abuse cases involving a CARA intervention. Cases were evenly selected from Cardiff and the Vale, Mid Glamorgan, and Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

An overview of the key findings and feedback from the Panel can be found in the infographic and have been escalated appropriately within the Office of the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner and South Wales Police.