PSR before plea protocol

Identifying service users earlier and creating a PSR before the sentence date.

Requesting a PSR in advance of the 1^st hearing increases the time permitted for preparing a PSR without causing delays.

The process requires the lawyer to notify the Probation Service that their client is likely to submit a guilty plea and request the preparation of a PSR. The local HMCTS Court also need to be CC’d into the email for purposes of transparency and possible rescheduling of the hearing date.

Information elsewhere

Explanatory video
Written protocol on GOV.UK

Following the official guilty plea at the 1^st hearing, the report becomes available for the Judiciary who then decide whether they want to read and consider the additional information before sentencing.

This is currently considered best practice and is undertaken at some courts but is not common practice.

This has been rolled out nationally as of November 2020 and the pilot aims to use this as part of its evaluation.