In brief: Returned briefs cause for concern at CPS

The National Audit Office has highlighted the problems caused by prosecuting barristers returning their briefs. In a report on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the comptroller and auditor general, Sir John Bourn, says the most recent figures show that barristers hired by the CPS return their briefs in 75 per cent of cases. Elsewhere in the report, Bourn praises the CPS for "working constructively" with the police.