Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16135 on Crown Prosecution Service and with reference to the The Better Case Management Revival Handbook, published in January 2023, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Crown Court consistently manages cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The management of case progression and listing across the criminal courts is a judicial function. As part of their systemic oversight, the senior judiciary produced (and have subsequently kept under review) a framework of guidance to drive improved performance.
The Better Case Management Revival Handbook, published in January 2023, is intended to remind all criminal justice partners of the principles of Better Case Management (BCM) and to ensure the courts consistently apply them. Chief among the aims is better collaboration between prosecution and defence to drive earlier guilty pleas wherever appropriate, increase trial effectiveness, and reduce the number of hearings per Crown Court case. The Government is working closely with the judiciary and other justice partners to improve adherence to Better Case Management Principles through supporting the Criminal Court Improvement Group (CCIG), which is chaired by the Senior Presiding Judge.
Among other things, we have piloted a new role in certain Crown Court offices – Case Coordinators – who are deployed exclusively to support the local judiciary in driving adherence to the BCM principles. HMCTS also provides the CCIG (and local judicial managers) with data and analytical support to help oversee and manage performance. Most recently, HMCTS has supported a judicially-led review into Crown Court listing practices, which aims to achieve broad alignment of listing approaches and increase the consistency and predictability of case management processes.
Ultimately, the management of cases through the Crown Court is the responsibility of the independent judiciary.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what oversight her Department has over (a) the CPS and (b) the speed of prosecutions.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for making charging decisions and is independent of both the police and the government. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice does not have oversight over the CPS.
However, whilst the listing of cases is a matter for the independent judiciary, the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS have a degree of oversight of how quickly cases move through the criminal courts once received. The Crown Court has shown improvements in timeliness more recently. The latest public data shows that the number of days from a case arriving at the Crown Court to completion reduced by 25% throughout 2023, from 167 days in Q1 to 125 in Q4.
Across all jurisdictions, we are working closely with partners across the justice system to improve readiness of cases for hearing at court. We have introduced Case Coordinators into ten Crown Courts to improve adherence to the principles of Better Case Management. These principles link key initiatives to improve the way cases are processed through the system, covering areas such as robust case management, reduced but more effective hearings, and compliance with the rules and directions of the criminal court. The proof-of-concept is currently scheduled to conclude in August 2025, and the full evaluation at that point will test the business case for any further rollout.
The Criminal Courts Improvement Group (CCIG), chaired by the Senior Presiding Judge, works to improve adherence to Better Case Management Principles. CCIG focuses on improving efficiency across the system and aims to improve case management principles.
The Ministry of Justice publishes the CJS Delivery Data Dashboard, which includes timeliness metrics for the criminal justice system, including the average time from the police referring a case to the CPS to the CPS authorising a charge and the average time that a case takes to complete at court.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason trees and shrubs outside the grounds of Haslar Immigration Removal Centre were removed; and whether he plans to take steps to replant those trees and shrubs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The trees and shrubs outside the centre were removed due to a misunderstanding between the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the contractors assigned to carry out work to tidy up the area.
MoJ is currently considering quotes for the replacement of the plants and trees and this work will begin as soon as we have chosen a contractor.