Asked by: Mark Ferguson (Labour - Gateshead Central and Whickham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department takes to determine the level of funding required to facilitate an adequate number of crown court sitting days in each financial year.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Every year, the Government and the Judiciary agree a number of sitting days and an overall budget in what is known as the Concordat process.
In June, the Judiciary reached an agreement with the former Lord Chancellor to sit 106,000 days in the Crown Court within a total budget of £275 million.
The Lord Chancellor has since agreed to fund an additional 500 days, but it has become clear that there has been significant over-listing against this budget – with more trials scheduled than the funding allows.
As a result of that, approximately 1,600 sitting days have had to be withdrawn. The level of impact will vary across regions and is being managed closely to ensure there is minimal disruption to all involved.