Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an estimate of the cost of increasing the number of crown court sitting days beyond the original allocation.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Secretary of State for Transport
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As a result of that, approximately 1,600 sitting days have had to be withdrawn.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.