Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce the backlog of court cases in Kent.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have taken your question to mean what steps are being taken to tackle the outstanding caseload across all jurisdictions. We are pursuing a number of measures at a national level that will contribute to the reduction of cases in Kent.
Criminal Courts
More than 90 per cent of all criminal cases are dealt with at the magistrates’ courts, where cases continue to be completed swiftly. The outstanding caseload in the magistrates’ court reduced following the pandemic; however the caseload has increased over the last year, as a result of more cases entering the criminal courts. We continue to invest in the recruitment of more magistrates, aiming to recruit 2,000 new and diverse magistrates this year and similar numbers of each of the next couple of years.
The Crown Court outstanding caseload remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Criminal Justice System and we are committed to reducing the caseload and bringing waiting times down. We want to make sure every victim has the swift access to justice they deserve - however, we recognise that some cases currently take longer to conclude. That is why we have committed to fast-tracking rape cases through the courts, ensuring timely and effective justice for victims and will say more on this in due course.
More widely, as part of our efforts to hear more cases, we have increased funding so that 106,500 sitting days can be sat at the Crown Court this year - more than six out of the last seven years - and 500 days more than the 106,000 agreed by the previous government in June. In Kent specifically, they are on track to sit nearly 3,000 sitting days this financial year across Canterbury and Maidstone Crown Court.
Alongside this, we consistently invest in the recruitment of c.1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions annually alongside continuing to use 18 Nightingale courtrooms across eight venues to hear more cases.
Most recently, we have announced plans to allow magistrates’ courts to hand down custodial sentences of up to 12 months for a single triable either way offence – doubling their current powers – from mid-November. Allowing magistrates to deal with more cases will save up to 2,000 sitting days in the Crown Court.
Civil courts
With regards to civil cases, we are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have a significant volume of judicial recruitment underway for District and Deputy District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation.
The requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service will start this spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing.
The HMCTS Reform Program has introduced technology that delivers simplified and transformed digital ways of working for civil court users and judges such as the online money claims process and the damages claims service, offering accessible and responsive services.
Tribunals
We are working to reduce the outstanding caseload in the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal including the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. Reducing outstanding caseloads is the key measure to bringing down the waiting times for tribunal hearings.
HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology.
Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
Family Court
In the family courts, partners across the system are working together to drive forward a range of measures to improve timeliness of both public and private law cases.
In March 2024, the Family Justice Board agreed a new set of priorities for the family justice system, with a clear focus on closing the longest running cases and increasing the proportion of public law cases concluding within the 26-week statutory timeline. These targets are informing planning and delivery at a national and local level, with partners across the system taking steps to improve performance and share best practice.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting separating families, and where appropriate, helping them resolve their issues quickly and without the need to come to court. The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme continues to provide £500 towards the cost of mediation. To date, over £15 million of vouchers have helped 34,300 separating parents to access mediation.
We are also exploring new ways to address the longest delays in public law cases, by investing £10 million to develop and implement innovative initiatives in local areas.