Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183405 on Prosecutions, how many people were prosecuted under the single justice procedure in each month of 2023 broken down by offence; and what the plea rates were for offences charged under the single justice procedure in each month of 2023.

Data showing the number of defendants dealt with via single justice procedures (SJP) notices at the magistrates’ courts by plea and offence in England and Wales from January to September 2023 (latest available) can be found in the attached table. Data for October-December will not be available until the March publication.

The data supplied is a subset of published information relating to the timeliness of defendants dealt with by SJP notice which is available in Table T1 of the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly, latest to September 2023.

The SJP is a more proportionate way of dealing with straightforward, uncontested, summary-only non-imprisonable offences. It allows those who plead guilty to low-level, non-imprisonable crimes to resolve their case without going to court, either online or in writing. Defendants always have the option of going to court, even when they plead guilty. Magistrates can choose to hear such cases in open court where they feel the case is more complex and would benefit from an open court hearing.

Many cases disposed of through the SJP process are prosecuted by third-party agencies, for example TV Licensing, DVLA, local authorities and transport authorities, which reflects the nature of the offences which fall within the SJP criteria. Prosecutors using this method of initiating proceedings have developed procedures for identifying those who may need additional support. Support channels are also available to users who require clarification ranging from web chat or telephone assistance to face-to-face assistance.