Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing Crown courtroom availability; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking a review of criminal justice system resources.

Sitting days are kept under close review to ensure changes in demand are met by the court system. In November, we allocated an extra 700 days to the Crown Court for this financial year in response to an increase in the number of cases coming to court.

Sitting days are monitored and assigned based on the number of cases we expect the courts to receive annually. This approach has enabled us to reduce the number of outstanding cases in the Crown Court in England and Wales by almost 40% since 2014.

We are also considering options for a Royal Commission on the criminal justice process, which could deliver a fundamental review of some of the key issues which are affecting the system now, or may do in the future.