Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Department's press release entitled Deputy Prime Minister sets out vision for the justice system, 24 February 2026, what information his Department holds on the number of cases involving assault of an emergency worker have been dealt with since the commencement of Blitz courts in London in April 2026.

We inherited a criminal courts system in crisis. There are over 80,000 criminal cases currently waiting to be heard in the Crown Court, which means that some victims – and those seeking to clear their name – are waiting years for justice. Only by pulling every lever we have – investment, efficiency and structural reform – can we turn the tide on the backlog and begin to deliver swifter justice for all.

The Deputy Prime Minister has announced several measures we are taking forward to drive efficiency, including enabling the Crown Court judiciary - through the allocation of unlimited sitting days - to undertake targeted approaches to listing to enable cases can be resolved more quickly and efficiently.

Judges based at the Old Bailey, but hearing cases from across London, are using targeted listing to help reduce further court delays that have left some emergency workers waiting years for justice after being attacked while protecting the public.

Between 6 April and 29 June 2026, 107 cases involving offences under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 were listed for hearing. Of these, 64 have been dealt with already.

It should be noted that the decision to list a case is taken by the independent judiciary. This data has been manually collated from locally held operational records and is unpublished management information. It is not subject to the same level of quality assurance as official published statistics. Figures may be subject to change as case records are updated or amended.