Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date she signed the concordat on court sitting days.

The former Lord Chancellor reached an agreement with the judiciary on the Concordat in June 2024. The former Lord Chancellor sent the initial Concordat proposal to the Lady Chief Justice and the Senior President of the Tribunals on 5th June. The Lady Chief Justice and the Senior President of the Tribunals responded on 12th June, and the former Lord Chancellor sent a final letter of response, concluding the process, on 28th June 2024.

Since then, the current Lord Chancellor increased the allocation by an additional 500 Crown Court sitting days in September, and on 17 December announced further funding for up to an additional 2,000 Crown Court days, bringing the Crown Court allocation to up to 2,500 days beyond that originally agreed through the Concordat. This brings the total to 108,500, the highest level since financial year 2015/16.