Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of when the backlog in Crown Court cases will begin to fall.

This Government inherited a record and rising Crown Court backlog. The outstanding caseload remains one of the biggest challenges facing the criminal justice system and stood at 73,105 as of 30 September 2024. Even if we were to sit at maximum capacity in the Crown Court, without further action, the number of cases entering the system, and therefore the caseload backlog, would continue to rise.

We have already taken steps to increase the capacity of the Crown Court to allow as many cases as possible to be heard. These include increasing magistrates’ court sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months to free up capacity in the Crown Court and funding 108,500 sitting days at the Crown Court this financial year (FY24/25), the highest level in almost 10 years (since FY15/16).

The number of cases entering the Crown Court is now so great that bold action is required, and all options are on the table. This is why the Lord Chancellor has commissioned an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, which will consider how the criminal courts could operate as efficiently as possible and longer-term reform to reduce the backlog.

We are committed to reducing the Crown Court outstanding caseload and will therefore look to act on recommendations from Sir Brian’s review swiftly to deliver improvements as soon as possible.