Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Magistrate trials were (a) ineffective and (b) postponed between 1 May 2010 and 30 June 2024, broken down by region.

Magistrates’ courts trial effectiveness data including ineffective and vacated trials by region are published routinely as part of the Accredited Official Statistics series Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly.

This Government is determined to support the judiciary to drive down the ineffective trial rate and further work is needed to do this. The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Brian Leveson to conduct an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Phase 2 of the review will consider the efficiency and timeliness of processes of the criminal courts through charge to conviction/acquittal.