Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the sentencing powers of magistrates on court backlogs since October 2024.

Last November, we extended magistrates’ court sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months. It is premature to assess the impact of the policy due to the time it has been in place.

The change enables more cases to be retained in the magistrates’ courts, freeing up capacity in the Crown Court for other cases to be heard. In general, magistrates’ courts hear cases more quickly than the Crown Court, therefore these cases will be dealt with faster, helping deliver swifter access to justice for victims.

We will be able to properly assess the impacts of extending these sentencing powers once the policy has been in place for a sufficient period of time. This will allow sufficient cases to have worked through the system with outcomes and the data associated with those outcomes.