Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce the charge to finalisation rate in Devon and Cornwall.

We are committed to delivering swift access to justice and reducing the outstanding caseload in the criminal courts. Whilst the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS have oversight of the timeliness with which cases move through the magistrates’ and Crown Courts, the decision on when and where a case is listed is the responsibility of the independent judiciary.

As part of our efforts to improve timeliness for victims and witnesses, we are funding 106,500 days at the Crown Court this financial year (24/25) – more than in 6 out of the last 7 years. During 23/24, the Crown Courts across Devon and Cornwall sat a record number of days.

The Devon and Cornwall Criminal Justice Board brings together agencies from across the criminal justice system to monitor charge to completion timeliness which is published in the Criminal Justice System Delivery Data Dashboard. The average time for charge to case completion in the Crown Courts in Devon and Cornwall was 198 days for the fourth quarter of 2023-24 (the most recent published data), which was down 39 days on the first quarter of that year. This is 104 days shorter than the national average of 302 days.