Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current backlog of cases in (1) Magistrates Courts in England and (2) the Crown Court; and, in each case, (a) what is the average reduction in the backlog each month, and (b) how long it will take to clear the backlog at the current rate of progress.

The table below shows the latest published data on the outstanding cases in the Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court, and the current rate of change. The data on outstanding cases can be found on the criminal court statistics page.

For further data on disposals including by each Crown Court and by region in the Magistrates’ Court please see the Crown Court cases received, disposed and outstanding tool and the Magistrates' Court cases received, disposed and outstanding tool available on the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly Web Address (Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly: July to September 2021).

The Spending Review will provide an extra £477 million for the criminal justice system over the next three years to help reduce the backlog.