Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Crown court trials have (1) collapsed, or (2) returned not guilty verdicts, because of a lack of evidence; how many of these instances may be attributed to the delays in Crown court hearings; and how many of these instances related to trials concerning violence against women and girls.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on Crown Court trial sentencing outcomes in England and Wales in the Crown Court data tool published here: Crown Court data tool.

This includes details of those acquitted and where the case was discontinued. Crown Court trials may be discontinued for a wide variety of reasons. Data on where Crown Court trials collapsed or returned not guilty verdicts specifically “because of a lack of evidence” and/or “attributed to the delays in Crown court hearings” are not identifiable in the published data. This information may be held in court records but to examine all individual court records would be a disproportionate use of costs.

This Government inherited a record and rising crown court backlog, which has meant that victims have been left waiting years for justice. This is unacceptable and we are working hard to drive down the backlog and cut delays. We have already funded a record number of sitting days in the crown court and have increased magistrates courts sentencing powers. We have asked Sir Brian Leveson to lead an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts which will guide the Government on the long term structural reforms required to bear down on the backlog and restore a sustainable criminal justice system in which there are fewer ineffective trials.