Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 32
Sixth report - Court capacity
Published 27 Apr 2022
Paragraph 111
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Court Capacity All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The County Court is vital to access to justice in England and Wales. The public relies on it to resolve disputes and vindicate their rights. As such, the significant increase in delays in certain cases in the County Court is concerning. It is imperative that the Government provides the resources to ensure that the County Court has the capacity to deal with cases in a timely fashion. It is imperative that the Government provides the resources to ensure that the County Court has the capacity to deal with cases in a timely fashion. The Government should set out what steps it is taking to reduce delays in the County Court and to improve the judicial, physical, digital and staff capacity of the County Court.
From: Justice Committee, Sixth report - Court capacity (HC 69), paragraph 111, 27 April 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 7 July 2022 (deadline 27 June 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and says the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS "will continue to work alongside the judiciary" to keep courts at full capacity and reduce the outstanding caseload.
- On a Courts' Inspectorate, the government does not re-establish one, saying this "would require significant long-term resourcing which we are not currently set up to deliver". It has "committed to further considering" a Coroner Service Inspectorate.
- On Crown Court recovery, it states it is providing an extra £477 million over three years, aiming to reduce the backlog to "an estimated 53,000 cases by March 2025". It describes its plan as "ambitious" and says future years are "subject to Spending Reviews".
- It commits to providing a comprehensive evaluation of the Nightingale court programme "by the end of the 2022/23 financial year", and aims to publish a section 28 process evaluation "in the autumn".
- On a Royal Commission, it recognises the opportunity but is "now taking the time to consider where a Royal Commission will add the most value". It states the HMCTS reform programme "is on track to complete by December 2023 as planned".