Recommendations & Conclusions
32 items
2
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
Long waits for cases to start, delays and the often–last–minute postponement of cases all have a significant impact on the victims of crime, particularly for victims of Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) and violent crimes, seriously disrupting their lives, inflicting additional distress on people who have already experienced terrible …
Government response. The government agrees and commits to rolling over the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund and maintaining ringfenced spending for community-based sexual violence and domestic abuse support in 2025/26. It also engages regularly with providers to improve victim support, but …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
For some time now, MoJ has been failing to adequately forecast increases in the number and mix of cases being sent to the Crown Court, reducing its ability to plan how the courts system may need to adapt to meet the varying caseload. MoJ carries out modelling to project likely …
Government response. The government agrees and commits to regularly reviewing its CJS projections to incorporate latest data, interventions, and evidence, and will keep its data use under continual review. Specific actions include developing the “OneCrown” single data pipeline and reviewing future demand …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Deferred
The remand population is at its highest number for 50 years, and the length of time some defendants on remand wait for their cases to be heard is disrupting their lives and their families’ lives, and adding to prison overcrowding. The remand population has increased sharply in recent years, reaching …
Government response. The government agrees but deflects responsibility for reducing remand numbers to the independent judiciary and its existing actions. It will consider further steps only after receiving recommendations from the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts.
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
The proportion of hearings that do not take place on the day they are scheduled (ineffective trials) remains far too high, and there are causes of ineffective trials that MoJ and HMCTS could be more active in addressing now. One in four trials do not take place on the day …
Government response. The government agrees and will provide the requested letter outlining its understanding of ineffective trial causes, professional capacity factors, impact of changes, and further required actions, alongside its Treasury Minute response.
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
MoJ could not tell us which of the actions it funded from nearly £500 million of additional funding it received through the 2021 Spending Review had the biggest impact on reducing the backlog, nor could it quantify what it expects the cost to be of dealing with the backlog now, …
Government response. The government agrees and will provide the requested letter detailing total spending since 2021 on reducing the Crown Court backlog, how additional funding was used for interventions, and the assessed impact of that investment, alongside its Treasury Minute response.
HM Treasury
7
Recommendation
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
Despite MoJ assuring us that it has rectified the processing errors that led to it publishing inaccurate Crown Court statistics, we remain concerned that other datasets within the criminal justice system may be affected by the same quality and accuracy issues. MoJ paused publication of Crown Court caseload data between …
Government response. The government agrees and outlines its scope for further digitisation and AI, including current trials of transcription and summarisation in tribunals, past AI knowledge management trials, and plans to decommission legacy systems by Spring 2027. Future expansion of AI and …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Deferred
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) about reducing the backlog of cases in the Crown Court.1
Government response. The government agrees but deflects responsibility, stating it will consider implementation plans for reforms from the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts once its recommendations are received.
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
MoJ has previously introduced measures to address the backlog, including those within the 2021 Criminal Justice Action Plan.17 MoJ described current work to manage the Crown Court caseload, including: • Increasing the number of sitting days to 108,500 this year. • Supporting the physical capacity of the courts estate by …
Government response. The government affirms its commitment to tackling the Crown Court backlog, outlining a range of measures including funding 110,000 Crown Court sitting days for 2025-26 (an increase from the previous year), increased court maintenance, ongoing judicial recruitment, and exploring legal …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Deferred
When asked about its current ambition for the level of open Crown Court cases, MoJ said that the crucial factor in achieving a reduction in the backlog is the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts (the Leveson Review), which MoJ expects will provide a fundamental assessment of the reforms it …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's perspective, stating that work is already underway to prepare for a swift response and implementation of recommendations from the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts once received in July 2025, and that MoJ is …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Deferred
We heard of the many issues that MoJ and HMCTS know need addressing if they are to reduce the backlog, but which they are waiting for the Leveson review to report on: poor case preparation, defendants being absent or not 14 Qq 5, 81 15 Qq 38–39 16 Q 2; …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's conclusion, outlining numerous ongoing actions to reduce the Crown Court backlog. However, it acknowledges these are insufficient for substantial reform and confirms its reliance on the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts (Leveson Review) …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Deferred
The Leveson Review is expected to report in two parts: firstly, in late Spring 2025 on options for long–term reform, and then not until Autumn 2025 on efficiency and timeliness.22 Until those reports, MoJ told us that it expects the rate of new cases to remain greater than the Crown …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's concern, outlining extensive ongoing work to reduce the Crown Court backlog. However, it acknowledges that these actions are insufficient for substantial reform and confirms its anticipation of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts' …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
MoJ acknowledges that long waits in the Crown Court are bad for everyone, including defendants, victims and the system as a whole.25 MoJ noted particular concern for victims of sex cases, which are very complex and often take a long time to conclude.26 In September 2024, there were 11,574 open …
Government response. The government states that ineffective trials for sexual offences are declining and that judicial practices already prioritise serious sexual offences. It also highlights continued protected funding for VAWG support services and commits to improving victim support, though future actions are …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted in Part
Written evidence to our inquiry highlighted concerns about the impact on victims, and particularly the serious impact that the backlog can have on victims’ work, family, and mental health and wellbeing.30 Academics from the Justice in COVID–19 for Sexual Abuse and Violence (JiCSAV) project noted that practitioners could provide examples …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's concerns, highlighting existing judicial practices that prioritise serious sexual offence cases and routine data publication. They have also protected and rolled over funding for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and victim support services, …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
MoJ acknowledged that the long waits for RASSO victims is “not a particularly desirable situation” and outlined some measures in place to support these victims. These measures included: • investing £41 million in sexual violence and domestic violence advisors, and continuing to protect funding for victims (particularly for victims of …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's conclusion, reiterating that judicial listing practices already prioritise serious sexual offences, and confirming continued protected funding for Violence Against Women and Girls support services for 2025/26. It also notes it cannot pre-empt the outcome …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted in Part
The remand population has grown sharply in recent years. The number of people on remand in September 2024 was 17,600, 20% of the prison population, the highest level in 50 years, up from 9,602 (11% of the prison population) in 2019.35 HMCTS was unable to provide up–to–date information on the …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's concerns, stating they will continue discussions with the Lord Chief Justice to prioritise remand cases, especially the oldest. They are exploring initiatives to address time spent on remand and commit to developing improved data …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
Written evidence submitted by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons stated that the length of time that people are remanded for and the extent to which this is changing is information that is not in the public domain. The Inspectorate’s evidence also explained that “the increasing average length of time an …
Government response. The government commits to exploring initiatives to address time spent on remand and plans to develop and publish improved data on this by April 2027. It also highlights ongoing efforts to enhance court capacity and prioritise remand cases, and will …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Deferred
MoJ told us that there is a direct correlation between the number of cases in the backlog and the size of the remand population awaiting trial, and that this is adding to prison capacity pressures and making it harder to manage the prison population.41 The written evidence submitted by His …
Government response. The government agrees with the committee's conclusion, noting judges already prioritise remand cases and existing actions should help. However, it states the Lord Chancellor will continue discussions on prioritisation, the MoJ is exploring initiatives to address time spent on remand, …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
MoJ attributed the increasing backlog to a “significant increase” in the rate of new cases as a result of the recruitment of over 20,000 additional police officers since 2019, and to a change in the nature of the caseload to more complex cases.43 MoJ claimed that since the pandemic it …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's observation and is committed to regularly reviewing its projections for the Criminal Justice System, incorporating latest data, trends, and new interventions. They are also developing a 'OneCrown' single data pipeline and reviewing future demand …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
The NAO report found that MoJ regularly models projections of the size of the Crown Court’s outstanding caseload, and has previously used projections from this modelling to inform decision–making on policy development, resource planning and capacity requirements.47 This modelling includes factors such as incoming demand, case complexity, court capacity and …
Government response. The government commits to regularly reviewing its Crown Court caseload projections, incorporating the latest data, trends, and interventions, and continually reviewing its use of data and assumptions. This includes developing a 'OneCrown' single data pipeline to improve data quality and …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
At our evidence session in January 2025, MoJ could not tell us what it forecast the backlog would be in 12 months’ time. It told us that it would not be right to predict what the backlog will be in a year’s time, as it does not publish projections, although …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's observation and is committed to regularly reviewing its projections for the Criminal Justice System, incorporating latest data, trends, and new interventions. They are also developing a 'OneCrown' single data pipeline and reviewing future demand …
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
We repeatedly heard from MoJ that the various parts of the criminal justice system–courts, prisons, probation services and police–are connected and changes in one part of the system have consequences elsewhere.52 However, for two years between July 2021 and July 2023, the Criminal Justice Board, which is convened by MoJ …
HM Treasury
22
Recommendation
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Acknowledged
MoJ confirmed that the proportion of ineffective trials–those that do not go ahead on the planned date and are relisted for later dates–had dropped from 27% at the end of 2023 to 25% in September 2024.55 MoJ acknowledged that this rate remained “far too high”, and it is much higher …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation and has provided further details in a letter to the Committee, stating that the recommendation was implemented by April 2025.
HM Treasury
23
Recommendation
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Acknowledged
The NAO report charts a sharp increase in 2022 in the number of ineffective trials due to the unavailability of counsel, when it went up to 4,136 compared to 279 in 2021. While the impact of industrial action by the Criminal Bar Association in 2022 is clear, it is concerning …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation and has provided further details in a letter to the Committee, stating that the recommendation was implemented by April 2025.
HM Treasury
24
Recommendation
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted in Part
MoJ told us that it has spent “a significant amount of money” on maintaining the court estate over the last two years.64 HMCTS told us that there is a significant maintenance backlog, but nevertheless assured us that the total capacity of Crown Court courtrooms is adequate for the current number …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's implied recommendation and is taking several specific actions, including increasing Crown Court sitting days, boosting maintenance funding, ongoing judicial recruitment, and increasing legal aid funding. However, they note that demand is so great these …
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
We heard from HMCTS of other reasons for ineffective trials that would appear to have simple solutions.68 We heard how organisations contracted to transport prisoners fail to get all defendants from prison to court on time, incurring a financial penalty if the defendant arrives more than 15 minutes after the …
Government response. The government states it agrees with the Committee's conclusions and claims the underlying recommendation regarding issues causing ineffective trials, such as prisoner transport and case preparation, has been implemented as of April 2025, with further details provided in a separate …
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Acknowledged
In the 2021 Spending Review, MoJ received an additional £477 million to support recovery across the criminal justice system, including to help reduce the Crown Court backlog which then stood at around 60,000. MoJ also secured an additional £644 million a year by 2024–25 to expand capacity across courts, prisons …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's conclusion and has informed the Committee via a separate letter that the recommendation was implemented by April 2025.
HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Acknowledged
As the NAO report found, MoJ cannot put a figure on how much has been spent on addressing the backlog in the Crown Court, as actions to address the backlog are spread over different parts of the criminal justice system.73 Judicial and staffing capacity, physical court capacity, the rate at …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's conclusion and has informed the Committee via a separate letter that the recommendation was implemented by April 2025.
HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Acknowledged
We asked witnesses for a breakdown of the £477 million received in the 2021 Spending Review, and an outline of what it achieved. We were told that it “depends on what the counterfactual is”. Without that funding, MoJ told us that the backlog would have been “even worse” and that …
Government response. The government agrees with the Committee's conclusion and has informed the Committee via a separate letter that the recommendation was implemented by April 2025.
HM Treasury
29
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
In evidence to the Justice Committee in November 2024, the Lady Chief Justice described how the concordat agreement with MoJ for 2024–25, agreed under the previous administration, had provided for 106,000 sitting days. She reported that in August HMCTS had then said the courts could actually sit up to a …
Government response. The government commits to funding 110,000 Crown Court sitting days in 2025-26, the highest allocation ever, and outlines various other ongoing initiatives such as judicial recruitment, increased legal aid funding, and court maintenance to reduce the backlog. It also states …
HM Treasury
30
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
MoJ confirmed that it had identified three factors that caused it to pause publication of its Crown Court caseload data from June to December 2024. It had found that case records in Common Platform (the new digital case management system for the criminal justice system) had been adversely affected through …
Government response. The government confirms the external review found confidence in Crown Court caseload statistics and details improvements made to magistrates’ caseload data measurement, including revisions due to identified issues in legacy systems. It also notes ongoing investigation for further remedial action …
HM Treasury
31
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
Despite these assurances, we concur with a request from the Law Society of England and Wales in its written submission to us for confirmation from MoJ that other data and statistics across the criminal and civil courts are not similarly affected.87 Exemplifying this point, in correspondence to us after the …
Government response. The government confirms confidence in Crown Court caseload statistics and details improvements made to magistrates’ caseload data, noting previous overstatements due to legacy system issues and committing to further revisions for additional legacy cases in the future. It also states …
HM Treasury
32
Conclusion
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Accepted
We were relieved to hear from HMCTS that the operation of Common Platform has “vastly improved” over the last few years, describing it as a “a good and stable system”, and that HMCTS now has confidence in the system’s reliability.89 HMCTS told us that it introduced Common Platform gradually into …
Government response. The government confirms continued trials of AI in courts and tribunals, though scaling up is dependent on future Spending Review funding. It also outlines plans for further digitisation, including decommissioning legacy systems (Xhibit and Libra) by Spring 2027 to reduce …
HM Treasury