Reducing the backlog in criminal courts

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 21 Sep 2021 Closed: 27 May 2022 Parliament page
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a growing backlog of cases waiting to be tried in the criminal courts system. During the first national lockdown, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) closed some court buildings, and suspended all jury trials. Since then, courts have reopened, but national guidelines for social distancing … Read more
5 Recommendations
18 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
23 Sep
2022
Correspondence
27 May
2022
Report published
9 Mar
2022
Report published
7 Feb
2022
Correspondence
13 Dec
2021
Oral evidence
13 Dec
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
13 Dec 2021
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Reducing the backlog in criminal courts
Andrew Baigent · HM Courts and Tribunals Service Antonia Romeo · Ministry of Justice Jerome Glass · Ministry of Justice
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the backlog in criminal courts HC 643 9 Mar 2022 23 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
23 results
2 Recommendation Acknowledged
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
Victims of rape and serious sexual offences are facing unacceptable delays to justice that compound...
Victims of rape and serious sexual offences are facing unacceptable delays to justice that compound and extend their suffering and lead to too many cases collapsing. The number of such cases waiting longer than a year has increased by more … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Since publishing the End-to-End Rape Review Report, the government has made progress in delivering actions to support victims of rape and serious sexual offences, including publishing progress reports and local scorecards. They are also recruiting additional Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers.
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3 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We are not convinced that the Department can recruit enough judges to deliver on its...
We are not convinced that the Department can recruit enough judges to deliver on its ambition to reduce the Crown Court backlog. Reducing the backlog to 53,000 by March 2025 relies on increasing the number of days that the Crown … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. They have increased the pool of fee paid judges and are taking action on remuneration and adjusting their recruitment approach. Recruitment for 70 Circuit Judges and 125 Recorders commences in 2022, and shortfalls will be mitigated by increasing Recorder recruitment and sittings, approving District Judges to sit in the Crown Court, and approving Circuit Judges to sit in retirement.
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4 Recommendation Not Addressed
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We remain unconvinced that the prison system will cope with the likely increase in prisoners...
We remain unconvinced that the prison system will cope with the likely increase in prisoners given the planned increase in police officers and the Department’s work to reduce the backlog in criminal courts. In October 2019 the government announced it … Read more
Government Response
This response is for a different recommendation about waiting times for elective and cancer treatment, and does not address the prison place shortfall concern.
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5 Recommendation Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
Vulnerable users and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are potentially impacted disproportionately by efforts to...
Vulnerable users and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are potentially impacted disproportionately by efforts to tackle the Crown Court backlog, which the Department and HMCTS have not done enough to understand. Since the start of the pandemic, HMCTS significantly increased … Read more
Government Response
The government will evaluate the experience of victims, witnesses and defendants in criminal courts as part of the HMCTS reform evaluation, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024, and will work with partners to improve data collection, while monitoring relevant metrics, including exploring additional ones, to better understand the experience of victims from all backgrounds.
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We recognise the long overdue move towards bringing data on the criminal justice system together,...
We recognise the long overdue move towards bringing data on the criminal justice system together, although it is not clear how the Department will use this to improve performance. In December 2021, the Department published a national scorecard and an … Read more
Government Response
The government published local criminal justice system scorecards in March 2022 and will publish them quarterly to increase transparency and support collaboration. It will also use the data to identify disparities and share best practices, with plans to improve data quality and metrics.
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1 Conclusion Not Addressed
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Justice (the Department) and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service about the backlog in the criminal courts.1
Government Response
Acknowledges the report and its date. This is a procedural note rather than a response to the substance of the conclusion.
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7 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
As the backlog has increased, so has the time that defendants, witnesses and victims have...
As the backlog has increased, so has the time that defendants, witnesses and victims have waited for their case to be completed. Between March 2020 and June 2021, the 1 C&AG’s Report, Reducing the backlog in criminal courts, Session 2021–22, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and states that it is working with the judiciary and partners to improve timeliness, reduce demand in the Crown Court, and improve the wider system capacity. Spending Review provides extra funding to improve waiting times and reduce the Crown Court backlog. They will write to the Committee by October 2022 to update on progress.
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8 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department’s plan to reduce the Crown Court backlog to 53,000 cases relies on increasing...
The Department’s plan to reduce the Crown Court backlog to 53,000 cases relies on increasing the number of sitting days from 100,000 in 2021–22 to 105,000 in 2022–23, then 106,500 in both 2023–24 and 2024–25.10 HMCTS told us that it … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the need to recruit more judges and highlights the actions taken to improve the pool of fee-paid judges, adjust recruitment approaches, and increase the judicial retirement age, setting a target implementation date of March 2024.
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9 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
In the meantime, the Department is relying on using part-time judges (recorders) to provide the...
In the meantime, the Department is relying on using part-time judges (recorders) to provide the additional judicial capacity it needs. It recruited 104 crime recorders in the last recruitment round, and is looking to expand numbers further significantly. The Department … Read more
Government Response
The government is already addressing the shortfall in judicial capacity by increasing Recorder recruitment, allowing crime Recorders to sit more days, and approving District Judges and Circuit Judges to sit in retirement.
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10 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
In 2017, the Lammy review into how ethnic minorities are treated in the criminal justice...
In 2017, the Lammy review into how ethnic minorities are treated in the criminal justice system noted the importance of recruiting a diverse judiciary, and recommended a national target to achieve a representative judiciary by 2025.15 In 2020, the judiciary … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the importance of judicial diversity and highlights the actions taken to improve the pool of fee-paid judges, adjust recruitment approaches, and increase the judicial retirement age, setting a target implementation date of March 2024.
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11 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department expects that the demand for prison places will increase significantly.
The Department expects that the demand for prison places will increase significantly. Its plans to increase the number of days that the Crown Court hears cases, and the resultant reduction in the backlog, will likely mean more people being convicted … Read more
Government Response
The government is committed to building as many prison places as are needed, investing £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 modern prison places by the mid-2020s and continues to invest in critical maintenance projects to ensure as many prison places as possible are kept online.
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12 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
In July 2021, the Department estimated that its court recovery plan and the increase in...
In July 2021, the Department estimated that its court recovery plan and the increase in police officers would result in a shortfall of 4,000 prison places by the end of 2023, over and above the 18,000 additional prison places that … Read more
Government Response
The government is committed to building as many prison places as are needed, investing £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 modern prison places by the mid-2020s and continues to invest in critical maintenance projects to ensure as many prison places as possible are kept online.
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13 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department described how it is tightly managing the prison build programme to ensure there...
The Department described how it is tightly managing the prison build programme to ensure there is sufficient capacity, including closely monitoring the delivery of new prison places against the demand for those places. The Department told us that HM Treasury … Read more
Government Response
The government states it is already committed to building as many prison places as needed, investing £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 modern prison places by the mid-2020s, and has delivered around 2,700 already.
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14 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We have reported previously on matters concerning the expansion and maintenance of the prison system.
We have reported previously on matters concerning the expansion and maintenance of the prison system. For example, in September 2020 we found that the Department had delivered just 206 new prison places, against a commitment of 10,000 new-for-old places by … Read more
Government Response
The government states it is already committed to building as many prison places as needed, investing £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 modern prison places by the mid-2020s, and has delivered around 2,700 already.
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15 Conclusion Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
Since the start of the pandemic, the Department and HMCTS have significantly increased the use...
Since the start of the pandemic, the Department and HMCTS have significantly increased the use of hearings held remotely using video technology, and plan to continue to use them to reduce the backlog in the courts.25 We asked what impact … Read more
Government Response
The government will consider the experience of criminal court users as part of the HMCTS reform evaluation, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024, and will work with partners to improve data collection, while monitoring relevant metrics, including exploring additional ones, to better understand the experience of victims from all backgrounds.
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16 Conclusion Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department told us that the use of remote hearings is at the discretion of...
The Department told us that the use of remote hearings is at the discretion of the judge in each individual case, and that everybody is entitled to have their reasonable adjustments considered by the judge. However, a third of people … Read more
Government Response
The government will consider the experience of criminal court users as part of the HMCTS reform evaluation, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024, and will work with partners to improve data collection, while monitoring relevant metrics, including exploring additional ones, to better understand the experience of victims from all backgrounds.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We also asked about the impact of the pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic...
We also asked about the impact of the pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals, particularly given that the Department has faced difficulties collecting and analysing data on ethnicity in the past. Since the Lammy review in 2017 into … Read more
Government Response
HMCTS will consider the experience of criminal court users as part of the evaluation of HMCTS reform, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024; the MoJ will also work to improve data collection on ethnicity across the criminal justice system.
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18 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department explained that victims of rape and serious sexual offences had been particularly affected...
The Department explained that victims of rape and serious sexual offences had been particularly affected by the pandemic. These difficult and complex cases are more likely to need a jury trial, which need space to accommodate the jury. It was … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation, and states progress has been made in delivering actions to support victims of rape and serious sexual offences, including publishing progress reports and local scorecards. They are also recruiting additional Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers.
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19 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department explained how the longer victims wait for their case to be heard in...
The Department explained how the longer victims wait for their case to be heard in court, the greater the risk the victim withdraws their support of the process and the case collapses.34 It told us that the proportion of cases … Read more
Government Response
The government states the first local criminal justice system scorecards for all crime and adult rape were published in March 2022, with quarterly publication to increase transparency and support collaboration.
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20 Conclusion Acknowledged
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
Several organisations wrote to us to describe the trauma and impact on victims having to...
Several organisations wrote to us to describe the trauma and impact on victims having to wait longer for their cases to be heard.37 In the evidence session, the Department set out some of the actions it is taking to better … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and published the first local criminal justice system scorecards for all crime and adult rape in March 2022. These scorecards will be published quarterly to increase transparency, increase understanding of the system, and support collaboration.
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21 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department told us that having good data across the criminal justice system is a...
The Department told us that having good data across the criminal justice system is a crucial first step in achieving the right outcomes and bringing the courts backlog down. In December 2021, the Department published two scorecards—one covering all crime … Read more
Government Response
The government states the first local criminal justice system scorecards for all crime and adult rape were published in March 2022, with quarterly publication to increase transparency and support collaboration.
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We asked HMCTS what progress it had made on implementing Dr Natalie Byrom’s recommendations on...
We asked HMCTS what progress it had made on implementing Dr Natalie Byrom’s recommendations on digital justice and data.44 HMCTS told us it had set up a senior data governance panel to provide advice on the accessibility of data and … Read more
Government Response
The government published the first local criminal justice system scorecards in March 2022 and will publish them quarterly to increase transparency and support collaboration, also overhauling its governance structures to increase accountability and drive forward progress in priority areas.
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23 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We asked the Department what it is doing to improve data flows across different parts...
We asked the Department what it is doing to improve data flows across different parts of the criminal justice system. The Department told us that joining up data across the system is a priority.49 It has recruited an additional director … Read more
Government Response
The government states that it is already taking forward work to improve data flows across the criminal justice system, including establishing a new data and performance board and recruiting key personnel.
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Government Response AI assessment · 23 of 5 classified
Accepted 10
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 6
Deferred 4
Not Addressed 2
Total 5 recs + 18 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
23 Sep 2022 Correspondence from Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, re response to the PAC Committee – Reducing the backlogs in criminal courts, dated 7 September 2022
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7 Feb 2022 Correspondence from Jerome Glass, Director General, Policy and Strategy Group, Ministry of Justice, re Individuals released under investigation for RASSO Crimes, dated 2 February 2022
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