Crown Court backlogs

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 16 May 2025 Parliament page
In March 2022, the Committee found that the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated a growing backlog of cases waiting to be tried in the criminal courts, significantly affecting defendants, victims and witnesses. The report found that the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) meagre ambition to reduce the Crown Court case backlog by … Read more
4 Recommendations
28 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
3 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 7 events
4 Sep
2025
Correspondence
19 May
2025
Correspondence
16 May
2025
Report published
5 Mar
2025
Report published
27 Jan
2025
Correspondence
9 Jan
2025
Oral evidence
9 Jan
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
9 Jan 2025
View on parliament.uk
Dame Antonia Romeo DCB · Ministry of Justice Daniel Flury · HM Courts and Tribunals Service Jerome Glass · Ministry of Justice Nick Goodwin · HMCTS
Title HC No. Published Items Response
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs HC 348 5 Mar 2025 32 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
5 results
Clear
22 Recommendation Acknowledged
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Proportion of ineffective trials remains excessively high, impacted by over-listing.
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 … Read more
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
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23 Recommendation Acknowledged
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Counsel unavailability continues to cause significant ineffective trials after industrial action.
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 … Read more
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
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26 Conclusion Acknowledged
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Ministry of Justice received substantial funding to tackle Crown Court backlog and expand capacity.
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 … Read more
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
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27 Conclusion Acknowledged
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
Ministry of Justice cannot quantify total spending on Crown Court backlog accurately.
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 … Read more
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
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28 Conclusion Acknowledged
12th Report - Crown Court backlogs
MoJ lacks confidence in securing resources for criminal justice reforms
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 … Read more
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
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Government Response AI assessment · 31 of 4 classified
Accepted 17
Accepted in Part 3
Acknowledged 5
Deferred 6
Total 4 recs + 28 conclusions
Correspondence 3 letters
4 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Chief Executive at HM Prison and Probation Service and the Chief Executive at HM Courts and Tribunal Service relating to a follow up on the responses to the 12th and 15th Reports of Session 2024-25, Crown Court backlogs and Prison estate capacity, 15 July 2025
Parliament page
19 May 2025 To committee Letter from the Chief Executive of HM Courts & Tribunals Service relating to the 12th Report of Session 2024-25, Crown Court Backlog, Recommendation 5, 08 May 2025
Parliament page
27 Jan 2025 To committee Letter from the Chief Executive at HM Courts and Tribunals Service relating to the Crown Courts Backlog oral evidence session held on 09 January 2025, 22 January 2025
Parliament page