Justice Secretary says courts backlog will rise despite record level of sittings

Independent

05-03-2025

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said that, despite announcing a record level of sitting days for crown court judges to tackle delays, the 'sad reality' is the backlog of cases will 'still go up'.
The Lord Chancellor said on Wednesday that judges will sit collectively for 110,000 days in the next financial year – 4,000 more than allocated for the previous period – to help victims see justice done faster.
The move comes after the Victims Commissioner published a report on Tuesday warning that the record levels of crown court delays are deepening the trauma of victims and making many feel justice is 'out of reach'.
The rising backlog in England and Wales has almost doubled in five years to 73,105 at the end of September last year.
Ms Mahmood told the Commons that some victims will not have their cases heard until 2028, as she said the extra sitting days will be funded by a total budget of £2.5 billion allocated for courts and tribunals in the next financial year.
It comes as a report from the Public Accounts Committee published on Wednesday raised concerns that ministers have 'simply accepted' the record-high crown court backlog will continue to grow and they will wait for the results of the Leveson Review before planning changes to tackle it.
The major review, led by Sir Brian Leveson, is expected to report on reforms to the courts system in the spring.
Announcing the extra sitting days, Ms Mahmood described it as a 'critical first step' but said there is more that 'we must' do.
Asked how long it will take to clear the courts backlog, she told Times Radio: 'We will be making progress, but the sad reality is that, even sitting to this unprecedented amount, the backlog will still go up.
'Because the demand of cases coming into the system is very, very large, and that's why I announced some weeks ago that Brian Leveson will be carrying out a crown courts review for us to look at once-in-a-generation reform of the sorts of cases that go into our crown courts, so that we can actually bear down on that backlog in the longer term.'
Changes on which cases go to jury trials as crown courts buckle under the 'sheer number of cases' coming in will be among the measures being considered in the Leveson Review, Ms Mahmood told LBC.
'He will also be considering whether we should do more with our magistrates' courts and the sorts of cases that they can hear, or whether there is a case for a court that sits between the magistrates and the crown,' she said.
But the Justice Secretary has faced calls to increase the sitting days to what the Lady Chief Justice has said should be a maximum of 113,000 days.
Law Society of England and Wales president Richard Atkinson said the number is 'still not at the maximum the Lady Chief Justice has said is possible to achieve', while chairwoman of the Criminal Bar Association, Mary Prior KC, called for the number to be uncapped for at least the next five years.
Speaking in the Commons, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'What we have learnt again today is that the Justice Secretary is still turning down available sitting days, and, astonishingly, she has conceded that the court backlog will keep on rising.
'This is simply not acceptable.
'We need to be maximising court capacity, taking full advantage of all available days, and probing the judiciary for options to create more capacity.'
But Ms Mahmood told the House she is 'confident' that 110,000 days represents system capacity, when considering availability of lawyers, prosecutors and legal aid as well as judges, and 'that is what is being delivered'.
The extra sitting days will also apply to immigration and asylum tribunal cases, taking them to near maximum capacity, to help speed up asylum claims, the Ministry of Justice said.
The Government confirmed funding for repairs and maintenance across the courts and tribunal estate is to rise from £120 million last year to £148.5 million this year.
Repairs will include remedial works for crumbling reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) at Harrow Crown Court, which has been closed since August 2023, and fixing leaking roofs and out-of-order lifts.
Funding will also be given to new courts being built, such as a 30-hearing room tribunal centre at Newgate Street in London, and a county and family court in Reading.
But Mr Atkinson added: 'The funding increase for court maintenance is only a small fraction of the £1.3 billion repairs backlog for courts and tribunals reported by the National Audit Office.'
The announcement came as the Victims Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, called for the Government to provide emergency cash for victim support services during this 'time of crisis', and branded real-term cuts to victim support as 'ill-advised' and 'short-sighted'.
Ms Mahmood said 'obviously not' when asked by Times Radio if she is comfortable with cutting funding for frontline victim support services by 4% in 2025, but added: 'I've inherited a shocking situation where cases have been waiting for years to be heard and, as you say, are regularly cancelled.'
She also told the BBC there will be 'more difficult choices to come' when asked if the Ministry of Justice will have to slash spending amid reports of billions of extra cuts earmarked by the Treasury.
'Every part of Government has to play its part in making sure that the nation's books are balanced and that we are living within our means,' she told BBC Breakfast.
'That means… there have already been difficult choices, and all Government departments have had to play their part in that. There will be more difficult choices to come.'