Justice Secretary says backlog will go up despite record court sitting days

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 as 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.
Meanwhile, a report from the Public Accounts Committee published on Wednesday raised concerns ministers had '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 court system in the spring.
Announcing the extra sitting days Ms Mahmood described it as a 'critical first step' but there is more that 'we must' do.
Asked about 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, she 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.
The extra sitting days will also apply to immigration and asylum tribunal cases, bringing 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.
The announcement comes 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 she was 'obviously not comfortable' when asked by Times Radio if she was comfortable with cutting funding for frontline victim support services by 4% in 2025, adding: '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 would be 'more difficult choices to come' when asked if the Ministry of Justice would 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,' the Justice Secretary 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.'
Reacting to the extra sitting days, Law Society of England and Wales president Richard Atkinson said they were welcome steps.
He added: 'But sitting days are still not at the maximum the Lady Chief Justice has said is possible to achieve.
'While 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 chairwoman of the Criminal Bar Association, Mary Prior KC, also urged the Government to make a difference now by allowing crown courts to sit at the maximum capacity available of 113,000 days, adding: 'Each and every day that a courtroom is left closed is a day when justice is delayed.'