Oral Answers to Questions

Josh Newbury Excerpts

Tuesday 16th September 2025 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

1. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the Crown court backlog.

[Dr Roz Savage (South Cotswolds) (LD)]

6. What steps he is taking to tackle backlogs in the courts.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr David Lammy)]

Mr Speaker, it is nice to be back on my old beat.

This Government inherited a record courts backlog. We have taken immediate action by funding a record high allocation of 110,000 Crown court sitting days this year. Fundamental reform is of course necessary, which is why the previous Lord Chancellor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood), commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to propose bold reforms, which we are now considering.

[Josh Newbury]

I recently had the chance to visit my local magistrates court in Cannock, and I was told that a major barrier to ramping up the number of sitting days in both magistrates and Crown courts is the lack of legal advisers. I am told that many are leaving the Crown Prosecution Service because the pay is often better elsewhere, but that means having to cut back on sitting times. Will my right hon. Friend outline what steps the Ministry is taking to increase the number of legal advisers in our courts?

[Mr Lammy]

My hon. Friend will be pleased that we are recruiting more legal advisers and we are increasing capacity in the system. He is right that magistrates courts particularly are the bedrock of the system, which is why I was so appalled that the previous Government cut back our magistrates courts so extensively. It is important that we support our magistrates to do their very important work.