Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of county court actions for debt recovery, and if he will make a statement.

The latest data published in the ‘Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly’ by the Ministry of Justice shows that in England & Wales from July to September 2017 there were 445,000 specified money claims (where the claimant seeks to recover a specific sum of money), an increase of 15% compared to the same period in 2016. This increase is driven by low value (£1000 or less) specified money claims.

The Ministry of Justice continues to engage with court users to gain further insight on the increase.