Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the size of the case backlog in the Youth Court system in Wales.

There were 270 youth outstanding cases in magistrates' courts in Wales as at the end of September 2022. This includes any case involving a defendant under the age of 18 heard in the magistrates’ courts, not just those heard in the Youth Court. Cases involving young defendants are given priority, irrespective of the Court in which they appear, and youth cases are continually reviewed to ensure that they are progressed as quickly as possible.

At any one time, there will always be outstanding cases – those for which evidence is being prepared, for example. The table below shows the number of the outstanding youth cases for the period end of September 2016 to end of September 2022.