Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the a) age, b) ethnic and c) socioeconomic diversity of magistrates.

We continue to make progress in building a magistracy that better reflects the communities it serves. Recent recruitment rounds have shown increasing diversity among applicants and new appointees, supported by targeted outreach and improvements to the recruitment process. In 2024/25, 23% of new appointees came from ethnic minority groups, 41% of new appointees were aged under 50, and around 3% of new appointees were from routine or manual occupations: Diversity of the judiciary: 2025 statistics - GOV.UK.