Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to increase sitting days for Judges in Crown Courts in regions with high numbers of outstanding trials.

We are continuing to work to maximise capacity across the entire Courts and Tribunals system. Recorders are integral to these plans, particularly in the Crown Court, playing a key role in ensuring that we deliver as many sitting days as possible in order to provide access to justice.

Data relating to sitting days, including recorders will be published in the first half of 2021 as part of the regular Official Statistics relating to Civil Justice.