Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to tackle the backlog in court cases where there has been an accusation of rape or sexual assault.

The Government is committed to supporting the recovery of the courts for all court users, including cases where there has been an accusation of rape or sexual assault.

Listing is a judicial function and judges continue to work to prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, such as serious sex cases.

In December 2021, the Government announced that Section 28 for sexual violence and modern slavery complainants, the legislation that allows vulnerable witnesses to pre-record evidence, will be rolled out nationally for this cohort.

We are increasing funding for victim and witness support services from over £150 million in 2021/22 to over £185 million by 2024/25. This will fund more than 1,000 Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors as well as 24/7 crisis helplines and is an 85% increase on funding in 2019/20.

We have extended 30 Nightingale courtrooms beyond the end of March 2022 and removed the limit on the number of days the Crown Court can sit in the 2021/22 financial year. To secure enough capacity to sit at the required levels in 2022/23 and beyond we are expanding our plans for judicial recruitment.

These measures are already working, and as a result we expect to get through 20% more Crown Court cases this financial year than we did pre-Covid. Following an increase in funding as part of the Ministry of Justice’s Spending Review settlement, including £477m for recovery in the criminal courts, we aim to reduce the number of outstanding cases in the Crown Court to 53,000 by March 2025.