Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary for Justice, what the average waiting time was from plea and trial preparation hearing to the first day of trial for sexual offences against children for each Crown Court in Manchester in the last two years.

HMCTS does not hold data on the average waiting time from plea and trial preparation hearing (PTPH) to the first day of trial at Crown Court. Published statistics on timeliness of criminal proceedings set out the average number of days taken from sending to the Crown Court to main hearing in the Crown Court.

The table attached provides the average number of days taken from sending to the Crown Court to main hearing for Crown Court Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) offences in England and Wales for 2016 and 2017. CSA offences include both contact cases and image cases.

This table contains information for each Crown Court centre in England and Wales, including Manchester’s Crown Court centres (Crown Square and Minshull Street)