Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release, Judicial retirement age to rise to 75, published on 9 March 2021, how his Department plans to allocate the £1 million to increase diversity within the magistracy.

MoJ is investing in a recruitment and attraction programme to recruit more and more diverse magistrates. This will include the introduction of new IT that will enable better tracking of magistrate recruitment data, and outcomes, including by diversity data. We will also be investing in a targeted marketing strategy in 2021 directed at under-represented groups in local areas to boost magistrate recruitment.