Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with magistrates regarding delays at magistrates' courts.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is committed to the continuous improvement of performance in Magistrates’ Courts; this includes minimising delays in hearing cases. The performance of Magistrates’ Courts depends upon the performance of the criminal justice system as a whole, and HMCTS works closely with other agencies in the criminal justice system, including the police and the CPS, in order to keep delays to a minimum.

My officials have had regular discussions with magistrates. The Chief Executive and HMCTS Directors meet on a quarterly basis with the Chairs of the Magistrates’ Association (MA) and the National Bench Chairmen’s Forum (NBCF) to discuss various issues, which include performance in the Magistrates’ Courts. The performance of the Magistrates’ Courts has also recently been discussed at meetings of the Senior Presiding Judge’s Magistrates’ Liaison Group (MLG) the membership of which includes both the judiciary and senior officials from HMCTS. At a regional level, Judicial Business Groups (JBG) and, more locally, Judicial Leadership Groups ( (JLG) provide a further forum where the judiciary and my officials can discuss the performance of local Magistrates’ Courts and, where necessary, the judiciary can put in place local listing arrangements to tackle delay.