Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce delays in magistrates courts between a defendant's first appearance and their trial.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service is working with partners across the Criminal Justice System to reduce unnecessary hearings and delay in magistrates' courts. The Transforming Summary Justice programme currently being rolled-out across England and Wales will ensure that cases set for trial in magistrates' courts are robustly case managed in advance of the trial date, reduce the number of unnecessary adjournments and increase the number of effective trials on the day.

In current performance, overall, the last four years show an improvement in the time between the first listing of a case and its completion. For summary non-motoring cases, the percentage of cases completed at first listing has also increased from 62% in 2011 to 71% in the second quarter of 2014-15.