Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the backlog of cases within the probate service.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service has invested in more staff, alongside system and process improvements, which has seen record levels of grants of probate issued during the last 6 months.

Management Information published by HMCTS shows, despite continued high levels of receipts, the open workable caseload (cases not waiting for more information from the applicant) has reduced by over 50% (36,000 cases) since August 2023 and currently stands at 31,842 in June 2024.

The average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate (following receipt of the documents required) has reduced by 4.5 weeks in June 2024 compared to August 2023. The average timeliness for cases completing in June was 8.5 weeks.