Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the longest recorded duration between an offence being charged and the listed Crown Court trial date for (a) rape and serious sexual offences, and (b) all criminal trials currently in the backlog.

The Crown Court backlog stands at nearly 81,000 cases, and almost 24,000 of these cases have been open at the Crown Court for over a year. We are acting on all fronts – investing at record levels, driving system efficiency, and enacting structural reform through the Criminal Courts and Tribunals Bill – to tackle the Crown Court backlog and deliver swifter justice for all.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data centrally on the time between an offence being charged and the listed Crown Court trial date for open cases. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

However, Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly does publish data on the age of the open caseload - this is calculated from the date of receipt at the Crown Court rather than from charge. For further details of this data please see the ‘Crown Court open case duration tool.’

Criminal court statistics quarterly: April to June 2026 - GOV.UK