Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled Thousands step forward in record magistrate recruitment drive, published on 23 October 2026, what estimate has been made of the cost per additional magistrate appointed as a result of the £4 million recruitment campaign.

We are spending c. £4 million this year on marketing. This is part of our programme to increase the size of the magistracy to 21,000 in 2028/29. So far, the Uplift programme launched in April 2026 has successfully recruited nearly 1,500 magistrates meaning we are on track to meet our target. Whilst no specific assessment has yet been carried out of the cost per additional magistrate appointed, a detailed evaluation of the campaign's impact will be conducted once it concludes in April 2027.