Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Crown Court trials were (a) ineffective and (b) postponed between 1 May 2010 and 30 June 2024, broken down by region.

Crown Court trial effectiveness data including ineffective and vacated trials by region are published routinely as part of the Accredited Official Statistics series Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly. The latest published series covers 2016 to 2024, and the data from 2010-2016 is available from a previous edition (Jan-Mar 2019).

This Government is determined to support the judiciary to drive down the ineffective trial rate. Since 2023, trends have been improving in relation to cases which have been prioritised by judges (for example, serious sexual offences) as well as more generally. Whilst the proportion of ineffective trials in the Crown Court has reduced slightly in recent years, in 2024 it was still at 25%.

We welcome this progress, but further work is needed to reduce ineffective trials. The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Brian Leveson to conduct an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Phase 2 of the review will consider the efficiency and timeliness of processes of the criminal courts through charge to conviction/acquittal.