Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish (a) his Department's recruitment strategy for the planned magistrates' recruitment drive in 2022 and (b) any independent assessments of or research on the recruitment tools and materials in that strategy.

The recruitment of new and diverse magistrates is the Government’s top priority for the magistracy. A new recruitment process has been designed with professional occupational psychologists to make applying to the magistracy more accessible by modernising, streamlining and digitalising the process. Due diligence has been paid to the Public Sector Equality Duty and careful consideration has been given to how to prevent and mitigate any adverse impacts on underrepresented groups at each stage of the recruitment process. We will be announcing the plans, process and materials that will be used in due course.

The new recruitment process will be supported by an inclusive marketing campaign to raise the profile of the magistracy and encourage applications, particularly from underrepresented groups. At present, we do not have specific recruitment targets developed for under-represented groups in the magistracy. However, the new Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which will host all applications, will allow the MoJ to monitor the number and diversity of applicants and how they fare in the process. This data will be used alongside feedback from candidates, Advisory Committees and support staff to evaluate the new recruitment process.