Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of cases being withdrawn as a result of court delays and case backlogs.

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the CPS and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) introduced an Interim Charging Protocol in April 2020. This enabled the prioritisation of the right cases to facilitate the effective working of police, CPS and courts during a time of crisis. The interim protocol sets out how cases should be managed by the police and the CPS by identifying three categories of cases:

A. Immediate – Custody and all Coronavirus related cases;

B. High Priority – Non custody bail cases;

C. Other cases – Released under investigation or no arrest required

In the courts we have taken decisive action to address the impact of the pandemic on how quickly cases can be heard. We spent over £250 million on recovery last financial year roll-out out new technology for remote hearings, make the court estate COVID-secure, and set up 60 new Nightingale courtrooms. This has enabled disposals to return to pre-pandemic levels in the Crown Court, which is over 2000 cases per week, and we completed over 7000 jury trials last year.

We will continue to address the outstanding caseload and reduce delays by increasing capacity in our physical estate, running Crown Courts to the fullest possible extent, using every judge and courtroom to maximise court sitting days.

We have increased funding for victim support services, with £151 million this year, including £27 million to increase the number of independent advisors for sexual violence and domestic abuse victims by over 40 per cent. Beyond significant increases in funding to victims’ services, the Government has taken a range of actions to ensure that victims and witnesses receive the support they need in the face of delays caused by the court backlogs.