Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2025 to question 78371, whether he plans to increase court numbers in Greater Manchester to deal with the backlog of cases; and if he will prioritise co-location with a new police station and other services in Oldham.

The Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard in the Crown Court and too many victims waiting years for justice.

Upon entering office, the Deputy Prime Minister took immediate action to allocate an additional Crown Court sitting days this financial year, taking the total allocation to a record 112,500 sitting days, over 5,000 more days than those funded last year by the previous Government. We have also secured record investment of up to £450 million per year for the courts system over the Spending Review period, alongside investing almost £150 million to modernise the court estate, including improvements at Manchester Crown Court. While plans to expand criminal hearing capacity in Greater Manchester remain under review, it is important to recognise that court capacity is determined by more than the number of available courtrooms. Increasing physical space alone will not create additional hearings unless there are also sufficient judges, magistrates, legal advisors, advocates and wider system partners available to support them.

To deliver that, we are accelerating our programme to recruit more new and diverse magistrates over the coming years. We continue to recruit high levels of legal advisers to ensure courts remain resilient. We are also continuing to invest in the recruitment of c.1,000 judges and tribunal members annually across all jurisdictions.

However, demand is currently so high, it is indisputable that fundamental reform is needed. That is why, on 2 December, the Government announced a bold and ambitious criminal court reform package to ensure cases are dealt with proportionately and deliver swifter justice for victims.