Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of magistrates come from working class backgrounds in (a) England and (b) Greater Manchester.

The Judicial Office collects demographic information on magistrates, including professional background; however, providing this information is voluntary. Low declaration rates mean that there is insufficient data to allow for any meaningful analysis or interpretation at this time. We, and the judiciary, are committed to working to improve the completeness and quality of socio-economic data across the judiciary, including magistrates.