Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in court expenditure on (a) court efficiency and (b) case resolution times.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are investing at record levels in the courts, including a landmark settlement of £2.78 billion for courts and tribunals in 2026/27.
We are also investing in uncapped Crown Court sitting days, court buildings and technology, and in legal professionals with a significant funding uplift in legal aid.
But the Independent Review of Criminal Courts is clear that investment alone, whilst important, is not enough. Only by pulling every lever we have – investment, efficiency and reform – can we reduce the backlog to acceptable levels and begin to deliver faster and fairer justice.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the statutory bereavement award under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976; whether he plans to review the level of that award; and whether an assessment has been made of the potential impact of the current level on the ability of families to pursue (a) legal claims for alleged clinical negligence and (b) other legal claims.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Bereavement damages are a fixed payment in acknowledgment of grief and are in no way intended to reflect the value of the life lost in monetary terms. They are only one element of the damages that may be awarded in a particular case, which for example can also include damages for dependency.
The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach.
There are no plans to review the level of the award, and the Government does not believe the level of the award has any impact on the ability of individuals to bring negligence claims.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time between charge and trial in a) magistrates’ courts and b) the Crown Court.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst data is not routinely published for the period from charge to trial start (i.e. the main hearing for defendants entering a not guilty plea), a bespoke breakdown of the Crown Court ‘End-to-end timeliness tool’ shows that the mean time from charge to trial start in 2025 was 433 days, with a corresponding median of 336 days.
A comparable metric is not available in the magistrates’ courts.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether county courts will have additional sitting hours to deal with Section 8 possession orders following the commencement of the Renters Rights Act.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (including its executive agency His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service) is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to make sure that the courts have sufficient capacity to manage the impact of the Renter’s Rights Act 2025 on the justice system. This includes ensuring sufficient provision of sitting days to deal with case volumes.
This year, there will be 80,200 sitting days in the civil jurisdiction. This is a record allocation, recognising the importance of the civil jurisdiction.
We continue to invest in annual judicial recruitment for c.1000 vacancies across all jurisdictions, including the county courts. The Judicial Appointments Commission reports how many District and Deputy District Judges it has recommended from annual District Judge and c.18-monthly Deputy District Judge recruitment.
The information can be found at - https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/corp-publication/completed-selection-exercises-for-the-2025-26-financial-year/#4-January2026March2026Quarter4. District Judge recruitment is underway for up to 70 candidates and further Deputy District Judge recruitment is planned for later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judges he plans to recruit to help speed up Section 8 repossession orders.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (including its executive agency His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service) is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to make sure that the courts have sufficient capacity to manage the impact of the Renter’s Rights Act 2025 on the justice system. This includes ensuring sufficient provision of sitting days to deal with case volumes.
This year, there will be 80,200 sitting days in the civil jurisdiction. This is a record allocation, recognising the importance of the civil jurisdiction.
We continue to invest in annual judicial recruitment for c.1000 vacancies across all jurisdictions, including the county courts. The Judicial Appointments Commission reports how many District and Deputy District Judges it has recommended from annual District Judge and c.18-monthly Deputy District Judge recruitment.
The information can be found at - https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/corp-publication/completed-selection-exercises-for-the-2025-26-financial-year/#4-January2026March2026Quarter4. District Judge recruitment is underway for up to 70 candidates and further Deputy District Judge recruitment is planned for later this year.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of criminal trials that proceed as scheduled.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis - with a record and rising Crown Court caseload and victims facing intolerable delays for justice. That is why the Government asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts and make recommendations for how to restore stability and confidence in the criminal courts.
Sir Brian’s report set out a blueprint for pragmatic structural reform in our criminal courts and made clear that it is only by pulling every lever we have – investment, efficiency and reform – that we can we turn the tide on the backlog and begin to swifter justice for all. The Courts and Tribunals Bill is the first step to putting the reform blueprint into law.
We are currently considering Sir Brian’s remaining recommendations and will publish our full response in the summer. In the meantime, the Deputy Prime Minister has also announced several initial measures we are taking forward to drive efficiency, including supporting the judiciary to undertake ‘blitz courts’ (where courts list similar cases together over a short period of time – concentrating court resources and the expertise required), rolling out case coordinators in every Crown Court centre and supporting the Lady Chief Justice to publish the first ever National Listing Framework and pilot an AI Listing Assistant.
Alongside structural reforms and inefficiencies, we are also delivering record financial investment. We have uncapped Crown Court sitting days for 2026/27, which means there is no longer a financial limit on the amount of work the Crown Court can undertake; and we have announced additional funding of up to £34 million a year for criminal legal aid advocates and £92 million per year for criminal legal aid solicitor fee schemes.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department receives from NHS providers on the mental health conditions of prisoners serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The NHS is responsible for delivering healthcare services, including mental health services, in prisons in England and Wales.
All prisoners, including those serving IPP sentences, have access to integrated mental health services. Healthcare provision is based on assessed clinical need and is not determined by sentence type. Consequently, routine data sets do not generally allow for identification of specific diagnoses across patient groups based on the prisoner’s sentence category. Any detailed or bespoke analysis of clinical conditions among cohorts defined by sentence type would, therefore, need to be led by DHSC and NHS England, who are responsible for the relevant data and its governance.
More broadly, the Government remains determined to support the rehabilitation of IPP prisoners, through the IPP Action Plan, which we published on 17 July 2025. The Plan puts an important emphasis on effective frontline delivery in our prisons and the Probation Service, to ensure that those serving IPP sentences have robust and effective sentence plans and that they are in the location most appropriate to their needs. It also includes a commitment to explore ways to better identify and support IPP prisoners with mental health needs, ensuring they can access appropriate treatment and interventions as part of their sentence progression.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of support available to unreleased prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Government remains determined to support the rehabilitation of IPP prisoners, through the IPP Action Plan, which we published on 17 July 2025. The Plan sets out actions and associated targets, to ensure that those serving IPP sentences, including those who have never been released, have robust and effective sentence plans and that they are held in a prison most appropriate to their needs. These measures offer the most effective and responsible way to support the safe and sustainable release of those serving the sentence.
Progress against the IPP Action Plan is reported in the HMPPS annual report on the IPP sentence, most recently published on 17 July 2025. This report includes a focus on specific cohorts of individuals serving IPP sentences, including those who have never been released, in recognition of the particular needs of such prisoners. The next HMPPS annual report is due to be published in Summer 2026, this will set out in detail the progress made on supporting IPP prisoners.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made with the devolved Administrations of the level of public confidence in the consistency and fairness of sentencing decisions across the UK, including in cases involving social media-related offences and serious criminal offences; and whether his Department plans to review the potential impact of sentencing outcomes on public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent courts. In England and Wales, courts sentence offenders within the framework set by Parliament and in accordance with guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council. Those guidelines are designed to promote consistency and transparency, while ensuring that courts can take full account of the circumstances of each case, including culpability, harm, and any relevant aggravating and mitigating factors.
Sentencing policy is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Government continues to engage constructively with the devolved governments on justice matters where appropriate, but has not made a formal UK-wide assessment of public confidence in sentencing. Differences in approach reflect separate legal systems, but there is shared interest across jurisdictions in maintaining public confidence and effective justice outcomes.
In England and Wales, the Government closely monitors public confidence in the criminal justice system through a range of published data and is committed to ensuring that sentencing outcomes across all offences (including specific communication offences), punish offenders, protect the public, support victims and command confidence. As part of wider sentencing reforms, we are taking forward measures to strengthen the effectiveness and transparency of sentencing, including implementing the recommendations of the Independent Sentencing Review.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2026 to Question 3327 on Prisoners' Release, in which part of the referenced data the figures can be found for the number of prisoners who (a) have been returned to prison and (b) remain at large.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Where an individual is deemed unlawfully at large and subject to rearrest, any information held on such cases is used for prison and police operational purposes.
As this information is not part of a routine, quality-assured statistical collection, it is not included in published statistics.
A joint protocol between HMPPS and the National Police Chiefs’ Council ensures timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error and is unlawfully at large.
The protocol sets out steps to re-arrest the individual as quickly as possible. Further work is underway to strengthen the protocol further and improve victim communication, following Dame Lynne Owens’ independent review.