Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Katie Lam (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 July 2026. It was answered by Sarah Sackman (Labour) on Friday, 17 July 2026 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Crown Court: Standards

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court sitting days were sat in each individual Crown Court centre in England and Wales in each financial year from 2019–20 to 2024–25.

Answer

Information on the number of court sitting days sat in each individual Crown Court Centre in England and Wales for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2024-25 is provided in the attached table.

This Government inherited a justice system in crisis. There are over 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard in the Crown Court and 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 deliver faster and fairer justice.

That is why we are 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. £287 million is being invested in both IT improvements and the court estate itself, to deliver vital repairs and digital upgrades to court buildings and wider IT Systems.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
17590
Session
2026-27
Attachment
Table
Subjects
Crown Court Standards
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk