, Labour’s Shadow Justice
Secretary, commenting on today’s figures which show the
crown court backlog growing, said:
“After 14 years of Conservative failure, our criminal justice
system is grinding to a halt.
“These figures show the government have done the exact opposite
of what they promised in 2021 – instead of cutting the crown
court backlog by 7,000 cases by March 2025, they have now allowed
it to increase by more than 7,000. This backlog is a direct
product of the Tories’ bad political choices – the choice to
close down hundreds of courts while allowing others to fall into
a state of neglect and disrepair. This government is failing
victims and undermining public confidence in our justice system.
"Labour will accelerate the delivery of justice by increasing the
number of staff working as crown prosecutors to drive down the
backlog.”
Ends
Notes:
- In the 2021 Spending Review, the Conservative government said
it would get the crown court backlog down from 60,000 to 53,000
by Mar 2025, a reduction of 7,000 cases. Instead, today's figures
show the backlog is now more than 7,000 higher than it was at the
time of that commitment - 67,573.
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/sunaks-millions-will-cut-case-backlog-by-just-7000-government-admits/5110479.article
