Ministry of Justice permanent secretary Dame Antonia Romeo has warned MPs that caseload backlogs in crown courts across England and Wales will get even worse than their current record high before they get better.
The current figure of 73,105, which relates to September 2024, is nearly double the 38,000 figure before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. It also flies in the face of a 2021 MoJ "ambition" to reduce the backlog to 53,000 cases by March this year.
Romeo told a meeting of parliament's Public Accounts Committee yesterday that she anticipated the next crown court caseload backlog figure – which will relate to December – will be higher than September's tally when it is published in March.
She subsequently told MPs she expected the backlog would still be higher than the current record-high level in 12 months time without "significant additional policy changes or changes to the system".
MPs heard that around 20% of the prison population is now made up of people on remand – because they are waiting trial or sentencing and are not deemed suitable for bail. They were also told that some trials are now being listed for 2028.
One of justice secretary Shabana Mahmood's first public announcements following her appointment in the wake of Labour's general election win was the introduction of relaxed early-release rules for prisoners, designed to ease pressure on the nation's near-capacity jails.
Romeo said yesterday that the growth in crown court backlogs was principally due to the effects of the pandemic and industrial action taken by the Criminal Bar Association, coupled with a greater number of cases coming to court driven by an increase in police headcount in recent years.
"The fundamental unanswerable point is that the demand on the system is greater than our ability to dispose of the demand. Receipts are increasing significantly, and the ability to dispose of that has not kept pace. So therefore the outstanding caseload has gone up," she said.
"During the pandemic there was a physical capacity constraint. There was at one point a judicial capacity constraint. Now the significant inflow from new demand from the police has meant that we're constantly trying to put in place the ability to manage the influx of demand."
Romeo said that last month's launch of a review into speeding up the justice system, headed by retired judge Sir Brian Leveson, was a recognition on the part of ministers that fundamental changes were required.
According to the MoJ, Leveson's review will consider the argument for introducing new “intermediate courts” where cases too serious for magistrates courts but not serious enough for the crown court can be heard by a judge alongside magistrates.
The review will also look at whether magistrates should be empowered to hear more cases than current rules permit and whether their sentencing powers could be extended beyond measures introduced last year.
Additionally, Leveson will consider how technology could be used to drive efficiencies and improve the way crown courts function. His initial recommendations are expected this spring.
Romeo told MPs she believed that the MoJ's ability to hit its previous aspiration of reducing the crown-court backlog to 53,000 cases would depend on the outcome of the Leveson review.
Justice Select Committee chair Andy Slaughter, who was a guest at yesterday's session, asked Romeo whether MoJ was "betting the house" on the outcome of the review.
"I don't see it as just a report," she replied. "It's going to be a fundamental look at reforms we can make in the longer term.
"Everything is connected – courts, prisons, probation, and indeed police. So we can never look at just getting down the crown court backlog in isolation."
Romeo said that other efficiency and productivity work was already in progress – such as already-introduced changes to magistrates' sentencing powers, which she said would save 2,000 crown court sitting days.