As part of his Spending Review, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged to increase justice spending to tackle the growing backlog of cases in the court system.
Speaking in Parliament today, Sunak stated that the government will deliver a 3.3% real terms increase in funding annually.
This constitutes an additional £145 million in core funding as well as increasing the Ministry of Justice’s capital budget by £237 million.
Sunak also announced additional funding designed to address the impact of Covid-19, with £119 million pledged to support the justice system’s response. This funding includes £76 million to increase family court and tribunal capacity.
The Chancellor also pledged additional funding for the criminal justice system, announcing “£337 million extra funding…including £275 million to bring more offenders to justice.”
This rise in spending is designed to tackle the ever-growing backlog that has formed within the justice system. According to the HMCTS, there were 490,000 outstanding cases in the magistrate’s court by the end of October and the outstanding workload in the Crown court rose to 51,595.
You can study the full text of the Spending Review by clicking here.
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