Coronavirus outbreak could mean record waiting times for justice

The UK criminal justice system is facing unprecedented court case backlogs and record prisoner numbers, according to a new IfG and CIPFA paper.

These joint pressures will be the result of delays to court hearings caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the government’s plan to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers leading to an increase in the number of people facing criminal charges.

Published today, our report on The Criminal Justice System: How government reforms and coronavirus will affect UK policing, courts and prisons, calculates that the prison population could rise to up to 90,000 – its highest-ever level – and possibly over 95,000 by 2023/24.

Prisons in England and Wales are already close to capacity, with cases of violence and self-harm increasing sharply over the last decade. The government’s pledge to provide 10,000 additional prison places is unlikely to be ready to meet the predicted rise in prisoner numbers, while an extra £250m a year of spending would be required just to maintain current levels of performance in prisons.

At the same time, the coronavirus lockdown has seen courtrooms closed for all but a small number of priority cases and jury trials are suspended altogether. New Institute for Government research shows that waiting times to hear cases could increase by more than 70% in the event of a six-month lockdown, with many defendants and victims forced to wait more than half a year for trials in the crown court.

This would result in the highest average waiting time ever recorded. To resolve this case backlog, the IfG calculates that the government would need to spend an extra £55m–110m a year for two years to run the necessary extra trials.

Nick Davies, IfG programme director and author of the report, said:

“Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the government’s pledge to increase police officer numbers could have resulted in courts and prisons being overwhelmed by an increase in cases. The effect of the coronavirus outbreak now means that there will also be huge delays in cases reaching courts – and therefore justice delayed – without more spending.”

Rob Whiteman, CIPFA CEO, said:

“A decade of austerity has meant that finance professionals in the criminal justice system have had to change nearly every aspect of how they manage their budgets. The measures that have been taken in this area to fight COVID-19 will only exacerbate these pressures, particularly if we see an increase in demand.

Throughout this crisis, government has stressed the need for policy decisions to be guided by evidence. We would encourage stronger adoption of this approach when it comes to medium to long-term financial planning, both for the criminal justice system, and public services at large.” 

Notes to editors

1. The Institute for Government is an independent think tank that works to make government more effective.
2. For more information, including data to reproduce any charts, please contact press@instituteforgovernment.org.uk / 0785 031 3791.