Criminal justice
Our research assesses the performance of criminal justice services and how to improve them.
Performance Tracker 2023
Performance Tracker 2023: Police
Forces are starting to reverse poor performance, but severe challenges still remain.
Performance Tracker 2023: Prisons
Poor long-term planning means prison populations have exploded, with dire consequences for rehabilitation and prisoner safety.
Performance Tracker 2023: Criminal courts
Demand is becoming more complex, backlogs are at record highs, and productivity is declining
The crisis in prisons
Prisons are in a profound state of crisis. The next government will need to act immediately to begin to fix the problem. This short paper looks at how the UK criminal justice system got into this situation, and how it can find a way out of it.
Read our report
Our analysis
Overflowing prisons are just one aspect of deep dysfunction across our failing criminal justice system
Multiple vicious circles are causing spiralling performance declines in criminal justice.
The UK’s criminal justice system is ill-equipped to deal with riots
The hangover of austerity and court backlogs are hindering the government’s response to this summer’s violence.
Managing violent unrest poses challenges at every turn for policing – and for the new government
People expect the government to respond to the awful Southport attacks.
Police accountability
Several recent high-profile scandals have brought into focus the need for strengthened police accountability.
Reunification of probation services
MoJ's preparations for the reunification of services and their transition back into the department.
The criminal justice system
The UK criminal justice system is facing unprecedented court case backlogs and record prisoner numbers.
Productivity Pitches #2: criminal justice and law enforcement
By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, Productivity Pitches, a new series of events hosted by the IfG, aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels.
Watch the event