Commenting on today’s spending review statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates’ Association said:
“We are pleased to see the considerable additional investment in criminal justice announced in today’s Spending Review, including in probation and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which we hope will speed up justice for victims, witnesses and defendants.
“Our members tell us that the shortage of probation staff undermines their timely and effective use of community-based sentencing options, such as unpaid work orders and Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTR), so the additional funding for this important work is welcome.
“However, the devil is in the detail and, while the additional money is very welcome, other parts of the justice system need investment too. There was no mention of tackling the dire shortage of legal advisors in magistrates’ courts, which is leading to up to one in ten sittings being cancelled, or the need to recruit up to 6,000 additional magistrates over the next few years to hear the extra cases, especially if the new intermediate courts come to fruition. And, while there was plenty of capital spending for new prison places, there was no mention of the need to invest in our crumbling court buildings.
“The spending review also states that the Ministry of Justice is expected to find substantial efficiency savings. Some past efficiency measures could more accurately have been called corner-cutting, which led to greater inefficiencies and court delays, and we will be urging the ministry to act with care and caution.”
