To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the adequate provision of magistrates in the UK justice system.
Answered on
25 February 2019
We work with the judiciary to analyse both current and future judicial, including magistrates, supply and demand across our courts and tribunals, factoring in planned recruitment, retirements and other departures.
Recruitment of magistrates in England and Wales is reviewed annually and in 2018/19 we plan to have recruited 1,018 new magistrates. We are developing a three-year strategy, focusing on increasing diversity and social mobility, to support the recruitment of sufficient numbers to manage workloads.
We are continuing to analyse the net impact of current and future reform on the requirement for magistrates in the longer term.