Increasing demand
The new (27 February 2025) edition of the Ministry of Justice’s quarterly criminal justice statistics demonstrate the ever-growing pressures on our failing system. The figures – which cover the period ending on 30 September 2024 – show that there were 1.51 million individuals formally dealt with by the CJS in England and Wales in this latest year – substantial increase of 4%.
Other headline findings for this period are:
Out of court disposals increased slightly (1%)
Over three quarters of OOCDs were for community resolutions – volumes have increased by 6% compared to the previous year. The volume of all other OOCDs continued to fall.
Prosecutions and convictions increased by 5% and 4% respectively
Prosecutions for indictable offences increased 18% in the latest year and were 11% higher than in the year ending September 2019 (chosen because it was the most recent year unaffected by the pandemic).
The proportion and volume of defendants remanded in custody increased
There was a slight increase in the proportion of defendants remanded in custody across each stage of court proceedings, and an increase in the overall volume of custodial remand.
Detailed findings
Although the number of people formally dealt with by the CJS increased again last year, it is important to remember that the latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) showed that crime experienced by individuals and households has generally decreased over the last 10 years. So, there is not more crime overall but an increase in the number of police activity and improvements in recording practices. There was an 11% increase in recorded crimes that resulted in a charge in the latest year, driving some of the increased flows into the courts.
The number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates’ courts increased by 5% in the latest year and convictions at all courts increased by 4%.
Increases in the numbers sentenced to immediate custody (8%) together with the defendants remanded in custody at the Crown Court (15%) in the latest year have increased workloads for both the prison and probation services.
Prosecutions and convictions
Prosecutions increased across all offence groups, including a 32% increase for theft offences (up by 15,700) and an 30% increase for criminal damage and arson (up by 700). In addition, these was a notable increase in the volume of prosecutions for public order offences in the period, up 15% and showing the highest volumes seen in the last decade – this reflects the impact of the public disorder seen from 30 July 2024.
In the year ending September 2024, 1.15 million offenders were convicted, 4% more than in the previous year. The number of convictions increased across all offence types including a 13% in indictable offences, mainly driven by a sharp increase in theft offences (32%).
Despite overall convictions remaining 4% below the level of five years ago, convictions for both violence against the person and sexual offences have increased compared to the year ending September 2019, up 29% and 46% respectively.
Trends in convictions for indictable offences tend to lag prosecutions due to the time taken between completing proceedings in the magistrates’ court (counted as prosecutions) and cases completing at Crown Court.
Remands
You can see the trends in remands over the last five years from the chart reproduced above. In the year ending September 2024, there was a slight increase in the proportion of defendants remanded in custody across each stage of court proceedings, and an increase in the overall volume of custodial remand.
A total of 1.31 million defendants were directed to appear at magistrates’ courts by prosecuting authorities. The proportion of defendants held in custody increased slightly from 8% in the year ending September 2023 to 9% in the latest year.
At magistrates’ courts, the volume of those remanded in custody increased by 26% to around 68,000 compared to the previous year (54,000) – this remains broadly stable at around 5% of all defendants dealt with at the magistrates’ courts. Of the defendants remanded in custody at magistrates’ courts in the latest year, 13% received an immediate or suspended custodial sentence and a further 71% were sent for trial or sentencing at Crown Court.
At the Crown Court the volume of defendants remanded in custody increased by 15% to around 55,000 compared to the previous year (48,000) and is the highest volume seen across the last decade. As a proportion of defendants dealt with this remained unchanged at 52%. Defendants dealt with for indictable offences are more often remanded in custody for reasons such as the severity of offence, risk of further offending and likelihood of failing to appear in court.
Of those remanded in custody at the Crown Court, 78% were issued an immediate or suspended custodial sentence – compared to 54% of those bailed.
Sentencing
The average custodial sentence length (ACSL) fell back slightly to 20.1 months. This decrease in ACSL was mainly driven by an increase in the proportion of custodial sentences accounted for by theft offences, which attract shorter sentences. The largest increases in ACSL were for sexual offences (up 3.2 months) and drug offences (up 2.5 months).
The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody increased by 8% compared to the previous year, from 71,000 to 77,000 in the year to September 2024, with notable increases seen for theft (27%) and public order offences (20%).
The size of these increases in people both remanded in and sentenced to custody shows why the MoJ forecasts such a big increase in our prison population – to 100,800 by 2029.
Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here
