Public Audit Committee
Criminal courts backlog
Background
On the 25 May 2023, the Auditor General for Scotland published Criminal courts backlog.
The report says:
"The courts recovery programme, introduced in September 2021, significantly increased Scotland’s criminal court capacity and helped to reduce the backlog of cases which built up due to Covid-19. SCTS estimates that within the normal operating capacity for criminal courts, there would be around 20,000 outstanding scheduled trials at any given point. By January 2022 it was more than double that figure, peaking at 43,606. Thereafter, this figure reduced every month and by February 2023 stood at 28,029."
Read the report on Audit Scotland's website
Information about the Public Audit Committee's consideration of the report can be found below.
Meetings
8 June 2023
The Committee took evidence from:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; Mark Taylor, Audit Director; and Lynsey Davies, Audit Manager, Audit Scotland.
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 8 June 2023
Read the Official Report, 8 June 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 8 June 2023
Decision: The Committee agreed to invite the Scottish Government and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to give oral evidence at a future meeting.
14 September 2023
The Committee took evidence from:
Neil Rennick, Director-General Education and Justice; Catriona Dalrymple, Interim Director of Justice, Scottish Government; and Eric McQueen, Chief Executive, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service.
Followed by:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; and Mark Taylor, Audit Director, Audit Scotland.
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 14 September 2023
Read the Official Report, 14 September 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 14 September 2023
Decision: The Committee considered the evidence heard at agenda items 2 and 3 and agreed to defer further consideration until follow-up written information is received from the Scottish Government.
Decision: At its meeting on 7 December 2023 the Committee considered correspondence from the Director-General Education and Justice, Scottish Government, in relation to Criminal courts backlog and agreed to close its scrutiny of the report.