Boost to Court Funding in Autumn Budget

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced an increase in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) budget in his autumn budget this week.

He announced an additional £2.2bn for courts, prisons and probation services, including funding to help clear the courts backlog. The increase to the MoJ budget over the next three years represents a real-terms increase in funding.

The government is investing more than £1bn to increase capacity and efficiency across the courts system and tackle the growing court backlog, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

£324 million has been committed to address backlogs in the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions and a further £200 million to complete the MoJ’s court reform programme by 2024-2025.

The Law Society of England and Wales has welcomed the autumn budget as a step in the right direction, welcoming reinvestment in the justice system by the UK government.

The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.