Speeches by Farnsworth.

“There were 111,996 sitting days in 2023 and 21,026 cases were disposed of. That is what we have been told.”

“That’s fine. Those were the figures we were provided with.”

“Thank you. I want to talk about ineffective trials, what might increase rates of ineffective trials and what challenges you have in the courts at the moment. What is the cause of ineffective trials in the main, from your perspective?”

“Is the ineffective rate increasing?”

“You mentioned that if a case was listed for a Monday and it did not start until the Tuesday or the Wednesday, that is counted as ineffective.”

“They told us that at Snaresbrook, and that that might be confusing the figures in terms of the real picture.”

“As a Crown prosecutor, I would have said that if we got started on a Tuesday we were doing well. That would be a successful case for me and not an ineffective case. It is interesting that it would go down as an ineffective case. Thank you for that.”

“It is the chronology that takes a long time because the cases have been going on for so long. That causes additional work as well.”

“I have one last question in relation to Crown court efficiency and how it fits in with the increased magistrates court sentencing powers. There has been some suggestion that it will free up around 2,000 sitting days each year in the Crown court. Do you agree with that assessment?”

“Good and sufficient cause has always been something that the CPS have had to concentrate on in their activity. Some of the delay now is just not having the court sitting days and the court listing being so far into the future. Do you have any concerns about good and sufficient cause in relation to the backlogs?”

“I am Linsey Farnsworth. I was a Crown prosecutor for 21 years. I am a member of the FDA union, which is the union for the CPS. I am also a member of other unions, as declared on the website.”

“Our member who is not here asked me to ask you why sitting days are the unit.”

“I want to come in here in relation to the drive for early guilty pleas. I am very familiar with it, as you can imagine. With the current situation on the backlog, we know the effect on victims and witnesses of crime in terms of the likelihood of them attending court if a case is listed very far into the future. What ar…”

“I want to focus on the Crown court, as you can imagine, and in particular Crown court efficiency. I was looking at the figures. In 2023, in the halcyon days, we had 111,996 sitting days and disposed of 21,026 cases.”

“For 2023, the figures that I was given—”

“I will move on to looking at the remand side of things. You mentioned the challenges of prisoners being brought to court. Are there any other impacts that custody cases are having? We heard at Snaresbrook about bail cases for very serious offences being put back for trial in 2027. They often get bumped back because of …”

“It is a great privilege to be called to make my maiden speech in this most important debate, and it is an honour to represent the people of Amber Valley in this House. I am proud to be part of a Government with five missions, but my sixth mission is to put Amber Valley firmly on the map. Any Members who have had the mi…”

“Thank you, Chair. I have a very quick question. You mentioned the phones in prison and organised crime groups essentially continuing with their business model from within prison. You have said that you work with other agencies as well. If you receive intelligence to suggest that there is an operation going on in one of…”

“What about other options for supporting bail? Electronic tagging was mentioned, which has been around for a long time. I was really excited to hear a debate in the House about tags that monitor alcohol use and things like that. That is really exciting for an old prosecutor like me. Could you tell me a little bit more a…”

“That is right. I would like to explore adult custodial remand with you a little if possible. The sentencing review is just that: it is about sentencing. My understanding is that it does not cover remand in custody. Are you seeking to reduce the number of people who are remanded into custody. If so, what steps are you t…”