Written questions by Turner.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has the department made of the adequacy of environmental health inspections with regard to the case of Elkin & Bell Funeral Directors, Portsmouth Crown Court 2026.

The Government offers its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the events referred to in these questions.Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the recruitment and management of Environmental Health Officers to fulfil their statutory obligations. Environmental Health Officers have no statutory role relating to funeral homes.The Department has not made an assessment or collected data on regulatory gaps, environmental health standards, or the merits of inspection relating to funeral directors, but are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) who are leading the government response to the Fuller Inquiry. An interim update on the Inquiry’s Phase 2 recommendations was published in December 2025, and DHSC has committed to publishing the Government’s full response in summer 2026. That response will set out the Government’s position on any potential future changes to oversight or regulation of the funeral sector.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has the department made of possible regulatory gaps concerning funeral directors with particular regard to a) environmental health and b) public safety.

The Government offers its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the events referred to in these questions.Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the recruitment and management of Environmental Health Officers to fulfil their statutory obligations. Environmental Health Officers have no statutory role relating to funeral homes.The Department has not made an assessment or collected data on regulatory gaps, environmental health standards, or the merits of inspection relating to funeral directors, but are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) who are leading the government response to the Fuller Inquiry. An interim update on the Inquiry’s Phase 2 recommendations was published in December 2025, and DHSC has committed to publishing the Government’s full response in summer 2026. That response will set out the Government’s position on any potential future changes to oversight or regulation of the funeral sector.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has the Department made of the potential merits of funeral directors becoming a a) licensable or b) inspectable activity under existing environmental health frameworks.

The Government offers its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the events referred to in these questions.Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the recruitment and management of Environmental Health Officers to fulfil their statutory obligations. Environmental Health Officers have no statutory role relating to funeral homes.The Department has not made an assessment or collected data on regulatory gaps, environmental health standards, or the merits of inspection relating to funeral directors, but are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) who are leading the government response to the Fuller Inquiry. An interim update on the Inquiry’s Phase 2 recommendations was published in December 2025, and DHSC has committed to publishing the Government’s full response in summer 2026. That response will set out the Government’s position on any potential future changes to oversight or regulation of the funeral sector.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of standards of environmental health particular to funeral directors as settings which could impact public health.

The Government offers its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the events referred to in these questions.Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the recruitment and management of Environmental Health Officers to fulfil their statutory obligations. Environmental Health Officers have no statutory role relating to funeral homes.The Department has not made an assessment or collected data on regulatory gaps, environmental health standards, or the merits of inspection relating to funeral directors, but are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) who are leading the government response to the Fuller Inquiry. An interim update on the Inquiry’s Phase 2 recommendations was published in December 2025, and DHSC has committed to publishing the Government’s full response in summer 2026. That response will set out the Government’s position on any potential future changes to oversight or regulation of the funeral sector.

Communities and Local Government, what data does the department collect on environmental health breaches associated with a) poor hygiene, b) storage of bodies or c) handling practices in funeral premises.

The Government offers its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the events referred to in these questions.Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the recruitment and management of Environmental Health Officers to fulfil their statutory obligations. Environmental Health Officers have no statutory role relating to funeral homes.The Department has not made an assessment or collected data on regulatory gaps, environmental health standards, or the merits of inspection relating to funeral directors, but are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) who are leading the government response to the Fuller Inquiry. An interim update on the Inquiry’s Phase 2 recommendations was published in December 2025, and DHSC has committed to publishing the Government’s full response in summer 2026. That response will set out the Government’s position on any potential future changes to oversight or regulation of the funeral sector.

What the current average number of Crown court courtrooms that are not sitting in a month is; and what steps he is taking to address the issue of Crown Courts not sitting.

I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 6 January to question 100312.

Whether he plans to apply trial by a single judge sitting alone retrospectively to defendants who have already entered a plea and elected trial by jury.

The Government is focused on bringing down the backlog as soon as possible. Once the criminal court reforms come into force, they will apply to existing cases, provided the trial has not yet commenced. This will mean that cases which are past the point of initial mode of trial determination, but have not yet commenced trial, will be able to be changed from jury trial to trial by judge alone (either under the Crown Court Bench Division or on the grounds of technical complexity or length). Cases which are in the Crown Court will be retained within that jurisdiction.Cases already part-way through a jury trial will proceed with a jury trial. Similarly, cases already assigned to one court jurisdiction (magistrates’ court or Crown Court) will not be reallocated to another jurisdiction.The reason for taking this approach is so that the time savings and benefits of the reforms can be felt as soon as possible. Allowing pending cases to be tried by judge alone will enable us to start tackling the open caseload as soon as the new legislation is enacted, delivering swifter justice for victims without compromising defendants’ rights or fairness. It will also avoid two different procedures running in parallel in the Crown Court as a result of arbitrary cut-off dates. The application of procedural changes to existing cases is consistent with longstanding legal practice.

When he plans to publish the modelling and impact assessment relating to proposals to limit the use of jury trials.

An impact assessment will accompany our legislative measures, as is usual practice.

How many Crown Court courtrooms are not sitting on average in each month, and what steps he is taking to address the issue of Crown Courts not sitting.

HMCTS’s priority is to ensure all funded sitting days are fully utilised each financial year through active courtroom management. Last year we sat 107,771 Crown court sitting days, representing over 99% of our allocation, and we remain on track to deliver all allocated days this year. While I acknowledge existing challenges in relation to the maintenance of the court estate, this Government is increasing investment to address this - £148.5 million was allocated to court and tribunal maintenance and project funding this financial year, £28.5 million more than the previous government funded last financial year. Estate capacity is not the limiting factor when it comes to making full use of the available sitting days. Whether we can make full use of the physical space available depends on “system capacity” i.e. the sufficiency of judges, magistrates, legal advisors, advocates and wider system partners available to support them. In the Crown Court for this financial year, we have allocated 111,250 sitting days -  the highest number of sitting days on record and over 5,000 more than the previous government funded for the last financial year. That is on top of an additional investment of up to £92 million per year for criminal legal aid solicitor fees and up to £34 million per year for criminal legal aid advocates. We have also secured record investment of up to £450 million per year for the courts system over the Spending Review period, alongside investing almost £150 million to modernise the court estate. The Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue discussions on allocation for 2025-26, aiming to give an unprecedented three-year certainty to the system. The Deputy Prime Minister has been clear that sitting days in the Crown and magistrates’ courts must continue to rise, and his ambition is to continue breaking records by the end of this Parliament. The Crown Court operates from 84 buildings across England and Wales, with a core estate of over 500 courtrooms. Most are jury-enabled and suitable for trials, with the remainder supporting other judicial work, such as interlocutory hearings. The wider HMCTS estate—including magistrates’, civil, family, and tribunal rooms —can also be used for Crown Court business when required. As a result, the precise number of rooms available for Crown Court use at any given time is variable. Temporary unavailability may arise due to maintenance, but also due to overspill from other trials, alternative judicial activities (such as, box work, civil, family and tribunals hearings, or coroner’s court work), or other legitimate uses (including meetings and video-link sessions). However, these factors do not prevent the Crown Courts from sitting at their funded allocation.

Whether his Department has conducted an assessment of Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court sitting time lost as a result of the late production or non-production of defendants in custody.

Data on the number of trials declared ineffective due to the non-production of defendants can be found here: Trial effectiveness at the Criminal Courts tool.In the most recent reported quarter (July to September 2025) – non-production of defendants accounted for less than 2% of ineffective trials.Securing data on the impact that late production or non-production of defendants has had on sitting time would come at a disproportionate cost, due to the time required to process this information.

What steps he is taking to ensure that available Crown Court courtrooms are utilised on every sitting day.

HMCTS’s priority is to ensure all funded sitting days are fully utilised each financial year through active courtroom management. Last year we sat 107,771 Crown court sitting days, representing over 99% of our allocation, and we remain on track to deliver all allocated days this year. While I acknowledge existing challenges in relation to the maintenance of the court estate, this Government is increasing investment to address this - £148.5 million was allocated to court and tribunal maintenance and project funding this financial year, £28.5 million more than the previous government funded last financial year. Estate capacity is not the limiting factor when it comes to making full use of the available sitting days. Whether we can make full use of the physical space available depends on “system capacity” i.e. the sufficiency of judges, magistrates, legal advisors, advocates and wider system partners available to support them. In the Crown Court for this financial year, we have allocated 111,250 sitting days -  the highest number of sitting days on record and over 5,000 more than the previous government funded for the last financial year. That is on top of an additional investment of up to £92 million per year for criminal legal aid solicitor fees and up to £34 million per year for criminal legal aid advocates. We have also secured record investment of up to £450 million per year for the courts system over the Spending Review period, alongside investing almost £150 million to modernise the court estate. The Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue discussions on allocation for 2025-26, aiming to give an unprecedented three-year certainty to the system. The Deputy Prime Minister has been clear that sitting days in the Crown and magistrates’ courts must continue to rise, and his ambition is to continue breaking records by the end of this Parliament. The Crown Court operates from 84 buildings across England and Wales, with a core estate of over 500 courtrooms. Most are jury-enabled and suitable for trials, with the remainder supporting other judicial work, such as interlocutory hearings. The wider HMCTS estate—including magistrates’, civil, family, and tribunal rooms —can also be used for Crown Court business when required. As a result, the precise number of rooms available for Crown Court use at any given time is variable. Temporary unavailability may arise due to maintenance, but also due to overspill from other trials, alternative judicial activities (such as, box work, civil, family and tribunals hearings, or coroner’s court work), or other legitimate uses (including meetings and video-link sessions). However, these factors do not prevent the Crown Courts from sitting at their funded allocation.

Whether he plans to apply trial by a single judge sitting alone retrospectively to defendants who have already entered a plea and elected trial by jury.

Ministers will introduce detailed proposals to Parliament as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Which (a) court and (b) judicial body will determine whether an offence is likely to attract a custodial sentence of three years or more for the purposes of allocating the mode of trial.

Criminal cases will continue to start in the magistrates’ court and will be sent to the Crown Court by magistrates where the seriousness or complexity of the case means it is more suitable for trial on indictment.Post reforms, to determine whether a triable either-way case is eligible for trial in the Crown Court Bench Division, a Crown Court judge will assess whether the case is likely to attract a custodial sentence of three years or less. The process for allocations in the Crown Court will be similar to the existing approach used in the magistrates’ courts. We have full confidence in our judiciary to apply the Sentencing Guidelines appropriately when deciding the mode of trial. Eligibility for the Crown Court Bench Division will be assessed at the first opportunity a defendant has to enter a plea – normally the plea and trial preparation hearing where the judge will consider mode of trial among other case management factors to ensure the case is ready for trial.

What his planned timetable is for Crown Court judges to produce written judgments in cases tried by a single judge sitting alone.

Post-reforms, any judge sitting alone in the Crown Court will give a reasoned judgment for their verdict in open court. This will increase transparency over how decisions to convict or acquit are reached as juries do not currently give reasons for their judgments.

What estimate his Department has made of the time required for a single judge to prepare written judgments in criminal cases tried without a jury.

Post-reforms, any judge sitting alone in the Crown Court will give a reasoned judgment for their verdict in open court. This will increase transparency over how decisions to convict or acquit are reached as juries do not currently give reasons for their judgments.

What estimate his Department has made of the duration of hearings required to determine whether an offence is likely to attract a custodial sentence of three years or more.

Criminal cases will continue to start in the magistrates’ court and will be sent to the Crown Court by magistrates where the seriousness or complexity of the case means it is more suitable for trial on indictment.Post reforms, to determine whether a triable either-way case is eligible for trial in the Crown Court Bench Division, a Crown Court judge will assess whether the case is likely to attract a custodial sentence of three years or less. The process for allocations in the Crown Court will be similar to the existing approach used in the magistrates’ courts. We have full confidence in our judiciary to apply the Sentencing Guidelines appropriately when deciding the mode of trial. Eligibility for the Crown Court Bench Division will be assessed at the first opportunity a defendant has to enter a plea – normally the plea and trial preparation hearing where the judge will consider mode of trial among other case management factors to ensure the case is ready for trial.

How many and what proportion of serving magistrates are under the age of 40.

The breakdown of magistrates in post by age bands is provided in table 3.6 of the annual official Diversity of the Judiciary statistics (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/diversity-of-the-judiciary-2025-statistics).

Whether he plans to introduce a sunset clause for proposals to limit jury trials.

There has been no major reform of the criminal courts since the establishment of the Crown Court in 1971, despite Lord Auld making similar recommendations to Sir Brian Leveson in 2001.Sir Brian’s report found that jury trials are taking twice as long as they were in 2000 - one of the reasons is increased complexity in modern cases, the density of evidence deployed to establish them, and the increased efforts made to provide support and guidance to jurors.We are working within a system built for a different age and even with record investment, the Crown Court caseload will continue to rise. We need generational structural reform, investment, and modernisation.Everyone has, and will always have, the right to a fair trial. But there is no right to trial by jury in England and Wales and the vast majority of criminal trials in this country are conducted – fairly, without a jury – in the magistrates’ courts. Jury trials will nevertheless remain for the most serious cases - these reforms are designed to ensure a more proportionate use of overall resource in our criminal courts to ensure we are best serving the needs of both victims and defendants, to deliver better, swifter outcomes.There is no quick fix - it will take time to tackle an issue which has been years in the making, but we must act before the caseload becomes irretrievable. There are no plans to introduce sunset clauses for all proposals.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of out-of-town (a) taxi and (b) private hire vehicle licensing on local authority enforcement capabilities and public safety; and what steps she is taking to support local councils to meet the challenges posed by drivers operating outside the area in which they are licensed.

Since coming into Government, I have been actively looking at safeguarding in relation to taxis and private hire vehicles. I welcome the work by Baroness Casey in her audit of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse and her report adds valuable evidence to my department’s ongoing work. The Government will legislate to address the issues raised in the report and there are two outcomes I am clear we must achieve; the first is ensuring we have consistently high safeguarding standards and the second is that there is no unintended reduction in the availability of taxi and private hire vehicle services, which could disproportionately impact women and girls and disabled people, who rely on these services the most. That is why we are considering all options – including out-of-area working, national standards, enforcement and transferring licensing to local transport authorities.Public safety is an utmost priority, and both the Government and licensing authorities have an important role in the effective regulation of the sector in England. Legislation passed in 2022 places a requirement on licensing authorities in England to share safeguarding, road safety or equality concerns about drivers with the authority that issued the licence. The authority that issued the licence must then consider whether to suspend or revoke the driver’s licence and must inform the authority that raised the concerns of their decision. Statutory guidance, published by the Department for Transport in 2020, is clear that licensing authorities should, where the need arises, jointly authorise officers from other authorities so that compliance and enforcement action can be taken against licensees from outside their area. The same guidance also highlights that working in partnership with the police is vital for licensing authorities to share information as quickly as possible. Best Practice Guidance issued in 2023 highlights how the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme can be used to increase the powers licensing enforcement officers have available. Officers authorised by the chief constables of their local force can be given powers to stop vehicles for inspection, testing and verification of licensing conditions, and the power to demand the name and address of the driver. If a driver fails to stop when directed by a CSAS-trained officer, it is a criminal offence and can be reported to the police for investigation and action. Licensing authorities can also to carry out joint operations with other authorities and their local police force.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to improve his Department’s support for UK SMEs.

The Department is committed to improving support for SMEs, working cross-government to remove barriers to growth, ensuring that SMEs have access to resources and expertise needed to develop and scale. For example, over the last 2 years, Innovate UK has awarded £5.2bn funding to more than 7,000 businesses spread across the UK, of which 86% were SMEsWe are also working to back UK tech startups through a range of policies that address the issues the sector cares about. This includes harnessing the benefits of AI, investment, skills, regulation, data and procurement.