# Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly, England And Wales

 July to September 2016 Ministry of Justice Statistics bulletin Published 15 December 2016 

| Contents                                      | 1   |
|-----------------------------------------------|-----|
|                                               |     |
| Introduction                                  | 2   |
|                                               |     |
| Changes and revisions in this publication     | 4   |
|                                               |     |
| Key Findings                                  | 5   |
|                                               |     |
| Criminal Courts                               | 6   |
|                                               |     |
| 1.                                            |     |
|                                               |     |
| Criminal cases in the magistrates' courts     |     |
|                                               |     |
| 6                                             |     |
|                                               |     |
| 2.                                            |     |
|                                               |     |
| Criminal cases in the Crown Court             |     |
|                                               |     |
| 7                                             |     |
|                                               |     |
| 3.                                            |     |
|                                               |     |
| Timeliness                                    |     |
|                                               |     |
| 12                                            |     |
|                                               |     |
| Annex A: Enforcement of financial impositions | 15  |
|                                               |     |
| Annex B: List of Accompanying Tables and CSV  | 18  |
|                                               |     |
| Annex C: Explanatory notes                    | 21  |
|                                               |     |
| Previous editions                             | 22  |
|                                               |     |
| Contacts                                      | 22  |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |
|                                               |     |

## Introduction

The statistical bulletin This publication presents statistics relating to activity in criminal cases in magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales. It provides provisional figures for the latest quarter (July to September 2016), with accompanying commentary and analysis. The figures themselves give a summary overview of the volume of cases dealt with by these courts over time. The statistics are used to monitor court workloads, to assist in the development of policy, and their subsequent monitoring and evaluation.  
Information on the enforcement of financial impositions can be found in Annex A. The annex provides updated management information on the collection of financial impositions through Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).  
 
Criminal Courts; an overview Magistrates' courts  
 
Virtually all criminal court cases start in the magistrates' courts. The less serious offences are handled entirely in magistrates' courts, with over 90% of all cases being dealt with in this way. The more serious offences are passed on to the Crown Court, either for sentencing after the defendant has been found guilty in the magistrates' 
court, or for trial with a judge and jury. As part of wider measures in the justice system, committal hearings were abolished nationally1 at the end of May 2013. As a result of the change, triable-either-way cases can now be sent straight to the Crown Court as soon as it is clear the matter is serious enough, rather than having to await a committal hearing.  
The Crown Court  
 
The Crown Court deals with cases received from the magistrates' courts for sentencing, trial or appeal against magistrates' courts' decision. Of those proceeded against in the magistrates' courts, around 5% of defendants go on to the Crown Court for trial. Triable-either-way cases can be sent to the Crown Court for trial if the magistrates' courts decide the matter is serious enough or if a defendant elects to be tried by judge and jury. Indictable only cases can only be tried on indictment in the Crown Court as they cannot be heard summarily at the magistrates' courts. 

Committed for sentence cases are transferred to the Crown Court for sentencing only after a defendant has been convicted in a magistrates' court. This would occur where a magistrate believes that their sentencing powers are insufficient to apply an appropriate sanction to the defendant. 

 
In its appellate jurisdiction the Crown Court deals mainly with appeals against conviction and/or sentence in respect of criminal offences, including consequential orders, e.g. disqualification from driving, and against the making of certain standalone orders, e.g. Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. The Crown Court may dismiss or allow the appeal and vary all or any part of the sentence. Appeals are usually heard by a Circuit Judge sitting with no more than four lay magistrates (normally two). Average waiting time at the Crown Court 
 
'Average waiting time' is the time between sending a case to the Crown Court and the start of the substantive hearing. Average hearing time at the Crown Court 
 
 
The 'average hearing time' relates to the average duration of all hearings heard in the Crown Court, including preliminary hearings, main hearings, and hearings where a sentence is given to a defendant. 

 
Data and court processes Information about the systems and data included in this publication can be found in the '**A guide to criminal court statistics'** which is published alongside this report. It also includes a **glossary** which provides brief definitions for the terms used in this report. www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-to-criminal-court-statistics 

## Changes And Revisions In This Publication

Changes to timeliness methodology to remove 10 year threshold  
 
All timeliness figures in this publication are based on new timeliness methodology which include cases with an offence to completion duration of over 10 years, as explained below. Following a consultation in early 2015, a proposal was agreed to make changes to the end-to-end case timeliness methodology applied within this publication. The proposed change was to remove the 10 year threshold from the validation scripts applied to published estimates. In June 2016 we confirmed our intention to implement the changes and released the first set of tables as experimental statistics in the September 2016 bulletin. In addition, Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases were included within the statistics for the first time in the September bulletin. These cases were introduced in June 2015 and apply to adult only summary non imprisonable offences which can only be dealt with by magistrates' courts. In the September 2016 publication, tables based on both the existing and new experimental timeliness methodologies were published, along with a separate annex document providing users with a detailed explanation of the change in approach and comparisons between statistics produced under the two methodologies. Following further scrutiny, a small number of changes have been made to the new methodology; SJP cases are now excluded if their offence duration was over 10 years or if the laying of information date was prior to 2014. The figures, based on the new methodology, have therefore been reproduced following the publication in September 2016 and are no longer classified as 'experimental statistics'.  
Additional magistrates' courts timeliness tables - excluding cases committed to the Crown Court Published timeliness tables at a national level for magistrates' court cases in table T2 include cases committed to the Crown Court. The timeliness transparency file, however, only includes cases fully dealt with in the magistrates' courts, thereby excluding cases committed to the Crown Court. For completeness, an additional national level magistrates' court table has been produced (table T3) to present national timeliness statistics in the same way as the transparency file. This additional table therefore only includes cases fully dealt with at magistrates' courts and exclude cases committed to the Crown Court; it is now part of the set of timeliness tables produced each quarter. 

 

## Key Findings

This report presents statistics relating to activity in criminal cases in the magistrates' 
courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2016 (July to September). 

 
 Disposals in magistrates' courts remain higher than receipts, resulting in the 
outstanding magistrates' court caseload dropping to 281,600 at the end of Q3 
2016, the lowest level in the time period reported. 
 Outstanding cases in the Crown Court have been gradually decreasing since Q4 
2014. Between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016 they declined by 5% to 41,800 cases, the lowest number of outstanding cases since Q1 2013. 
 Over the last 12 months, for cases completing in the Crown Court, the average 
number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court decreased overall from 198 days in Q3 2015 to 193 days in Q3 2016. 
 Hearing times for not guilty trials in the Crown Court have increased in the latest 
quarter to 14.5 hours in Q3 2016. Hearing times for guilty plea trials have remained fairly steady with a small increase to 1.7 hours into Q3 2016. 

## Criminal Courts

At the third quarter of 2016, there were around 240 magistrates' courts and approximately 75 Crown Court locations across England and Wales.  
 
1. Criminal cases in the magistrates' courts 
 
Figure 1 below shows receipts, disposals and outstanding cases at magistrates' courts in England and Wales. 

## Receipts In The Magistrates' Courts (Figure 1) Receipts Have Been Declining Since The End Of 2015, Falling By 7% Since The Last Quarter Of 2015, And By 3% Between Q2 2016 And Q3 2016. Disposals (Figure 1) Following A Peak Of 412,400 Disposals In Q1 2016, The Number Of Disposals Has Been Falling, Decreasing By 3% From Q2 2016 To 386,500 In Q3 2016, The Lowest Number Since Q2 2014. Despite The Decline In Disposals They Continued To Be Higher Than Receipts. Outstanding Cases (Figure 1) Outstanding Cases Dropped To 281,600 Cases At The End Of Q3 2016, The Lowest Level In The Time Period Reported, And A 4% Decrease Compared To Q2 2016.

 
2. Criminal cases in the Crown Court 
 
Figure 2 below shows quarterly receipts, disposals and outstanding cases in Crown Court in England and Wales. 

 

## Receipts (Figure 2) Although Receipts Rose By 2% Since The Last Quarter, They Have Been Gradually Declining Since Q3 2013, Decreasing By 8% Between Q3 2015 And Q3 2016. This Latest Figure Of 29,400 Was The Second Lowest Of The Quarterly Time Series. Disposals (Figure 2) Disposals Have Fallen By 3% In The Last Quarter To 31,500, With An Overall Decrease Of 4% Since Q3 2015. Despite This, Disposals Have Continued To Be Higher Than Receipts For The Last Seven Quarters, Driving The Falling Trend In The Number Of Outstanding Cases. Outstanding Cases (Figure 2) Outstanding Cases In The Crown Court Have Been Gradually Decreasing Since Q4 2014. Between Q2 2016 And Q3 2016 They Declined By 5% To 41,800 Cases, The Lowest Number Of Outstanding Cases Since Q1 2013.

 

Receipts by case type (figure 3) 
 
Triable-either-way trial case receipts rose by 3% from Q2 2016, driving the overall trend in Crown Court receipts this quarter. Overall however, there was a downward trend in Triable-either-way receipts over the last twelve months, with a decrease of 
17% between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016. Indictable only trial case receipts fell by 3% between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016, with an overall decrease of 7% since Q3 2015. Committed for sentence and appeals receipts rose between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016 by 3% and 6%, respectively. Over a longer period, the number of committed for sentence receipts has increased by 3% since Q3 2015, while appeals have decreased by 2% over the same time period. 

Disposals by case type (figure 4) Overall, triable-either-way disposals have been higher than receipts since Q1 2015, even though disposals decreased by 6% between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016.  The number of indictable only disposals has also decreased by 6% over the same time period, from 7,900 in Q2 2016 to 7,500 in Q3 2016. Committed for sentence disposals have increased by 8% since Q3 2015, whilst appeals have fluctuated since Q3 2015, with a small increase of 3% from Q2 2016. 

 

Outstanding cases by case type (figure 5) 
 
The trend in triable-either-way outstanding cases has driven the trend in the overall number of outstanding cases, with a decrease of 6% in the latest quarter and 26% between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016. This declining trend, seen since Q1 2015, has been driven by triable-either-way disposals being greater than corresponding receipts over this time period. Indictable only cases have followed a similar pattern but to a lesser magnitude, decreasing by 4% in the latest quarter and by 14% between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016. Committed for sentence outstanding cases had remained fairly steady since Q2 2014 but have fallen by 3% in the latest quarter. Appeals have also declined in Q3 2016, by 4% compared to Q2 2016. 

 
 
Receipts, disposals and outstanding cases by offence group (figure 6) 
 
In Q3 2016, violence against the person had the highest volume of receipts, followed by theft offences, drug offences and miscellaneous crimes against society. 

For disposals, violence against the person had the highest number in Q3 2016 followed by drug offences, miscellaneous crimes against society and theft offences. Outstanding cases followed a similar pattern, with violence against the person having the highest number of cases, followed by sexual offences and miscellaneous crimes against society. Although the number of disposals for sexual offences was higher than receipts in Q3 2016, the high number of outstanding cases may be due to the length of time these cases take to complete in comparison to other offence groups. At Q3 2016, disposals were higher than receipts for each offence group, resulting in outstanding cases decreasing across each of the groups between Q2 and Q3 2016. 

9,000Violence against the personSexual offencesRobberyTheft OffencesCriminal damage and arsonDrug offencesPossession of weaponsPublic order offencesMiscellaneous crimes against societyFraud Offences

## 3. Timeliness Methodology Notes

The statistics below are based on the revised end-to-end timeliness methodology, which were published for the first time as experimental statistics in the previous quarterly publication, published in September 2016. The figures now include cases where the total duration from offence to completion is greater than 10 years. Please see the *Changes and revisions in this publication* section of this bulletin for more details on changes to the timeliness methodology. Offence to completion in the magistrates' courts 
 
For cases in the magistrates' courts, the (mean) average number of days from offence to completion increased steadily from 156 days in Q3 2013 to 177 days in Q1 2016, but decreased to 173 days in Q3 2016. Crown Court criminal cases - First listing in the magistrates' courts to completion in the Crown Court (figure 7) 
 
 
The average number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court has increased from 185 days in Q1 2016 to 193 days in Q3 2016, although it's still lower than the Q3 2015 level of 198 days. 

The average time from first listing at the magistrates' court to receipt by the Crown Court has remained fairly steady since late 2014, taking 6 days in Q3 2016. The average time from receipt by the Crown Court to completion decreased from 193 days in Q3 2015 to 187 days in Q3 2016, driving the overall decrease in the number of days from first listing to completion over the last 12 months. In the latest quarter, however, the average time from receipt by the Crown Court to completion increased by 4 days from 183 days in Q2 2016.  
 
 
Average waiting times at the Crown Court (figure 8) Waiting times for triable-either-way cases have increased since the last quarter from 20.6 weeks in Q2 2016 to 20.9 weeks in Q3 2016, continuing the increasing trend seen since Q3 2013. Indictable only cases have decreased from 21.8 weeks in Q2 2016 to 21.4 weeks in Q3 2016, although they have increased overall since Q3 2013. For non-trial cases, there was a small decrease of 0.3 weeks for committed for sentence cases, but a slightly larger decrease of 0.7 weeks for appeals; both have remained fairly stable over the time period reported. 

 

## Average Hearing Times At The Crown Court (Figure 9) Hearing Times For Not Guilty Trials In The Crown Court Fluctuated Throughout 2014 And 2015 But, Overall, They Have Increased By 1.8 Hours From Q3 2015 To 14.5 Hours In The Latest Quarter. Hearing Times For Guilty Plea Trials Have Remained Fairly Steady With A Small Increase To 1.7 Hours Into Q3 2016.

 

## Annex A: Enforcement Of Financial Impositions

The following section provides updated management information on the collection of financial impositions through Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). 

Impositions made in this time period are reported, and payment information will continue to be recorded. Financial impositions are ordered by the criminal courts for payment by offenders at sentencing and include financial penalties such as fines, prosecutors' costs, compensation orders and victim surcharge. Financial penalties are the most commonly used sentence and form a significant part of HMCTS' collection and enforcement business. Accounting centres also enforce penalty notices for disorder and fixed penalty notices registered as fines for enforcement. The financial imposition statistics presented here do not include confiscation orders. Figure 10 shows the financial impositions for each quarter split by imposition type. 



Note: The Criminal Court Charge (CCC) ceased to exist on 24 December 2015 but impositions still appear due to when the data are entered onto the system. 

Financial penalties paid (Table A1)  
 
Financial penalties can be imposed by the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court; 
although they are all collected and enforced by the HMCTS National Compliance and Enforcement Service. Overall there has been an increasing trend since Q2 2014 in the total value of financial penalties paid, regardless of the age of the imposition. Following a peak in Q2 2016 the total financial impositions fell by 15% to £100 million in Q3 2016, although this was a 9% increase when compared to Q3 2015. 

Financial impositions and amounts paid by imposition type (Table A2, figure 
10) After the abolition of the 'Criminal Courts Charge' in December 2015 the total financial impositions have decreased from the peak of £176 million in Q4 2015 to £156 million in Q3 2016, an 11% decrease. In Q3 2016 the total financial impositions fell by 4% compared to Q2 2016, driven mainly by a decrease of £11.9 million in compensation. In earlier quarters the gradually increasing trend in fines since Q2 2014 was the main driver for increases in total impositions. Despite a decrease in total impositions, fines increased by 8% between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016, continuing the increasing trend with a 42% increase since Q3 2015. In Q3 2016, 11% (£17.6 million) of all financial impositions imposed by the criminal courts were paid within the imposition month. This is a fall from Q2 2016 where we saw the highest amount imposed (£33.7m) and highest collection rate within the imposition month, which had been driven by an increase in compensation payments. There were a number of high value impositions for cases included within compensation, such as Health and Safety Executive cases during Q2 2016 which contributed to this high amount of compensation impositions. 

 
Financial impositions (£ million) for victim surcharge (Table A2, figure 11) Victim surcharge is an additional surcharge which is added to the fines that are imposed. The receipts obtained from the collection of these monies by HMCTS are passed to the Justice Policy Group of the MoJ to fund victims' services. The amount imposed has been increasing since its scope and amounts payable were extended in October 2012. Following a period of stability between Q1 2015 and Q4 2015, impositions increased at the start of 2016 and were 14% higher at Q3 2016 than at Q4 2015 although they were fairly stable in the last two quarters, Q2 2016 and Q3 2016. While the amount imposed has increased since 2015, the proportion of impositions collected within the imposition month has decreased from 11% in Q3 2015 to 9% in Q3 2016. 

Financial imposition accounts opened and closed (Table A3) An account is opened when a financial penalty is ordered in court and is closed when the imposition against the account has been paid or the imposition ceases. Where a defendant has more than one financial penalty and/or account, these can be consolidated into one account. There were 311,000 accounts opened in Q3 2016, a decrease of 4% since Q2 2016, and a decrease of 4% when compared to the same period in the previous year. Of the accounts opened in Q3 2016, 9% (27,300) were closed within the imposition month. 

Outstanding financial impositions (Table A4) The amount outstanding is irrespective of the age of the imposition or the payment terms, and excludes all impositions already paid as well as both legal and administrative cancellations. Payment terms may include arrangements for offenders to pay amounts owed over a period of time. In Q3 2016, the total value of financial impositions outstanding in England and Wales was £747 million. The amount of outstanding financial impositions increased by 6% in the latest quarter, and has increased by 36% since Q1 2014. The increase since Q2 2015 is partially due to owed criminal court charge payments. 

## Annex B: List Of Accompanying Tables And Csv

Accompanying this publication are the following tables: 

| Table M1                                                                       | Receipts, disposals and outstanding criminal cases in the magistrates'        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| courts in England and Wales, annually 2012 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2012 - Q3      |                                                                               |
| 2016                                                                           |                                                                               |
| Table M2                                                                       | Effectiveness of magistrates' courts' trials in England and Wales, annually   |
| 2003 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                                       |                                                                               |
| Table M3                                                                       | Key reasons for ineffective magistrates' courts' trials in England and Wales, |
| annually 2006 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                              |                                                                               |
| Table M4                                                                       | Key reasons for cracked magistrates' courts' trials in England and Wales,     |
| annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                              |                                                                               |
| Table C1                                                                       | Receipts, disposals and outstanding cases in the Crown Court in England       |
| and Wales, annually 2000 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                   |                                                                               |
| Table C1a                                                                      | Receipts by offence group in the Crown Court in England and Wales, annual     |
| 2014 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2014 - Q3 2016                                       |                                                                               |
| Table C1b                                                                      | Disposals by offence group in the Crown Court in England and Wales,           |
| annual 2014 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2014 - Q3 2016                                |                                                                               |
| Table C1c                                                                      | Outstanding cases by offence group in the Crown Court in England and          |
| Wales, annual 2014 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2014 - Q3 2016                         |                                                                               |
| Table C2                                                                       | Effectiveness of Crown Court trials in England and Wales, annually 2007 -     |
| 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                                              |                                                                               |
| Table C3                                                                       | Key reasons for ineffective Crown Court trials in England and Wales,          |
| annually 2007 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                              |                                                                               |
| Table C4                                                                       | Key reasons for cracked Crown Court trials in England and Wales, annually     |
| 2007 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                                       |                                                                               |
| Table C5                                                                       | Defendants dealt with in trial cases in the Crown Court by plea in England    |
| and Wales, annually 2001 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                   |                                                                               |
| Table C6                                                                       | Defendants dealt with in trial cases by stage at which guilty plea was        |
| entered and accepted in the Crown Court, by receipt type, England and          |                                                                               |
| Wales, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                       |                                                                               |
| Table C7                                                                       | Defendants dealt with in trial cases where a guilty plea was entered before a |
| trial, during trial or at a cracked trial, and accepted in the Crown Court, by |                                                                               |
| receipt type, England and Wales, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 -     |                                                                               |
| Q3 2016                                                                        |                                                                               |
| Table C8                                                                       | Average waiting times in the Crown Court in England and Wales, annually       |
| 2000 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                                       |                                                                               |
| Table C9                                                                      | Average waiting times (weeks) in the Crown Court for defendants dealt with    |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| in trial cases, by plea and remand type, England and Wales, annually 2007 -   |                                                                               |
| 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                                             |                                                                               |
| Table C10                                                                     | Average hearing and waiting times for trial cases in the Crown Court by plea  |
| in England and Wales, annually 2000 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016       |                                                                               |
| Table C11                                                                     | Average hearing times (hours) in the Crown Court for cases disposed of, by    |
| case type and plea, England and Wales, annually 2007 - 2015, quarterly Q1     |                                                                               |
| 2010 - Q3 2016                                                                |                                                                               |
| Table C12                                                                     | Appeals (against decisions of magistrates' courts) dealt with in the Crown    |
| Court, by appeal type and result, England and Wales, annually 2007 - 2015,    |                                                                               |
| quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                                                   |                                                                               |
| Table T1                                                                      | Average number of days from offence to completion, percentage of              |
| proceedings completed at first listing and average number of hearings for     |                                                                               |
| criminal cases at the magistrates' courts by initial plea, England and Wales, |                                                                               |
| annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 - Q3 2016                             |                                                                               |
| Table T2                                                                      | Average number of days taken from offence to completion for all criminal      |
| cases at the magistrates' courts including those committed to the Crown       |                                                                               |
| Court, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 - Q3 2016                      |                                                                               |
|                                                                               |                                                                               |
| Table T3                                                                      | Average number of days taken from offence to completion for all criminal      |
| cases at the magistrates' courts, excluding those committed to the Crown      |                                                                               |
| Court, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 - Q3 2016                      |                                                                               |
|                                                                               |                                                                               |
| Table T4                                                                      | Average number of days taken from offence to completion for Crown Court       |
| criminal cases in England and Wales, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q2       |                                                                               |
| 2010 - Q3 2016                                                                |                                                                               |
|                                                                               |                                                                               |
| Table T5                                                                      | Average number of days taken from offence to completion for criminal          |
| cases, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 - Q3 2016                      |                                                                               |
|                                                                               |                                                                               |
| Table T6                                                                      | Average number of days taken from offence to completion for all criminal      |
| cases by offence group, annually 2011 - 2015, quarterly Q3 2015 and Q3        |                                                                               |
| 2016                                                                          |                                                                               |
|                                                                               |                                                                               |
| Table A1                                                                      | Enforcement of financial penalties in the magistrates' courts, England and    |
| Wales, annually 2004 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 - Q3 2016                      |                                                                               |
| Table A2                                                                      | HMCTS management information: Financial impositions and amounts paid          |
| by imposition type, England and Wales, annual 2011 - 2015, quarterly Q2       |                                                                               |
| 2011 - Q3 2016                                                                |                                                                               |
| Table A3                                                                      | HMCTS management information: Number of financial imposition accounts         |
| opened and closed, annually 2011 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2011 - Q3 2016          |                                                                               |
| Table A4                                                                      | HMCTS management information: Total amount of financial impositions           |
| outstanding, annually 2011 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2011 - Q3 2016                |                                                                               |


There are also a number of csv files that support this publication, these include: 

 National and court level workload activity and case progression data 
 National and court level timeliness data  National and court level workload data by offence group 

## Annex C: Explanatory Notes

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics: 

 meet identified user needs;  are well explained and readily accessible; 
 are produced according to sound methods, and  are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.  
Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics, it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed. 

The statistics in this bulletin relate to cases in the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales. Calendar year statistics are also provided. Breakdowns of many of the summary figures presented in this bulletin, such as split by court or by HMCTS area, are available in the Comma Separated Value (CSV) files that accompany this publication. 

Revisions The statistics in the latest quarter are provisional, and are therefore liable to revision to take account of any late amendments to the administrative databases from which these statistics are sourced. The standard process for revising the published statistics to account for these late amendments is as follows: 

 An initial revision to the statistics for the latest quarter may be made when the 
next edition of this bulletin is published. Further revisions may be made when the figures are reconciled at the end of the year. If revisions are needed in the subsequent year this will be clearly annotated in the tables. 
For more information please see the **Guide to criminal court statistics**. 

 
Symbols and conventions The following symbols have been used throughout the tables in this bulletin: ..    
= Not applicable 

- 
= Not available 
0   
= Nil 
(r) 
= Revised data 
(p) 
= Provisional data 
Previous editions Previous editions of Court Statistics Quarterly can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/court-statistics-quarterly#court-statisticsquarterly-reports 
 
Future publication The next publication of Criminal court statistics quarterly is scheduled to be published on 30 March 2017, covering the period October to December 2016. Following a consultation on the statistical release, "Use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals", statistics on the use of interpreter and translation services will now be included in the Criminal court statistics quarterly, from March 
2017 onwards. 

Contacts 
 
Press enquiries on the contents of this bulletin should be directed to the Ministry of Justice or Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) press offices: 
Ministry of Justice News Desk  
Tel: 020 3334 3536 Email: newsdesk@justice.gsi.gov.uk Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Justice Statistics Analytical Services division of the Ministry of Justice: 
Annie Sorbie Ministry of Justice 102 Petty France London SW1H 9AJ Email: statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk General enquiries about the statistics work of the Ministry of Justice can be emailed to statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk General information about the official statistics system of the UK is available from www.statistics.gov.uk 

## Feedback

The structure and content of this report is continually being reviewed to reflect user requirements. If you have any feedback about these changes, or the report more generally, please contact the production team through the Justice Statistics Analytical Services division of the Ministry of Justice: Email: statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk 
© Crown copyright Produced by the Ministry of Justice Alternative formats are available on request from statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk