Complaints about HM Courts & Tribunals Service have rocketed in the past decade, new figures revealed this week. A written parliamentary answer showed that HMCTS was on course to receive a record number of complaints in 2024, with 32,212 received by the end of November. The previous record was set in 2023 when 32,745 complaints were made.

Complaint figures have increased every year in the past decade, except for the first year of lockdown. They stood at 16,511 in 2015. The number of complaints escalated to a review stage increased from 1,591 in 2015 to 4,188 in 2023.

Over the same period, case numbers increased from 3.98m in 2015/16 to 4.1m in 2023/24.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, who tabled the question, said: ‘Last year, the Crown court backlog reached the highest that it has ever been, and it is important that the government addresses these delays which will be contributing towards the rise of complaints submitted.’

A spokesperson for HMCTS said: ‘As courts and tribunals work through a record number of cases, we regularly scrutinise data on complaints and are always looking at what action we can take to improve the service we provide to all court users.’

HMCTS

HMCTS: Complaint figures have increased every year in the past decade, except for the first year of lockdown

Source: Alamy