The independent body that played an instrumental role in the acquittals of Barry George and Sion Jenkins (pictured) has warned that further cuts to its budget will cause delays in dealing with cases.

In its annual report published this week, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which reviews potential miscarriages of justice, said its budget had been cut for the last six years.

The commission’s budget was £7.07m in 2010/11, down by nearly half a million on the previous year. The CCRC had to make £199,000 further savings during the year, as part of the government’s emergency plans to deal with the financial deficit.

CCRC chief executive Claire Bassett said the organisation was ‘feeling the effects’ of the cuts, which had forced it to postpone the recruitment of two new commissioners, not replace one of its specialist investigations advisors, and implement a voluntary redundancy programme which will see five staff leave.

Bassett said: ‘We are concerned that further cuts may lead to increased waiting times in the future.’

CCRC chair Richard Foster said he understood the pressure on public expenditure, but was ‘extremely concerned’ given that the body had experienced six years of real cuts.

The CCRC currently takes an average of around seven months to deal with applications. In 2010/11 it received 933 applications and completed 947 cases, of which 22 were referred to the appeal courts.

A total of 33 cases referred from the commission reached the appeal courts during the year, 20 of which resulted in convictions being quashed or sentences amended.

The most common basis of referral was non-disclosure of material evidence at the original trial, but the report showed a growing trend relating to mistaken expert evidence.

The CCRC has referred a number of high-profile cases to the appeal court in recent years, including Barry George, who was later acquitted of the murder of television presenter Jill Dando, and Sion Jenkins, who was acquitted of the murder of his foster daughter Billie-Jo Jenkins.