Shabana Mahmood appeared before the justice committee this afternoon for the first time since she was appointed lord chancellor and justice secretary in July. A lot of ground was covered - anything I missed was purely because she was talking at 300-400 words per minute (at least, it felt like that). The big takeaway: the Crown courts are getting an extra 2,000 sitting days, so they will be able to sit up to 108,000 days in this current financial year. You can watch the lord chancellor's full evidence session here courtesy of Parliament TV.

4:34pm: Andy Slaughter MP wraps up the session. A few thank yous, wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and closes the public session.

4:22pm: Andy Slaughter MP asking about Women's Justice Board. Mahmood says too many women are imprisoned, too many women in women's estate jailed for non-violent offences, too many are mums, in too many cases where mum is in prison, it leads to the break-up of the family home. Wider cost to society that Mahmood wants to limit. Broad ambition is to see fewer women prisoners and ultimately fewer women's prisons. Board will be up and running early in the new year, and will look at issues such as reducing rates of self-harm, alternative settings to custody.

4:19pm: Liberal Democrat MP Tessa Munt asks if a young person enters the youth justice system and goes past their 18th birthday, and find themselves being dealt with as an adult, 'is there a way of reversing that?' as it seems unfair they're treated as an adult because of system delays. Mahmood will come back to Munt with a response.

4:10pm: Labour's Alex Barros-Curtis MP now asking about youth justice and government's long-term ambition on youth custody.

4:08pm: Pressed on timescales again, Mahmood says she and Sarah Sackman KC will set out 'broader direction of travel' on legal aid in the new year. Some of this will be Spending Review dependent. 'We want to make progress, we want a system that's sustainable, that does what society expects it to do, which is provide access to justice. We want to make sure we don't have legal aid deserts.'

4:04pm: Mahmood says housing and immigration were the two areas of 'greatest stress' and she wanted to maximise what she could achieve within the funding envelope she had, trying to prop up the bits that are most likely to experience system failure. She wants to look at the broader system as well. She will set out further proposals 'in the fullness of time'.

4:04pm: On civil legal aid, Juss points out that the minimum 10% fee uplift the lord chancellor announced last month will apply only to lawyers working in the housing and immigration sectors. What about the other areas of civil legal aid? (FYI, there are 11 contract areas of law, such as mental health, education, community care and discrimination).

4:03pm: Mahmood mentions £24m injection into police station and youth court fees, which was announced in November. 'I will be doing everything I can to take further steps to stabilise not just criminal legal aid but civil legal aid as well. First priority is try and move to a stable position and then I'll be working very closely with minister Sarah Sackman to think about any longer term changes that we need to make as well.'

4pm: Labour's Warinder Juss asking about Crown court backlogs and lack of lawyers. Highlights some shocking data. Last year, 139 sex offence trials didn't go ahead because prosecution lawyer wasn't available, 113 trials postponed because there was no defence lawyer. This compares to only 4 times this happened in 2018 and nine times in 2019.

3:56pm: Labour's Alex Barros-Curtis asking about morale within the criminal justice system when the lord chancellor came in and where it is now, especially given the Ministry of Justice is not a protected department. Mahmood talks of low morale and a sense of 'we are literally surviving day by day'. Mahmood believes making difficult decisions early gave some confidence to the system because at least something was being done and the problem was being gripped.

A quick reminder on intermediate courts, which are being considered by the Leveson review. These courts would deal with cases too serious for magistrates’ courts but not serious enough for the Crown court, and would be heard by a judge flanked by two magistrates. The idea was first mooted in Lord Justice Auld’s 2001 blueprint for criminal law. Lawyers are divided on whether intermediate courts are the right answer to cutting the Crown court backlog.

3:43pm: Andy Slaughter MP appears to be voicing concern on intermediate courts. 'This would be quite a rush towards restriction on jury trials, setting up new courts. Does it worry you at all we might be creating new injustices while trying to resolve the current one?'

3:35pm: Farnsworth now asking about the magistrates' court backlog. It's now over 330,000, a 22% increase on the previous year. Also asks about the impact of extending magistrates' sentencing powers. Mahmood says a little early to assess impact of greater sentencing powers, particularly on remand. On Crown court sitting days, it's expected to yield equivalent of 2,000 places in steady state.

3:30pm: Labour's Linsey Farnsworth asking about the length of time rape victims are waiting for a trial. What can be done to improve the situation? Mahmood says getting the backlog down is her absolute priority and 'fundamental reform' is required. Has asked Sir Brian Leveson to look at policy changes and efficiency. Details on the Leveson review can be found here.

3:27pm: Andy Slaughter asks how much money has been found for the extra 2,000 sitting days. Mahmood: HMCTS running the system cost is around £1m. Consequential legal aid cost is just over £8m.

3:21pm: Mahmood has committed to getting the agreement done quicker so we don't have issues around delay and possible overlisting, and potentially being more transparent about the process.

A quick financial briefing courtesy of the lady chief justice when she appeared before the justice committee a few weeks ago: the Ministry of Justice negotiates a budget with HM Treasury. The MoJ then decides from that budget what to offer HM Courts & Tribunals Service. HMCTS advises the lady chief justice and senior president of tribunals on the ‘robustness and acceptability’ of the offer. The agreement sets out, among other things, the number of Crown court sitting days.

3:18pm: Mahmood says process for next year's funding agreement (known as the 'concordat'), which covers sitting days, has already begun. 

Just checked my inbox and there's an email from the Ministry of Justice headlined '2,000 EXTRA SITTING DAYS TO HELP ADDRESS COURTS CRISIS'

3:10pm: Right, we're onto sitting days now. Conservative MP Neil Shastri-Hurst says Mahmood increased the number of sitting days by 500 initially, to 106,500. In a letter dated yesterday to the committee's chair, Mahmood said there was going to be another additional 2,000. (Me: Wait, what?!) Why are sitting days being limited given government's commitment to tackling the backlog?

3:08pm: Andy Slaughter asking about lengths of home detention curfew period. 

2:51pm: Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde now asking about the early prisoner release scheme (called 'SDS40'). Wants to know the performance indicators in terms of measuring whether the scheme has been successful. (A helpful explainer from solicitor Dr Laura Janes on the early prisoner release scheme can be found here.)

2:46pm: Mahmood asked Gauke to lead the review because he’s a former lord chancellor and knows this area well. Expert panel has relevant expertise so lot of background work not required.

2:44pm: Labour’s Pam Cox says sentencing review could lead to significant changes in future demand for prison places. How can you set out 10-year prison capacity strategy before that review is complete? And is six months enough time to deliver a 'landmark' review?

2:39pm: Mahmood explaining Sentencing Review's remit. The Sentencing Review is being led by Conservative former lord chancellor David Gauke. Details here. The panel supporting Gauke includes former lord chief justice Lord Burnett of Maldon.

2:35pm: Mahmood says point at which 2 lines in terms of supply and demand cross over is Spring 2026 but picture is tight. She's made clear if there’s requirement for further measures she will return to the house at the first opportunity. Can’t rule out she might have to take further measures to make sure we don’t run out of prison places.

2:33pm: Committee chair Andy Slaughter MP begins questions with prisons. He says HMPPS could run out of prison places as early as November next year. Lot of hope appears to be resting on Sentencing Review. Does lord chancellor expect to implement outcome of that review in time to avoid that first potential pinch point?

2:29pm: Welcome to this live blog of Shabana Mahmood's first appearance before the House of Commons justice select committee since she was appointed lord chancellor and justice secretary in July.

Ahead of this afternoon's session, the committee said Mahmood can expect questions on prison capacity and the criminal courts, including the early prisoner release scheme and sentencing review. She'll also be asked about the pressures facing the justice system, including the courts backlog, funding and staffing issues, plus access to justice and legal aid. Youth justice is another hefty topic MPs want to discuss.

Brace yourself for a marathon session. The justice committee's session with the lady chief justice lasted two hours. Missed it? You can read the highlights here