According to a report published this week, there was a 22.4% decline in real per person terms from 2009/2010 to 2022/2023—while overall government spending increased by 10.1% in real per person terms and the UK economy grew by 11.5% at the same time.
The report, ‘Justice short changed’, concludes funding for justice in England and Wales is 30.4% below where it would be if it had kept pace with UK inflation, population growth and the economy. Had it kept pace, justice would have received an extra £3.5bn in public funds. (To place this in context, total government spending in 2022/2023 was £1,154.9bn.)
Professor Martin Chalkley and Alice Chalkley, the report’s authors, said: ‘By any measure there has been a very substantial reduction in the public funding of justice in England and Wales.
‘That can be expected to have had a substantial impact on both the volume and quality of service that the system delivers.’
For comparison, in 2022/2023, £181 was spent on justice per person (about 0.5% of GDP)—about the same as on overseas aid—while £820 was spent on defence, £1,550 on education and £640 on transport.
Across a variety of sectors, in the years since the last Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown left 10 Downing Street, public funding has fallen by 7.5% in real per person terms in social security, 18% in education and 11% in public order and safety. However, it has risen by nearly 25% in health (due to a leap during the Covid-19 pandemic), more than 30% in transport, and dropped and subsequently risen to about the same level in defence.
Bar Council chair Sam Townend KC said: ‘We know the scale of the problem and that, without a change in direction, things will only get worse.
‘With the spending review coming up we are asking the government to rethink the approach to justice spending. The system needs investment now and a restoration of funding for long term sustainability.
‘When justice is short changed, every citizen seeking to vindicate their rights is short changed. We hope the new government recognises this.’
The report updates a 2020 Bar Council report, ‘Small change for justice’.
