Every Crown Court in England and Wales to get dedicated rape courtroom by 2028
Every Crown Court in England and Wales will get a dedicated rape and sexual offences courtroom within two years, with £23m for private facilities, fixed trial dates and victim support.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The government has announced that every Crown Court in England and Wales will have at least one courtroom dedicated to rape and serious sexual offences within two years. Ministers say the £23 million plan, funded from the Ministry of Justice's existing budget, will create specialist facilities in all 84 Crown Court buildings by 2028.
The changes are intended to make the justice process less traumatic and to speed up cases. Victims will get private entrances and waiting rooms to keep them away from defendants. Courtrooms will have technology for remote viewing and video-link evidence. Staff will receive trauma-informed training. Victims will be given a single point of contact. Rape and serious sexual offence trials will be prioritised, and from October they will be given fixed trial dates rather than being placed on floating lists that can move at short notice.
The announcement responds to a deep backlog and low prosecution rates. Rape Crisis England and Wales says nearly 15,000 rape and sexual assault trials are waiting to go to court, a 75% rise in three years. The average wait for a trial is 441 days, and one in three trials are postponed. More than 71,000 rapes were recorded by police in 2024, but charges were brought in only 2.7% of cases. One in four women have been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16. The Crown Court backlog stands at around 80,000 cases, including more than 15,000 sexual offence cases. Some cases are not listed until 2030. Average completion for rape cases is about 420 to 424 days, and 40% of rape and sexual offence cases fall over or do not go to trial when expected.
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, said survivors had been let down by the justice system for too long and that the changes were long overdue. The Victims Minister, Alex Davies-Jones, said there is a national epidemic and national emergency of violence against women and girls, and that a whole system approach is needed, with prevention at its heart. Rape Crisis England and Wales cautiously welcomed the reforms as a significant step forward. The Conservatives said Labour needs to go further with more court sitting days to address the backlog. Charities and barristers warned that specialist courtrooms alone will not fix the problem without extra staff, funding, and action on police and Crown Prosecution Service delays.
The policy follows a pledge to tackle violence against women and girls and comes after Labour MP Charlotte Nichols waived her anonymity to describe waiting 1,088 days for her rape trial. Other survivors have described repeated delays. One woman, Morwenna, said her case went ahead only after two trials were cancelled a day before they were due to start. She said her life was on hold for two and a half years.
The government also faces wider questions about the courts system. The Courts and Tribunals Bill returns to the Commons next month and includes controversial measures to restrict jury trials. Reports say Andy Burnham may scrap plans for judge-only trials after a backbench rebellion. Ministers are also under pressure over the early release of prisoners. The courtroom reforms are significant, but campaigners say they are not a silver bullet for the backlog.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At least one dedicated courtroom for rape and sexual offences is to be provided in every Crown Court in England and Wales within two years. | · | |||||
| There is a large court backlog, particularly for rape and sexual assault cases, with the Crown Court backlog standing at around 80,000 cases as of March. | · | · | ||||
| Charlotte Nichols waited more than 1,000 days for her trial. | · | · | · | |||
| The programme will cost £23 million from the Ministry of Justice's existing budget. | · | · | · | |||
| 40% of rape and sexual offence cases fall over or do not get to trial when they are supposed to. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Andy Burnham said the justice system had failed survivors of sexual offences for too long. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Last year, rape cases took an average of 424 days to complete once they reached the courts. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Morwenna's case proceeded only after two trials were cancelled the day before they were due to start. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Nearly 15,000 rape and sexual assault trials were reported to be waiting to go to court, a 75% increase over three years. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Police recorded more than 71,000 rapes in 2024, but charges were brought in only 2.7% of cases. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Specialist courts do not automatically create new capacity and may delay other cases. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| The Conservatives said Labour need more sitting days throughout the year to address the backlog. | · | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The channel led with the policy details and the scale of the backlog, using a correspondent to explain why the system is failing. It stressed the cost, the timeline, and the case of Labour MP Charlotte Nichols, while also noting that the changes are not yet in place.
- “There is a massive backlog in the court system, particularly for rape and sexual assault cases.”
- “So according to Rape Crisis England and Wales, there are nearly 15,000 such trials waiting to go to court.”
- “It's going to cost £23 million from the Ministry of Justice's existing budget.”
This bulletin repeated the main policy lines and added an interview with Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones. It pushed the wider statistics on sexual violence and prosecution rates, and noted the Prime Minister's trip to the UN General Assembly at the end.
- “There is a national epidemic, a national emergency of violence against women and girls in this country that needs to be addressed”
- “one in four women have been raped or sexually assaulted in England and Wales since the age of 16.”
- “More than 71,000 rapes were recorded by police in 2024 but charges were only brought in 2.7% of those cases.”
A short summary that focused on the core policy and the backlog, with a brief line from Andy Burnham. It did not include the detailed statistics or survivor testimony seen in the later Channel 4 bulletin.
- “The government is rolling out specialist courts to deal with rape and other sexual offences in England and Wales, as part of efforts to tackle the backlog in cases.”
- “Under the new plans, special rooms will be created in Crown courts, where alleged victims can give evidence via video link and will be given separate spaces away from defendants.”
- “Andy Burnham said survivors had been let down by the justice system for too long.”
The programme treated the announcement as a political and practical test, with a panel debating whether specialist courts alone can deliver justice. It focused on delays, fixed dates, resource shortages, early release of prisoners and the separate row over judge-only trials.
- “No, this is desperately needed, and we know that the number of cases that go to prosecution, and indeed the number that then are successfully prosecuted, is falling.”
- “It's going to be a little bit more complicated than just having these specialised courts because of the scale of the backlog.”
- “I don't think this is necessarily going to be a panacea, but look, I think there is a strong case for specialist courts”
This was a very brief lunchtime item. It gave the headline policy, the two-year rollout and the privacy measures, then moved on to other news without statistics or reaction.
- “specialist courts to handle cases of rape and other sexual offences will be introduced across England and Wales over the next two years.”
- “Each Crown Court will have at least one courtroom set up to hear such cases.”
- “There'll also be private entrances and waiting rooms for victims to keep them away from defendants.”
The BBC's lunchtime report set the policy in the context of a court system under pressure. It included statistics, Conservative criticism, campaigner reaction and the scale of the Crown Court backlog, including cases not listed until 2030.
- “A court system under pressure, with long waits for trials, leading to some victims dropping out and others never reporting crimes.”
- “The interventions we're putting in place, which help victims, which help witnesses through that process, will mean more effective running of those trials”
- “The Conservatives say Labour need to go further with more sitting days in the courts throughout the year to help address the backlog.”
ITV's lunchtime coverage focused on the government's promise and the Victims Minister's argument that dedicated facilities will speed up cases. It also flagged the wider Crown Court backlog and the Courts and Tribunals Bill.
- “The Prime Minister has argued that victims of sexual violence have had to wait far too long for justice and have been let down by the system.”
- “These changes have been cautiously welcomed by charities such as Rape Crisis England and Wales who say this is a significant step forward.”
- “It comes as there are wider questions for the government about how it intends to deal with the courts backlog, which as of March of this year stood at around 80,000 cases.”
This Sky bulletin repeated the main policy lines and the Prime Minister's criticism of low prosecution rates. It used the Victims Minister to frame violence against women and girls as a national emergency and stressed a whole-system approach.
- “The Prime Minister says new specialist courts to deal with rape and sexual offenses in England and Wales will help improve prosecution rates Which he says are shamefully low”
- “Every Crown Court will have at least one courtroom dedicated to handling these cases as part of broader attempts to tackle violence Against women and girls”
- “There is a national epidemic and a national emergency of violence against women and girls in this country That needs to be addressed and that has to be a whole system approach”
The evening bulletin gave the most detailed treatment of the story on this channel. It used a chief correspondent to explain the backlog, included Charlotte Nichols' own words, listed the 84 Crown Court buildings and warned that the courts are only one part of the justice system.
- “The system has long been criticised for being unsupportive to victims. And with Crown Court backlogs at record levels, many people are facing years of waiting for justice.”
- “I waited 1,088 days to go to court. Every single one of those days was agony.”
- “This won't be a silver bullet. Other parts of the justice system are overstretched and underfunded too.”
The evening bulletin repeated the policy and added the fixed-date change from next month. It placed the announcement in a series of pledges on violence against women and girls and highlighted the looming Commons battle over jury trials.
- “Specialist courts to tackle rape and sexual offences are going to be introduced in England and Wales in the next two years.”
- “Victims will be offered a private entrance and waiting room, and from next month, trials will be given a fixed date rather than placed on floating lists.”
- “The Prime Minister said that victims of sexual violence have had to wait far too long for justice. He says the system has let them down.”
The evening Channel 4 report was the most survivor-focused. It led with a woman whose trials were cancelled at short notice, examined whether existing specialist courts had delivered, and asked whether funding for staff and other agencies would follow.
- “For Morwenna like tens of thousands of rape survivors it was a battle just to get to court”
- “Our announcement today will ensure specialist rape and serious sexual offences in every Crown Court by 2028.”
- “Ultimately for this to work the government are going to have to fund the extra resources”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.