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Budget cuts come amid crisis in criminal justice systempublished 13:34 GMT

13:34 GMT

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK Correspondent

Prisons are overcrowded and criminal courts face a backlog of cases, meaning defendants, witnesses and victims have to wait up to years to testify. The criminal justice system is in crisis.

A 2% cut across all government departments would be unwelcome news for the Justice Department as it faces numerous challenges.

The government has vowed to clean up prisons and release thousands of criminals early to ease pressure on the system. But it also intends to build more prisons and create another fourteen thousand new places.

Those who work closely with the department are wondering how it can stick to plans and focus on rehabilitation and sentencing when cuts are being made.

As for the courts, lawyers tell us they are frustrated by what they call a lack of commitment to reducing the tens of thousands of cases in the backlog, with one saying “we need more funding, not less.”