New figures show county court delays improving, though most claims still exceed year-long waits
Delays in the county courts are beginning to shorten after years of record congestion, although the system remains far slower than it was before the pandemic. Newly released civil justice statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that waiting times fell during the period from July to September 2025, yet most claimants outside the small claims track still face a journey lasting more than a year before they reach trial.
The figures reveal that the median time for a small claim to progress from issue to trial now stands at thirty-nine weeks. This marks an improvement of almost six weeks compared with the same quarter in 2024. Fast, intermediate and multi-track claims also show progress, with a median wait of sixty weeks, which is a little more than five weeks faster than a year earlier.
The Ministry began publishing median wait times in 2022. Before that, it relied on mean averages, which can be distorted by unusual cases that take far longer than the rest. On the mean measure, the improvement is less pronounced. Small claims took an average of forty nine point one weeks in the third quarter, which is only a modest reduction of one point six weeks from the previous year. For fast, intermediate and multi track claims, the mean wait was seventy three point eight weeks, showing an improvement of two point seven weeks.
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Even with these gains, waiting times across the civil courts remain significantly slower than before the pandemic. Compared with the final quarter of 2019, when Covid had not yet affected court operations, current mean delays are about twelve weeks longer for both small claims and higher value cases. Small claims have nonetheless shortened by around six weeks since their post-pandemic peak in 2023, while other claims have seen an improvement of about thirteen weeks.
The Ministry also reported notable regional differences, with London and the South East experiencing the longest delays. Across England and Wales, the number of claims received, defended, listed for trial and moving through to judgment all increased compared with the same quarter in 2024.
Commenting on the findings, Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations, said two consecutive quarters of rising performance indicated that the tide was beginning to turn. He welcomed the improvement but cautioned that waits of thirty-nine and sixty weeks remained unacceptable for people seeking justice. He also urged the Ministry to deliver on promises made in response to the justice select committee report on the county courts, especially commitments to improve the digitisation programme. Problems with the Damages Claims Portal were singled out as a source of delay, cost and inconvenience.
Stuart Hanley, director of legal practice at Minster Law, echoed these concerns. He described the figures as encouraging but warned that the civil courts still hovered near the one-year mark for most hearings. He said ministers must treat delays in civil justice with the same urgency as those in the criminal courts, given that the majority of people who encounter the justice system do so through the civil process.