Justice devolution has stalled in the North of England, undermined by fragmented delivery and a lack of strategic support, a new JUSTICE report has found.  

Despite clear evidence that devolving decision-making to local leaders delivers better outcomes than central control, progress has been inconsistent and constrained by funding gaps and weak consultation, collaboration and evaluation.  

As a result, a piecemeal and siloed approach has seen the region fall behind other parts of the country, according to research by JUSTICE North, the new northern division of the cross-party law reform charity.

This is despite Labour’s pre-election pledge to deliver a nationwide “devolution revolution”, framed as a major transfer of power from Westminster to regional leaders across England.

‍Closer to Home: Principles for a Justice System Shaped by Communities is the first report by JUSTICE North, founded in 2025 to ensure justice policy is informed by the very specific challenges and opportunities of the region. The findings are based on interviews with stakeholders including the Ministry of Justice, lawyers, police, probation, public servants, academics and community organisations.  ‍

Fiona Rutherford, Chief Executive of JUSTICE, said: ‍

“This government came into power with the promise to give people control of what matters to them. Yet current Westminster focus could not be further from the task of giving communities a role in building justice systems they can trust. The North shows what’s possible when local leaders and citizens work together to match justice services to local needs. JUSTICE North aims to nurture and highlight these exciting green shoots while ensuring central government creates the conditions to bring justice closer to home for us all.”   

The report highlights that, whilst there is no “one size fits all” model, locally led initiatives can and do work well. They include Liverpool Crown Court which, through initiatives like encouraging plea bargains and inverting the common practice of placing less serious cases as the lowest priority, has reduced the average wait from charge to trial to 206 days. This is more than 100 days faster than the national average.  

The report highlights that, whilst there is no “one size fits all” model, locally led initiatives can and do work well. They include Liverpool Crown Court which, through initiatives like encouraging plea bargains and inverting the common practice of placing less serious cases as the lowest priority, has reduced the average wait from charge to trial to 206 days. This is more than 100 days faster than the national average.

Another example, which also demonstrates the value of locally coordinated commissioning arrangements, is a Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Leeds, funded by the third sector, to deal with care proceedings involving parents with substance abuse issues. In the financial year 2023-24, it reported savings of more than £935,000 as well as a reduction in contested hearings, fewer children being placed into care and more being reunited with their families.  

Greater Manchester Integrated Rehabilitative Service offers a more locally tailored approach to rehabilitation and resettlement, drawing on community and social enterprises, and saw such good results that it was hailed as an example of best practice by the House of Lords’ Justice and Home Affairs Committee.  

South and West Yorkshire Resettlement Consortium brings together various agencies to help young people upon their release from prison, including setting the standard for appropriate accommodation.  

The report says: “These case studies demonstrate the value of collaboration and convening. No single organisation acts alone. In each case, the ability to build relationships, pool resources and present a coherent voice to government has amplified the impact any individual organisation could achieve in isolation.”

“JUSTICE North was established in 2025 to ensure that justice policy is informed by the very specific challenges and opportunities of the North of England. Home to over 15.5 million people, the region faces acute pressures across both civil and criminal justice,” the report adds.  

“Our goal is to redress the imbalance in national policymaking: to map and analyse what works (and why), to support collaboration between local and national decision-makers, and to ensure that devolution in England evolves with justice, not around it, so that justice outcomes are fairer, more effective, and not determined by postcode.”

JUSTICE North cautions against repeating past mistakes and implementing further measures “without adequate engagement, clarity or coordination" and suggests eight principles for reform:

• Meaningful local consultation: Changes to justice functions must be developed with communities, rather than announced and imposed upon them.

• Accountability: Given the need for variation in successful justice devolution, clear oversight and responsibility are needed.

• Transparency: Without clear, accessible information on outcomes, cross-area comparisons are difficult, and policy learning is stunted.  

• Share best practice: Effective communication is essential to enable shared learning and improve the visibility of decision-making.

• Use the right tool for the job: Decisions about justice devolution should be guided by the nature of the function concerned, rather than institutional convenience or geographic symmetry.

• Bottom-up design: Locally-driven decision-making is essential to ensure justice functions are delivered in a way that responds to local need and secures buy-in from stakeholders.

• Long-term funding: Short-term grant arrangements and competitive bidding cycles undermine the long-term relationships and capacity required to deliver effective justice devolution.  

• Culture and institutional commitment: The most durable reforms are sustained by a shared purpose, genuine collaboration and institutional commitment.

Read the report in full here.