Prison escort vans to receive priority lane access and green-light routing across England and Wales

A new initiative will allow prison vans transporting defendants to use bus lanes and receive green-light priority on congested roads, a measure already trialled in Manchester, Bristol, Salford, Nottingham and London. The Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport have written to local councils urging nationwide adoption to curb the backlog of over 80,000 Crown court cases and 380,000 magistrates’ court cases.

Late arrivals caused more than 1,000 hearing delays last year, wasting court time and extending waits for victims and witnesses. Early pilots showed a one-third reduction in journey time on a Manchester route and an average four-minute saving on a London corridor between HMP Belmarsh and the Old Bailey. Sir Brian Leveson’s review linked traffic-related lateness to thousands of lost hours, prompting the recommendation to open bus lanes to escort vehicles. The government estimates that applying similar gains could save almost 53 days of court time for London’s backlog.