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1203079

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	Her Majesty's Government how many court hearings held remotely since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have (1) included the virtual presence of an interpreter, and (2) been rescheduled because an interpreter was needed but not available. [T]
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL5587
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2020 answer text <p>Information on how many hearings held remotely since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for spoken and non-spoken interpretation is provided below. The difference in start dates reflect the fact that thebigword’s system did not start recording any remote bookings until 30<sup>th</sup> March. We expect that very few took place before this date.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Dates</p></td><td><p>Number of telephone interpreting hearings</p></td><td><p>Number of video remote interpreting hearings</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>thebigword – spoken interpretation</p></td><td><p>30.3.2020 – 12.6.2020</p></td><td><p>2769</p></td><td><p>1470</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Clarion uk – Non- spoken interpretation</p></td><td><p>23.3.2020 – 12.6.2020</p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td><td><p>288</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on all hearings that have been rescheduled because an interpreter was unavailable. HMCTS performance data, including ineffective trial rates due to interpreter availability, is currently not available for this period.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 18/06/2020 15:10:10 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1271564

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases have been heard to date in each of the 'Nightingale Courts'.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Taylor of Bolton
	uin	HL11500
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/12/2020 answer text <p>Recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is our top priority. By opening 18 Nightingale courts, we have added vital capacity and provided 33 extra court rooms, alleviating the pressure on courts and tribunals resulting from the pandemic. Additionally, we have secured £30m of funding to open a further 40 Nightingale court rooms in early 2021.</p><p>We do not break down data on cases heard in Nightingale Courts.</p> answering member printed Baroness Scott of Bybrook question first answered 23/12/2020 12:35:45 answering member 4553 label Biography information for Baroness Scott of Bybrook
	tabling member	407 label Biography information for Baroness Taylor of Bolton

1271568

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases were outstanding (1) in the Crown Court of England and Wales, and (2) in the magistrates’ courts, in each month of 2020.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Taylor of Bolton
	uin	HL11504
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/12/2020 answer text <p>The volume of outstanding cases in the criminal courts is published routinely. The latest available data for the number of cases outstanding (1) in the Crown Court of England and Wales, and (2) in the Magistrates’ courts, in each month of 2020 has been provided in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong> Magistrates<sup>1-3</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong> Crown<sup>1,2</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Outstanding</p></td><td><p>Outstanding</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-20</p></td><td><p>314,169</p></td><td><p>38,411</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb-20</p></td><td><p>316,818</p></td><td><p>39,218</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar-20</p></td><td><p>337,897</p></td><td><p>40,037</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-20</p></td><td><p>391,228</p></td><td><p>40,997</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May-20</p></td><td><p>415,559</p></td><td><p>41,342</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jun-20</p></td><td><p>433,516</p></td><td><p>42,459</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul-20</p></td><td><p>444,173</p></td><td><p>44,892</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug-20</p></td><td><p>443,605</p></td><td><p>47,544</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep-20</p></td><td><p>424,651</p></td><td><p>50,123</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct-20</p></td><td><p>411,807</p></td><td><p>52,133</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:</p><p>1) The management information presented in this table reflects what is recorded on relevant case-management systems on the date of extraction. The case-management systems are continually updated and so the information presented will differ from previously published information.</p><p>2) The management information presented is different from the quarterly MOJ official statistics published due to timing and definitional reasons. The official statistics go through a more comprehensive quality assurance and analysis process to ensure quality and coherence.</p><p>3) Figures above include all case offence types. However, MOJ published statistics are filtered to include only the following offence types: Triable-either-way, Indictable Only, Summary Motoring, Summary Non-Motoring, Breaches.</p> answering member printed Baroness Scott of Bybrook question first answered 23/12/2020 12:40:50 answering member 4553 label Biography information for Baroness Scott of Bybrook
	tabling member	407 label Biography information for Baroness Taylor of Bolton

1271565

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many hours each of the 'Nightingale Courts' have been (1) open, and (2) sitting for court business, in each month since July.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Taylor of Bolton
	uin	HL11501
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/12/2020 answer text <p>As part of our recovery plans across all jurisdictions, Nightingale Courts have enabled us to open a great deal of additional court capacity.</p><p>All 18 of the existing Nightingale Courts operate regular court opening hours of 9-5pm, and this will apply also to the additional five Nightingale sites announced this week. Data on sitting days in each court is recorded under their parent court. It is therefore not possible to disaggregate the data with sufficient granularity to set out sitting hours in each Nightingale.</p> answering member printed Baroness Scott of Bybrook question first answered 23/12/2020 12:36:12 answering member 4553 label Biography information for Baroness Scott of Bybrook
	tabling member	407 label Biography information for Baroness Taylor of Bolton

1248573

	registered interest
	date	03/11/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average waiting time for cases to come to trial in England; and what action they are taking to speed up the process.
	tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
	uin	HL9935
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2020 answer text <p>Data relating to the waiting time in weeks for cases at the Crown Court in England and Wales can be found in Tables C6 (by case type), C7 (by plea) and C8 (by remand status) of the published National Statistics series ‘Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly’ (latest to June 2020) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics</a></p><p> </p><p>Waiting times for England alone require a further breakdown from the published data and are provided in the table attached with this response.</p><p> </p><p>On Monday 7 September, the Crime Recovery Plan was published which sets out our comprehensive plan to tackle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the justice system by boosting capacity across criminal courts.</p><p> </p><p>As one of the first among other comparable jurisdictions globally to resume jury trials, our Crown Courts are currently listing over 200 jury trials and conducting thousands of other hearings every week. The magistrates’ courts have been completing more cases than they receive, dealing with over 21,000 cases each week and tackling the backlog.</p><p>We have also installed plexiglass screens into over 200 courtrooms and over 100 jury retiring rooms enabling us to safely open 255 Crown Court rooms for jury trials, roughly the number that were hearing jury trials before Covid.</p><p> </p><p>We’re also investing record amounts - the biggest single investment in court estate maintenance for more than 20 years – and have unlocked vital capacity by opening 16 Nightingale Courts to provide 29 additional court rooms.</p> answering member printed Baroness Scott of Bybrook question first answered 17/11/2020 17:23:17 answering member 4553 label Biography information for Baroness Scott of Bybrook attachment 1 file name HL9935 - table.xlsx title HL9935 - table
	tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1227143

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the present backlog of cases awaiting trial in (1) the Crown Court, and (2) the Magistrates' Court.
	tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
	uin	HL7120
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>The table below provides the information requested on the current number of outstanding cases awaiting trial in (1) the Crown Court, and (2) the Magistrates’ Courts.</p><p> </p><p>These data are taken from the national statistics on the level of outstanding work in the criminal courts for the first quarter of 2020 which were published on 26 June 2020 and are available at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics</a>. The data for the second quarter will be published in September 2020.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Outstanding cases awaiting trial in the Magistrates’ and Crown Court as at 31 March 2020</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Magistrates’ Court<sup>12</sup></p></td><td><p>77,459</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Crown Court<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>31,686</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p><sup>1</sup>The magistrates’ court figure represents all those cases outstanding that are categorised as for trial (Indictable-only and Triable-either-way) and not just those awaiting a trial hearing. For example, it will include cases where defendants plead guilty and not guilty, and those where a warrant has been issued</p><p><sup>2</sup> Though the figures for both Magistrates’ and Crown Court includes for trial cases (Triable-either-way and Indictable Only) which are outstanding for trial we are unable to say at what stage of the court process these are, for example, this may include cases where a trial has started but has not concluded.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 14:46:58 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1386452

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide extra Nightingale court capacity in order to address the backlog of legal cases.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL4811
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2021 answer text <p>As part of the Spending Review we announced that we will be investing £477 million in the Criminal Justice System over the next three years. This will help to meet the increased demand from the additional police officers, reduce the backlog and deliver the swift access to justice that victims deserve.</p><p> </p><p>Analysis suggests this new investment could both improve waiting times and significantly reduce the number of outstanding cases by the end of the spending review period, ensuring that we do right by victims of crime.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service are working together to determine the optimal allocation of funding secured at the Spending Review for 2022/23 and beyond, including the spend on physical capacity to support the continuing recovery of court performance. This process is set to conclude in early 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Our decisive action in the courts kept justice moving during the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>We allocated over a quarter of a billion pounds to support recovery in the last financial year, making court buildings safe, rolling out new technology for remote hearings, recruiting additional staff, and opening Nightingale courtrooms, including retaining 32 Crown jury courtrooms until the end of March 2022.</p><p> </p><p>These measures are already working. The caseload in the Crown court has stabilised at around 60,000 cases, and we are listing over a thousand cases each week.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 22/12/2021 15:43:48 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1288517

	registered interest
	date	22/02/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that COVID-19 safety protocols are being enforced in courthouses; and what plans they have to recruit more court support staff in response to the pandemic.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL13523
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2021 answer text <p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service has well entrenched safeguards to ensure safety of all people in its buildings and we have a transparent framework in place to ensure these safeguards are adhered to.</p><p> </p><p>We have worked closely with public health organisations Public Health England, Public Health Wales and Public Health Scotland, and with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to develop this framework which includes the <a href="https://intranet.justice.gov.uk/about-hmcts/operations-directorate/business-continuity/covid-19/covid-19-information-guidance-hub/organisational-risk-assessment/" target="_blank">Organisational Risk Assessment</a> and the <a href="https://intranet.justice.gov.uk/about-hmcts/operations-directorate/business-continuity/covid-19/covid-19-information-guidance-hub/assessment-tool/" target="_blank">Local Risk Assessment Tool</a> which mandates a weekly - site specific - risk assessment is undertaken by local managers. Information is fed through governance chains including regional senior management, who ensure consistency, and confirm that the processes are embedded and effective. Assessments are shared with a wide range of stakeholders.</p><p> </p><p>Spot checks validate the assurances provided through the Local Assessments. These are conducted by our Assurance function and independently by qualified health and safety consultants. Furthermore, a Government Internal Audit Agency review of our internal Covid-19 health and safety processes, including compliance, concluded that our framework of governance, risk management and control was largely adequate and effective, with no significant weaknesses requiring remedial action.</p><p> </p><p>At least 20 external regulatory interventions (e.g. HSE or local authority Environment Health Team visits) have taken place in HMCTS buildings. In all but one case the inspection team has been satisfied both by our standards and their implementation on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>We also invite all staff and court users to report concerns so that they can be addressed. Concerns can be raised via local management; ‘<a href="https://let-us-know.form.service.justice.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Let Us Know’</a> or the newly established regional escalation route.</p><p> </p><p>Insofar as staffing is concerned, recruitment commenced from June 2020, to bring in an additional 1600 people to support the work of the courts in tackling backlogs and to increase capacity in our courts including Crown Courts.</p><p>Of the 1600 people required, 1227 are already in post, and a further 354 individuals are undergoing clearances, and expected to join in the next few weeks.</p><p>In addition, more court clerks and court administrative staff are being recruited to support the running of Nightingale courts and existing courts to increase sitting day capacity.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 08/03/2021 17:44:50 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1288515

	registered interest
	date	22/02/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to fund additional Nightingale courts to clear the current court backlog.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL13521
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2021 answer text <p>To ensure the safety of the physical estate and continue our efforts to tackle demand on the system we are investing £142m in court buildings and facilities, and a further £113m on a range of emergency measures – including the recruitment of 1,600 additional staff and creating more Nightingale courts.</p><p> </p><p>This funding – the largest investment in justice for decades – helped the system to turn a corner in December 2020 so that we were closing the same number of cases as before the pandemic in almost all jurisdictions, including Crown Courts.</p><p> </p><p>Up to the end of February 2021 we have opened 23 Nightingale courts providing 44 additional courtrooms. More are opening each week and we are on track to provide a total of 60 courtrooms across the estate by the end of March.</p><p> </p><p>Through our Spending Review settlement, we have secured significant additional funding in the next financial year to assist in the recovery of our courts and tribunals system, and we continue to consider the measures that are needed to achieve this.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 08/03/2021 17:38:33 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1304526

	registered interest
	date	22/03/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce delays to court cases arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL14479
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2021 answer text <p>We are keenly aware of the need to improve timeliness for both defendants and victims, and mitigate the impact of delays on victims and witnesses. Judges have been prioritising the most serious cases throughout the pandemic, including those involving vulnerable victims and witnesses as well as those with defendants nearing custody time limits.</p><p>We will continue to do more, and the recovery of our courts to full operational capacity is our highest priority in order to reduce waiting times within the justice system. The steps taken so far – to adjust court rooms to hold Covid-secure trials, to open more court rooms, and to move to virtual hearings where possible – have helped. Crown Court disposals increased from June 2020 and were higher than pre-Covid levels for the first two weeks of 2021. The increase has slowed slightly, with disposals throughout February consistently 5% below the pre-Covid baseline, and the outstanding caseload in Magistrates’ courts has reduced from the peak reached in August. As of the end of March 2021, we have created a total of 60 Nightingale courts.</p><p>We continue to work with partners across the justice system to assess what more can be done to improve the resilience of the courts during the pandemic, and to assist faster recovery. We recognise the particular impact of delays on victims and witnesses, and are providing £151m to victim and witness support services in 2021-22 to ensure victims receive the support they need.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 07/04/2021 12:46:55 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick