Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve the condition of (a) court buildings and (b) other physical infrastructure in the courts system.

It is important that the infrastructure of our courts does not prevent hearings from taking place.

HMCTS has a facilities management contract with Equans for undertaking routine court maintenance which has delivered over 30,000 routine maintenance jobs across the court and tribunal estate since 1 April 2024.

Capital maintenance funding is prioritised to sites that need it most to ensure that buildings are safe, secure, meet statutory requirements and able to ensure the continuity of court and tribunal business for the longer term.

HMCTS has a range of capital estate projects planned for financial year 2024/25, including 31 roof, 16 lift and 15 boiler replacements.

As a result of this action, less than 0.1% of available sitting days across all jurisdictions are lost due to planned and unplanned maintenance. When conducting estate maintenance works, every effort is made to minimise operational impacts as far as possible.