Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons his Department uses the Witness Service to supply drinking water to victims at magistrates courts.

The Ministry of Justice grant funds the court based Witness Service for the provision of emotional and practical support to witnesses giving evidence in criminal courts in England and Wales. The Witness Service does not have a specific responsibility to provide drinking water in courts but has, in the past, put in place arrangements for the provision of drinking water in a number of witness waiting areas where they did not exist as this is an element of supporting witnesses as they prepare to give evidence.