Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the provisions of section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 have been used by (a) victims and (b) witnesses since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.

HMCTS does not hold data on how many times the provisions of section 28 have been used by (a) victims and (b) witnesses. Special measures applications are recorded in part, but HMCTS management information systems do not hold the data needed to answer the question. The information requested is not held centrally and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.