Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to expand the use of Nightingale courts.

Nightingale courts have provided necessary additional court capacity since the pandemic, and we announced on 16 February that 20 of these courtrooms will remain open in 2024. Our assessment is that this is the appropriate level of provision required to deliver swifter justice.

The locations chosen to remain open in England and Wales have been identified where they will help reduce the number of local outstanding cases, support maintenance projects by hearing cases when nearby locations are temporarily closed or to make full use of judicial capacity in court areas where there are more judges available.

Our primary focus is to maximise the use of our existing estate and our investment of £220 million in the two years to March 2025 to maintain and modernise our buildings will improve resilience and availability. We will continue to monitor our operational requirements, and should further additional capacity be required, we will consider a range of options including Nightingale courts.