Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February to Question 147845 on Remote Hearings, whether any funding has been provided to police forces to assist in the running of video remand hearings since March 2020.

Following my Answer of 8 February to Question 147845 on Remote hearings, I can confirm that temporary funding has been provided by MoJ and the Home Office to police forces to assist in the running of remote remand hearings. HMCTS and the Home Office have agreed a joint funding approach to provide 50% of the funding for Video Remand Hearings (VRH). Funding has been provided to 6 police forces in priority areas (Derbyshire, Devon and Cornwall, Durham, Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk) to enable them to operate VRH in the 5 weeks to the end of the financial year 20/21.