Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that geographic accessibility to courts does not become a barrier to access to justice as a result of the courts closure programme.

In January 2018, HM Courts & Tribunals Service published its Fit for the future: transforming the Court and Tribunal estate consultation, outlining proposals for its future strategy and approach to the court and tribunal estate in the context of the over £1 billion programme of modernisation currently underway across HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

Access to justice, of which proximity to courts and tribunals is one factor, was referred to in the consultation, which closed on 29 March 2018. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.