Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of child witnesses who had given evidence in court by video recording rather than by live video link in each of the last 10 years.

Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service uses information about witnesses in criminal cases to ensure that individual trials are managed effectively. HMCTS does not, however, hold data on the number of child witnesses who give evidence via video link/recording.

Video recording of initial evidence known as ABE (Achieving Best Evidence) is appropriate for some child witnesses; this is undertaken by the Police and can be played at trial.

In December 2013, a pilot commenced of S.28 of Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, a special measures provision allowing the Cross Examination of eligible witnesses' evidence to be recorded in advance of the trial. This pilot is taking place in three Crown Courts sitting at Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston-upon Thames.