Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the reduction in staff as a result of the courts modernisation programme in (a) London, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) Bolton and (d) England.

We do not hold expected staffing numbers for our end state in specific geographical locations. as there are often changes as the Reform programme develops. End state Service Centres are an example of this, where large numbers of our administrative staff will be based, but locations have not been finalised. We will assess the impact of reform as it is delivered on the number of courts we need, and will be carefully considering where changes to the estate are required to maximise the benefits of reform while making sure that effective access to justice is maintained.