Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of how many non-court sites where vulnerable witnesses may provide evidence (a) are operational and (b) will be operational in the next 12 months.

HMCTS works closely with other criminal justice partners to enable vulnerable witnesses to provide evidence from non-court sites, where appropriate. There are over 2,000 operational video links, with remote links in each HMCTS region. These provide victims and witnesses with the opportunity to give evidence away from the court room. In addition, where appropriate, vulnerable witnesses are able to give evidence from another Crown Court site. HMCTS is leading work with criminal justice partners to update information held about all non-court sites including their operational status. This work will enable the provision of the information requested.