Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the number of court hearing records that were (a) lost and (b) not recorded in the last (i) 12 months and (ii) 5 years.

Data on information on audio recording failures is not collated or held centrally. Hearings across the Crown Court, Family Court, County Court, High Court, and Court of Appeal, as a matter of routine, are digitally audio recorded, among other things so as to facilitate the provision of written transcripts where, requested or required. Operational courtroom checks are undertaken daily to assure the technology used is working correctly.