Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the Courts in England and Wales of the rising cost of energy.

The potential impact of rising energy costs is mitigated by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) procuring energy (gas and electricity) via the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Supply of Energy framework. Through this framework the vast majority of MOJ’s future requirements are traded by the CCS Energy Trading team over a 30-month rolling basis, and to a lesser proportion a 6-month period. This provides flexibility for the CCS team to trade the basket according to an agreed hedging strategy that enables them to wait-out periods of high prices until market conditions become more favourable. More information can be found in this PQ, answered in July 2022.

In addition, HMCTS is working closely with MOJ and energy providers to produce a site-by-site energy forecast for energy usage and costs, we are also working with our facilities management partners to ensure energy consumption in HMCTS sites is as efficient as possible. Our latest financial forecast indicates that HMCTS can absorb the additional costs in fuel and utilities within our delegated budget (year ending 31 March 2023) without negatively impacting frontline delivery in our courts.