Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of court cases that has accumulated as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Our courts and tribunals provide a vital public service and it is important that justice is delivered in a timely fashion wherever possible despite the Covid-19 outbreak. Staff, identified as key workers during this pandemic, and the judiciary, working in partnership with everyone who supports the justice system has maintained both a core justice system focussed on the most vital cases, and the safety of all courts and tribunals users in line with public health advice and guidance.

Considerable effort has been made to ensure that as far as possible the justice system continues to function. We put in place temporary changes, designed in partnership with the judiciary, to prioritise cases; rapidly expand our capacity for remote audio and video hearings [numbers] while maintaining access to open justice; and condensed our services in to 159 open court/tribunal buildings, a further 111 staffed courts being used for audio and video hearings and suspended operations in 71 sites, utilising resource and cleaning materials in those sites to bolster open and staffed courts. Jury trials have restarted in seven Crown Court centres since 18 May, including the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey in London, Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester Minshull Street, Reading, Warwick and Winchester.

We have rolled out home working solutions to allow as many of our staff as possible who can, to work from home performing essential functions and thus reduce or eliminate unnecessary backlogs. As at 2 June 2020, we have distributed 5,588 laptops to our staff to facilitate this. We have also commenced rolling out a Windows Virtual Devices Solution to enable other staff to temporarily work securely at home using their own IT equipment.

Our focus is now on maximising our capacity to reduce the growth and volume of our outstanding work. We are working closely with the judiciary to increase the number of hearings by further expanding our capacity for remote audio and video hearings; and ensuring that we can reopen our estate for more face to face hearings as soon as it is safe to do so. These specific measures will be set out in due course. In the meantime, our listing priorities continue to be published on judiciary.uk and details those hearings that must still go ahead.

Our commitment to continuing to deliver justice depends on close engagement and working with justice system partners, and we are grateful to all involved for the way they have embraced new and planned reform solutions to keep the wheels of justice turning.