Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hearings and trials across the HM Courts and Tribunal Service estate used a video link or similar technology in the last 12 months.

During the 12 month period to February 2017, a total of 143,043 video links were used for criminal hearings and trials. This represents a 14% increase since 2014/15. Data on the number of video links used in the family courts, civil courts and tribunals is not held centrally. The Government is committed to maximising the appropriate use of virtual hearings across all jurisdictions, as part of our £1bn reforms to the courts and tribunals.