Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the pilot programme to provide to victims of rape and sexual offences on request a free copy of judges’ sentencing remarks to all victims of crime.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In May 2024, the Ministry of Justice launched a pilot to enable victims of rape and sexual offences, whose cases are heard at the Crown Court, to request a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks for free. Between May 2024 and 25 April 2025, HM Courts & Tribunals Service received 498 applications under the pilot. The pilot is due to conclude at the end of May 2025.
We recognise the value that transcripts can have for victims of crime. Victims of rape and sexual offences were chosen for the pilot due to the particular difficulties they face when attending court. We are actively exploring opportunities to use technology to reduce the cost of transcripts of hearings in the criminal courts in future, but maintaining a high degree of accuracy will always be of paramount importance.
We are currently assessing the pilot’s uptake and impact and will be able to say more on our plans for future provision in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have signed up to her Department's pilot programme to provide free sentencing remarks to victims of rape and sexual offences.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In May 2024, the Ministry of Justice launched a pilot to enable victims of rape and sexual offences, whose cases are heard at the Crown Court, to request a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks for free. Between May 2024 and 25 April 2025, HM Courts & Tribunals Service received 498 applications under the pilot. The pilot is due to conclude at the end of May 2025.
We recognise the value that transcripts can have for victims of crime. Victims of rape and sexual offences were chosen for the pilot due to the particular difficulties they face when attending court. We are actively exploring opportunities to use technology to reduce the cost of transcripts of hearings in the criminal courts in future, but maintaining a high degree of accuracy will always be of paramount importance.
We are currently assessing the pilot’s uptake and impact and will be able to say more on our plans for future provision in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans make the Rape and Sexual Offences Free Sentencing Remarks pilot scheme permanent.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In May 2024, the Ministry of Justice launched a pilot to enable victims of rape and sexual offences, whose cases are heard at the Crown Court, to request a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks for free. Between May 2024 and 25 April 2025, HM Courts & Tribunals Service received 498 applications under the pilot. The pilot is due to conclude at the end of May 2025.
We recognise the value that transcripts can have for victims of crime. Victims of rape and sexual offences were chosen for the pilot due to the particular difficulties they face when attending court. We are actively exploring opportunities to use technology to reduce the cost of transcripts of hearings in the criminal courts in future, but maintaining a high degree of accuracy will always be of paramount importance.
We are currently assessing the pilot’s uptake and impact and will be able to say more on our plans for future provision in due course.
Asked by: Rachel Blake (Labour (Co-op) - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the First-Tier Tribunal.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government inherited a broken justice system with record and rising court backlogs. The Lord Chancellor recently announced that for 2025-26, the Ministry of Justice will provide a total budget of £2,538 million.
We have continued investment this year in the recruitment of up to 1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions. This includes recruitment targeted at First-tier Tribunal chambers with the greatest business need.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems, and the use of remote hearing technology.
As a result, the Lord Chancellor was able to announce on 5 March the sitting day allocations for the First-tier Tribunal for 2025/26, which will enable all chambers of the First-tier Tribunal to sit at, or near, their maximum capacity for the year.
We recognise that there remain significant challenges for the performance of the First-tier Tribunal. We are therefore continuing to monitor demand on the Tribunal and are working with the Judiciary, HMCTS and relevant Government Departments on the further actions needed to alleviate pressures on the Tribunal system, improve efficiency and reduce waiting times to ensure timely access to justice for all parties.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Youth Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of dedicated Youth Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. Youth Courts are normally sat by magistrates and are routinely located in magistrates’ courts. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for different jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | Youth Courts closed |
London | 1 |
Midlands | 1 |
North East | 0 |
North West | 0 |
South East | 0 |
South West | 0 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Nightingale Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2020 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of Nightingale Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2020 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The data is limited to Nightingale Courts that have closed and does not include instances of jury trial rooms enabled by small venue hire or rooms enabled via Portacabins.
Region | Nightingale Courts closed |
London | 3 |
Midlands | 5 |
North East | 5 |
North West | 9 |
South East | 4 |
South West | 3 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Tribunals were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of Tribunals that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for different jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | Tribunals closed |
London | 3 |
Midlands | 0 |
North East | 5 |
North West | 0 |
South East | 0 |
South West | 0 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
In order to help reduce the risk of building failures, we have announced a boost in court maintenance and capital project funding from £120 million last year, to up to £148.5m for 2025/26.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many County Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of County Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for other jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | County Courts closed |
London | 5 |
Midlands | 20 |
North East | 12 |
North West | 15 |
South East | 16 |
South West | 4 |
Wales | 4 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
In order to help reduce the risk of building failures, we have announced a boost in court maintenance and capital project funding from £120 million last year, to up to £148.5m for 2025/26.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure the Child Maintenance Service (a) is easier to navigate, b) reduces instances of lack of payment by one parent, (c) is faster at resolving cases and appeals and (d) reduces the total number of appeals allowed.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is taking steps to make improvements across the child maintenance system and create a modern, accessible, and robust service through our Service Modernisation Programme (SMP) and CMS reforms. Through the SMP, we have worked with suppliers who have experience of transforming organisations globally – this is ongoing, and we benefit from their insight and innovation.
The SMP has already delivered significant improvements to the customer experience through the provision of online services and Digital Assist Telephony Service, enabling parents to access their on-line My Child Maintenance Case at any time. We have restructured our telephony call routing system, made incremental improvements to customer communications, including a full review of letters, and made significant advancements to our IT systems. The wide-reaching programme aims to continue to reform and modernise CMS services with increased effectiveness and efficiency, and will continue to engage a wide range of statutory and non-statutory bodies to do this.
A principle of child maintenance is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support. Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable the CMS offers a statutory scheme for those parents who need it.
The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their obligations to children and the CMS will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 proposed regulations to support the introduction of administrative liability orders (ALOs), removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order. Introducing this process should enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and get money to children more quickly. We are working with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Scottish Government to establish a process for implementing ALOs and plan to introduce regulations to Parliament by the end of this year.
Appeals fall under the jurisdiction of HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April to Question 42441 on the Employment Tribunals Service, what discussions she has had with HM Courts & Tribunals Service on collecting aggregate data on the time taken to resolve individual employment tribunal cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Ministers regularly meet the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to discuss a wide range of matters relating to the operation of court and tribunal services, including the Employment Tribunal. These discussions are aimed at ensuring the efficient delivery of services across all jurisdictions. Publication of Employment Tribunal Timeliness information ceased under the previous Government from April 2021 when the jurisdiction moved to an interim database with only limited management information available. Between July 2022 and July 2024, Employment Tribunals have gradually transitioned to a new case management system as part of the Reform project and timeliness data for single cases only from this system was published for the first time in March 2025 - www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. It is expected that timeliness and jurisdictional data will be available for single cases held on the reformed platform later in the year.
It is not possible to produce timeliness or jurisdictional data for the legacy case management system, therefore the data we can currently provide is limited. Work is currently ongoing to transition the remaining legacy caseload to the new case management system as part of the HMCTS data strategy to enable more comprehensive data to be produced. That is expected to be available later this year.