Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the findings of the Ministry of Justice’s review of the Constitutional Reform Act will be published for public consultation; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Government is considering what improvements can be made to the settlement left by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Our constitution is always evolving, and it is entirely proper, sixteen years on from the Act, to examine that settlement in the round and to take stock of subsequent debate and of continuing interest in both Houses.
The Lord Chancellor has said that he places great importance on taking an open and consultative approach to any proposals for reform, and the Government will make its plans known in due course.
Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Ministry of Justice's review of the Constitutional Reform Act is considering giving ministers greater influence over senior judicial appointments.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Government is considering what improvements can be made to the settlement left by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Our constitution is always evolving, and it is entirely proper, sixteen years on from the Act, to examine that settlement in the round and to take stock of subsequent debate and of continuing interest in both Houses.
The Lord Chancellor has said that he places great importance on taking an open and consultative approach to any proposals for reform, and the Government will make its plans known in due course.
Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is (1) the percentage of the total number, and (2) the actual number, of court rooms in the Crown Court estate of England and Wales not being used for trials; and how long has each Crown Court centre had unused court rooms.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Prior to the March lockdown there were over 450 Crown Court rooms available for use. Jury trials were paused on 23rd March. Since then we have undertaken reconfiguration of our estate to comply with social distancing measures.
The availability of rooms fluctuates day by day, but as of the end of December 2020 we had over 290 Crown Court rooms available for Jury trials across the existing HMCTS estate, plus 120 rooms available for non-jury trial business. This comprises more than 80% of the total conventional Crown Court estate. In addition, we have 13 Jury rooms from Nightingale venues, which provide a total of 40 rooms overall across the estate. There are circa 80 Crown Court rooms not currently in use for hearings for a variety of reasons, including use as overspill accommodation in multi-hander (i.e. multi-defendant) trials to facilitate use of operational courtrooms, unsuitability for socially distanced hearings or to allow for continued maintenance.
Each Crown Court will, at times, have unused court rooms as utilisation of rooms is dependent upon a number of factors which include listing practices, availability of parties and trial outcomes.
This Government is doing everything possible to respond to the challenge of COVID-19, and the impact it has had on the justice system. We are working hard to deliver additional capacity through Nightingale Courts with an aim to have a total of 60 such courtrooms open by the end of March 2021.
Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to make the provision of secure video calls in prisons subject to a competitive procurement following the current pilot.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling solution in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. We have committed to the fact that there will be no cost of video calls to either families or those in custody during this time. At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.