Oral Answers to Questions

Daniel Zeichner Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

What progress he has made on planning for the (a) opening and (b) operation of Nightingale courts.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

What progress he has made on planning for the (a) opening and (b) operation of Nightingale courts.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Philp)]

Coronavirus has had an enormous effect globally and on public services in this country, which is why this year we have invested an extra quarter of a billion pounds to facilitate court recovery. As an important part of that we have already, as of today, opened up 40 additional Nightingale courtrooms, with a further 20 to open by the end of March.

[Daniel Zeichner [V]]

But there are huge delays in the justice system. Her Majesty’s justice chief inspectors report 53,000 cases waiting to come before Crown courts. In Cambridgeshire, housing associations tell me that when they file papers for community protection notices, they are frequently lost or not even opened. Will the Minister tell me exactly how many Nightingale courts are hearing criminal trials today, and how many will be by the end of 2021?

[Chris Philp]

In relation to criminal cases, I am pleased to report to the House that since August last year, every single month, relentlessly, the number of disposals in the magistrates court has exceeded receipts, so the outstanding caseload in magistrates courts has been declining relentlessly since August, as the system has recovered. We now have more than 290 effective Crown court jury trials, which is more than we had before the pandemic, and just before Christmas disposals exceeded receipts for the first time during the pandemic. That quarter-of-a-billion-pound investment is working and we are getting the justice system back on its feet following the very substantial and understandable challenges that coronavirus has presented.