Oral Answers to Questions

Jane Hunt Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the court backlog.

[Jane Hunt (Loughborough) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the court backlog.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

What progress he has made on reducing the backlog of cases in HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Philp]

I can most certainly offer my hon. Friend an assurance about the additional staff. We are in the process of hiring an extra 1,600 HMCTS staff. As I mentioned to the Justice Committee Chairman, my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Sir Robert Neill) earlier, we are also expecting a significant increase in Crown court sitting days in the next financial year. More money is being invested in the Crown Prosecution Service, which of course brings these prosecutions, with an extra £85 million a year to hire 400 more prosecutors. The purpose of all those measures is to speed up the system in the way that my hon. Friend has rightly just requested. I would be very happy to study proposals for a Nightingale court in East Anglia. Perhaps we could discuss that after this session to see what ideas he has.

[Jane Hunt [V]]

My constituent owns a construction firm. He completed a significant project before the first lockdown, but his customer has not yet paid. He understands from his solicitor that it is impossible to submit a request for a winding-up order through the courts at present, even in cases where the temporary restrictions on them do not apply. If that is the case, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that businesses can request winding-up orders when required while covid restrictions are in place?

[Chris Philp]

It is important that people to whom debts are owed can enforce those debts and get judgment; it is the foundation upon which commercial transactions are built. I am not sure that I entirely recognise the situation to which my hon. Friend refers. Perhaps we can correspond after today’s session, and I would be happy to look into the particulars of the case that she references and see whether I can assist in any way.