Remote Hearings: Disability

(asked on 13th May 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of defendants who are detained post-charge by the police are not required to appear on video for remand hearings as a result of their disabilities.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 18th May 2021

We do not hold the information requested. Video Remand Hearings (VRH) were rolled out at scale over Spring/Summer 2020 to help reduce footfall in courts and reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19. The data regarding the proportion of defendants not required to appear on video for remand hearings due to disability was not collected during the COVID-19 period.

Prior to its use during the pandemic, VRH was in operation across a 5-force model in the South East as part of a Video Enabled Justice Programme sponsored by the Home Office. The requested information was not collected.

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