Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the average monthly cost of running each Nightingale court at current capacity.

We have added vital capacity by opening 16 Nightingale courts providing 29 extra court rooms, alleviating the pressure on courts and tribunals resulting from the pandemic.

The average monthly running cost to date for a Nightingale court room is £27,916. This includes the cost of venue hire, additional staffing, security, and cleaning, but does not include judicial costs or venue set up costs. I am not able to provide a breakdown of average monthly cost by venue due to license payments that are commercially sensitive.

HMCTS has published updates on their response to Covid-19 in the criminal and civil, family and tribunals jurisdictions in England and Wales. They provide comprehensive updates on recovery plans and include details about Nightingale courts and our actions to make sure our buildings are Covid-secure, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-and-tribunal-recovery-update-in-response-to-coronavirus