Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2020 to Question 81888 on Courts: Video Conferencing, whether his Department holds data that would enable the comparison of the relative duration of hearings conducted by cloud video platform under covid-19 with in-person hearings across (a) magistrates courts, (b) county courts and (c) the network of tribunals.

HMCTS does not hold data on the number of hearings completed per hour or the duration of hearings. We continue to carefully monitor and evaluate the use of video and technology in courts, so that we can improve services and support access to justice. The decision to deal with a hearing or part of a hearing remotely is a matter for the judiciary and the length of hearings vary significantly whether in person or remote.

We are listening to feedback from all court users including the judiciary, legal professionals, staff and other key stakeholders to understand the impact of the technology during Covid and findings of that evaluation will be available in Spring 2021.