Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what role HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has in allocating court warrants to energy firms to individual magistrates courts; what factors influence its decision making when deciding which court to send cases to; and what checks HMCTS takes to ensure that no requests for warrants are made against vulnerable households.

Listing is a judicial responsibility and function, and cases are listed by HMCTS under the supervision of the judiciary. Applications for a warrant to authorise entry to premises under section 2 of the Rights of Entry (Gas and Electricity Boards) Act 1954 may be made to a magistrate either in private or sitting in open court. If such an application is uncontested it may be heard over a live link without a public hearing and the applicant and the magistrate may be in different places.  Contested applications are listed in open court at a magistrates' court selected by the energy firm’s customer. It is the responsibility of the energy company, prior to making their application, in accordance with Ofgem’s Gas and Electricity Codes of Practice for Domestic Suppliers, to undertake checks on the vulnerability of the occupiers of the premises in respect of which the application is made. Applicants confirm on oath that such checks have been undertaken.