Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his letter sent to the Justice Committee on 20 January 2021, for what reasons primary legislation is required to enable PECS officers to assist with video remand hearings; and what the planned timescale is for introducing that legislation.

Video Remand Hearings (VRH) were rolled out over summer 2020 to help reduce footfall in courts and therefore the risk of transmission of Covid-19. Whilst PECS officers were deployed to help with administrative tasks in relation to VRH, the circumstances where PECS officers may have custodial responsibility for defendants and exercise their powers are set out in primary legislation (section 80 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991). A change of that legislation is therefore required to specifically confer PECS officers with custodial responsibility for defendants whilst in police stations. This limits their immediate ability to completely facilitate a full remand hearing via video until the change is made. The government is exploring bringing forward appropriate legislation when parliamentary time allows.