Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average waiting time for child witnesses for each Crown Court in each of the last three years.

Our commitment to witnesses, in terms of time spent waiting at court, is clearly set out in The Witness Charter, namely that everyone involved in a case will seek to ensure that witnesses do not have to wait more than two hours at court before giving evidence. Where the circumstances of a case do not make this possible, witnesses are kept informed.

To monitor how effective we are in this regard, and to inform ways in which to improve the witness experience, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) completes a biannual witness monitoring survey in every Crown Court. The survey takes place over a two-week period in June and November each year at Magistrates’ and Crown Courts. It records different witness types including civilian adult and child witnesses.

A witness is treated as a child witness if under 18 years of age. Only the first 30 witnesses over the sample period are recorded at each site. Therefore, only a few children are captured by the survey and the average waiting time does not necessarily represent the average waiting time of all child witnesses.

Average child witness waiting times at the Crown Court in the last three years is contained in the table below.