Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary on its decision to make second and subsequent bail applications remote by default.

It is standard practice not to comment on discussions between Ministers and the judiciary.

The Lord Chancellor is supportive of any efforts to help ensure sufficient capacity in the courts to hear bail applications and to remove principal structural barriers to applications being submitted, and he welcomes the revised guidance launched by Judicial Office which sets out that all second and subsequent bail applications to the Crown Court should be heard remotely unless ordered otherwise by a judge.