Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) victims, (b) witnesses and (c) defendants of replacing jury trials with trials by a judge and two magistrates.

We are pursuing a number of measures to help our Criminal Courts’ recovery, including searching for new court capacity. It is right that we think ambitiously and consider a full range of options. The Ministry would carry out a detailed assessment of any measure before introducing legislation.