Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse for moving magistrates court remand hearings from Shropshire Magistrates Court in Telford; and if she will hold discussions with His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service on reinstating remand hearings at that court.

The decision to centralise remand hearings in the West Mercia area was a judicial decision taken by the local Judicial Business Group in 2017 following full public consultation.

The decision was based on remand court volumes prevailing at the time, and enabled other courts in the area to improve efficiency and trial timeliness to the benefit of victims and witnesses.

The position has recently been reviewed and based on current workload volumes, the Judicial Business Group has agreed to return Shropshire remand cases back to Telford Magistrates Court.

Implementation of this decision is underway.