Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on which dates each of the Nightingale courts started trials; when those courts will be operating at full capacity; and what plans the Government has for further Nightingale courts.
The table below provides the dates on which each Nightingale court began to conduct hearings including civil, family, tribunals and non-custodial crime work.
Location | Hearings commenced |
Prospero House, London | 03/08/2020 |
Former Telford County Court | 17/08/2020 |
Former Fleetwood Magistrates Court | 24/08/2020 |
*Hertfordshire Development Centre | 17/08/2020 |
Swansea Civic Centre | 17/08/2020 |
Cloth Hall Court, Leeds | 28/08/2020 |
Middlesbrough Town Hall | 18/08/2020 |
East Pallant House, Chichester | 20/07/2020 |
Petty France, London | 24/08/2020 |
Peterborough Cathedral | 01/09/2020 |
*The venue in Hertfordshire was hired for a specific period to meet a targeted operational need. This site is now closed.
We are listing cases for all the available hearing space at the nine Nightingale courts that are currently open in order to maximise our hearing capacity.
HMCTS has published an update on their response to Covid-19 in the criminal courts in England and Wales (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-and-tribunal-recovery-update-in-response-to-coronavirus). This provides a comprehensive update on recovery plans and includes details about Nightingale courts and our plans to open additional locations.