Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to consider proposals for a methodological assessment of the impact of video hearings on justice outcomes, including appeals.

We already use video links successfully across the justice system. Greater use of video technology can reduce travel time, cost and inconvenience for the public and professionals who use our courts and tribunals. Over the course of this year we will be launching pilots of online video technology to explore how video can be used more widely to make courts better to use and more effective to operate. The early pilots will be subject to independent academic evaluation to ensure our processes remain accessible and robust. In addition, we are considering the requirements for an evaluation to assess the overall impact of our Court Reform Programme.