Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the week beginning 8 April 2019, how many court buildings in the Greater London area were inaccessible to (1) defendants and witnesses with disabilities, (2) members of the public and court staff with disabilities, and (3) court staff with disabilities; how many of those buildings were only temporarily inaccessible in that week because of broken lifts; and how many courts were inaccessible to at least one of these groups for (1) more than one week, and (2) more than one month.
Answered on
30 April 2019
HM Courts & Tribunals Service is committed to ensuring access to courts and tribunals is maintained for staff and service users. We have a reasonable adjustments policy in place to accommodate those with particular access requirements.
31 of the 56 total court and tribunal buildings in the Greater London area were inaccessible to those with disabilities during the week commencing 8 April 2019. Those affected by the inaccessible buildings can be broken down as follows:
Defendants – 26
Witnesses – 7
Members of the public – 7
Court staff – 0
Of these, 2 of those buildings were temporarily inaccessible in that week because of broken lifts. 1 of those buildings was inaccessible for more than one week, and 1 for more than one month.
Disabled access was typically not factored in when many of our court and tribunal buildings were built. However, we have a number of accessible courts that our criminal justice partners are aware of, and these are used to list cases where a defendant might have accessibility needs.