In February, the honorary recorder of Nottingham Nirmal Shant KC wrote to court staff: “We have had several issues with our heating and with leaks in the court building.”
She also said at the time the Cloud Video Platform (CVP) – the online portal where cases are streamed online so interested persons and lawyers can follow a case remotely – was not working in four of the courtrooms.
CVP has proven to be a popular method of dealing with cases quicker, but it has not relieved the pressure for judges.
Thirty-five per cent of circuit judges, external indicated in the 2024 Judicial Attitudes Survey that they intended to quit by 2029.
The government is now trying to find a radical solution for the woes of his majesty’s courts.
It is spending £148.5m on improving the conditions of courts, including in Nottingham, Manchester and Oxford.
A record-high 111,250 crown court sitting days have been allocated for this financial year.
However, this has not been enough to meet incoming case demand.
In December, Justice Secretary David Lammy said jury trials would be scrapped for cases that would likely lead to sentences of less than three years.