Leeds 'Nightingale' court set to stay open until next March
The pop-up court has opened to deal with a backlog of cases after the coronavirus pandemic
A nightingale court in Leeds is going to be one of 12 kept open for another year, to deal with a backlog of cases caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to close 11 nightingale courts within weeks, including sites in Manchester, Liverpool and Middlesbrough.
Others in Leeds, Maidstone, Chichester, Telford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Swansea, Cirencester and Fleetwood will all remain open until March 2023 as part of efforts to reduce the number of outstanding court cases waiting to be dealt with.
In London, court rooms set up in Prospero House, Barbican and Croydon will also stay open. But others in Petty France and Monument will close at the end of March and early April respectively.
Negotiations to find two more court rooms in London are ongoing.
Justice minister James Cartlidge said: "Nightingale courts continue to be a valuable weapon in the fight against the pandemic's unprecedented impact on our courts, providing temporary extra capacity.
"Combined with other measures - such as removing the cap on crown court sitting days, more use of remote hearings, and increasing magistrate sentencing powers - we are beginning to see the backlog drop so victims can get the speedier justice they deserve."