Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Regulatory report (parliamentary written answer listing Crown Courts with hearing loops)

Crown Court: Hearing Impairment (written question 31786)

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/moj-2022-crown-court-hearing-loops/ · record checked 9 October 2026

  • Pursglove T (Ministry of Justice), answering a question from Thornberry E
  • UK Parliament (written questions and answers)

Government (UK Ministry of Justice answer to a written question in the House of Commons; the figures come from HM Courts & Tribunals Service's facilities management contract provider)

Summary

The UK government's list of Crown Courts in England and Wales confirmed, and not confirmed, to have an operational hearing loop in June 2022.

Key findings

  • Lists 69 Crown Court locations confirmed by HMCTS's facilities management contract provider to have operational hearing loops as of June 2022, and 19 not confirmed, for the permanent estate only.
  • Says courts without a loop on site may still have facilities or make reasonable adjustments, and that some of HMCTS's loop equipment is portable and can be moved between Crown Court sites.
  • Says HMCTS's service assurance checks include accessibility for users with hearing disabilities, and that problems with providing and maintaining equipment are raised with the facilities management provider.
  • Follows an answer of 27 June 2022 (question 21142) that gave at least 69 of 87 Crown Court locations as having loops on site, with a regional table totalling 89 locations that ran from 52% in the South East to 100% in two regions, and said HMCTS last carried out an internal facilities audit in 2019.

Limits

A count of loops reported present by a maintenance contractor, not measurements: it says nothing about field strength, coverage, or whether the loops reach the witness box, dock or jury. The two answers give different totals (87, 88 and 89 locations). Crown Courts only.

Read the original

questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-07-06/31786

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Cited in

Cite this source

Pursglove T (Ministry of Justice), answering a question from Thornberry E. Crown Court: Hearing Impairment (written question 31786). UK Parliament (written questions and answers). 14 July 2022. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-07-06/31786 (accessed 9 October 2026).

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