Around 50 per cent of the Nightingale courts are set to shut down after becoming operative at the height of Covid -19 in 2020, however the remaining courts will remain open until March next year.

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Nightingale temporary courts were opened in conference suites, hotels and sport centres originally to maintain social distancing which was virtually impossible in traditional courts. The courts have been targeted with helping to clear up the massive backlog of cases with landlord rental possessions high on the list.

This spring, 11 of the Nightingale courts will be shut however the remaining 12 will stay ‘open for business’ until March 2023.

Justice minister James Cartlidge, says: “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.”

The government alongside the Nightingale’s introduced other measures to reduce backlogs caused by Covid, such as 3,265 cloud video platform virtual court rooms which held up to 13,600 hearings per week.

In spring 2021 it was estimated that PRS landlord possession cases had reached a 12 month backlog.