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The year-long pilot, which will begin in early summer in the Stockport area, aims to reduce the number of plea and direction hearings physically held...The year-long pilot, which will begin in early summer in the Stockport area, aims to reduce the number of plea and direction hearings physically held at the court, which will result in major savings in attendance costs, which make up a large part of the overall cost of a court sitting day currently 9,000 a day.Ian Jordan, manager of Manchester Crown Court, said he hoped the scheme would also result in better informed solicitors and barristers coming to court.

We hope that if they are operating from the comfort of their chambers, counsel will feel more inclined to exchange information in a timely fashion with each other and ourselves.

This will hopefully result in fewer counsel turning up on the day of the case without really knowing much about the opposing sides pleas.

In January, the government announced a 94 million IT investment for the Crown Court; 64 million of new money added to 32 million secured last year.

Victoria MacCallum