BBK Manifesto 2025: End the court accessibility crisis

Urgent funding and training are needed to ensure the UK’s courthouses are accessible and disabled people are not excluded from justice, BBK says.

Attending court can be stressful for anyone. For people with disabilities, the experience can be made far harder by physical and logistical barriers that should not exist in a modern justice system. In BBK’s Manifesto for Injured People, we are lobbying for equal access to justice. It is a legal right, yet the reality in Britain’s courts falls far short of this principle.

What the data shows

In 2020, our research assessed 11 different accessibility criteria across civil and criminal courthouses, such as wheelchair access, hearing loops, and welcoming assistance dogs. The results were stark. Only 2% of courthouses were fully accessible, meaning they met all the requirements, while 84% were not fully accessible for wheelchair users.

Facilities to support vulnerable witnesses were also lacking. Only 22% of courthouses offered services such as a secure witness suite, access to the Citizens Advice Witness Service, a separate waiting area for vulnerable witnesses, or a quiet room for those with anxiety and other mental health needs.

These figures are not abstract statistics. They reflect the very real experiences of people who have already faced trauma and must now navigate an environment that is physically unwelcoming and sometimes impossible to use.

For many of our clients, these barriers are especially stark. Because of the life-changing injuries they have sustained, many have mobility issues, and attending court can add another layer of difficulty to an already stressful process.

A funding gap with real consequences

New data we obtained through a Freedom of Information request to HM Courts & Tribunals Service reveals the scale of underinvestment. Over the past four years, more than £464 million was spent maintaining and upgrading the court estate in England and Wales. Less than 3.5% of that total was directed towards making courts accessible.

In some years, the proportion was almost negligible. In 2021/22, just 0.21% of the estate’s budget was spent on accessibility improvements. While spending increased in 2022/23 and 2023/24, the majority went towards lift installations. Lifts are essential, but focusing almost exclusively on them ignores other vital elements such as accessible toilets, hearing loops, signage, step-free entrances, and suitably-adapted witness facilities.

This lack of investment is especially troubling given our 2020 findings. With only 2% of courts fully accessible, improving this should be a priority.

The human impact of this was highlighted in our podcast episode All Rise, If Able: How Do We Fix the Accessibility Crisis in Our Courts?, where barrister Holly Girven shared her perspective as a disabled court user. Her experiences of navigating inaccessible court buildings underline why accessibility must be treated as a priority, not an afterthought.

Official recognition of the problem

In 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced £220 million for modernising the court estate, alongside a relaunch of the Disability Contact Officer network at the Royal Courts of Justice. However, we know that in reality the majority of that money was not spent on accessibility projects as highlighted by our FOI response.

The Justice Committee’s report on the Work of the County Court highlighted the significant disrepair across the court estate and recommended accessibility works be prioritised. Without sustained investment, physical barriers will continue to limit access to justice.

What needs to change

Equal access to justice cannot exist if court buildings exclude people with disabilities. In our Manifesto for Injured People, we are calling for:

• A national accessibility audit of all court buildings, with results made public
• Accurate, regularly updated information on court accessibility in the Court and Tribunal Finder so users can plan ahead with confidence
• Accessibility training for all staff working on the court estate
• Ring-fenced funding for accessibility improvements, with a clear annual target for progress

The bottom line

Access to justice is not just about laws and procedures. It begins the moment someone enters a court building. With only 2% of courts fully accessible and less than 3.5% of estate spending dedicated to accessibility in recent years, the system is failing disabled court users. The Government must commit to fixing this, not as an optional improvement but as a fundamental requirement of a fair and equal justice system.

This blog is part of our 2025/26 Manifesto for Injured People. At Bolt Burdon Kemp, we support injured people not only by winning their cases but by driving change. Guided by our clients’ experiences and partnerships with charities across the UK, we are raising awareness of the change we need to see to better support injured people. We will continue working with politicians from all parties to ensure injured people’s needs are not overlooked in Westminster or beyond. You can read our full manifesto here.