Ministry of Justice plans court cull in order to make further cuts
About 91 courts and tribunals face closure under Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to reduce the court estate.
A further 31 courts and tribunals will be integrated. There are about 460 courts and tribunal hearing centres across England and Wales, which the MoJ says costs about £0.5bn each year.
Launching the MoJ’s consultation on the plans last week, courts minister Shailesh Vara said: “Last year over a third of all courts and tribunals were empty for more than 50% of their available hearing time.
“The buildings being consulted on represent 16% of hearing rooms across the estate which are, on average, used for only a third of their available time. That is equivalent to fewer than two out of five days in a week.
“It will still be the case that, after these changes, over 95% of citizens will be able to reach their required court within an hour by car.”
Vara said civic buildings such as town halls could be used for hearings in rural locations, and that digital technology would mean fewer people would need to physically appear in court.
However, David Greene, NLJ consultant editor and senior partner at Edwin Coe, says: “Pursuing court closures because of IT reforms that have yet to happen defies the long and painful project to digitalise the courts.
“We have seen scheme after scheme fail and observers are bound to remain sceptical over the latest plans. The order of play should be that the successful IT project should precede any consequent court closures. The prospect of IT projects looks like just an excuse to cut the MoJ budget by closing courts.”
Courts and tribunals targeted for closure include Birmingham Youth Court, and magistrates’ courts in Buxton, Shrewsbury, Skegness, Solihull and Worksop. In the north-west, Bolton county court and family court faces closure, as do Oldham county court and Oldham magistrates’ court, and magistrates’ courts in Accrington, Macclesfield, St Helen’s and Runcorn.
Ten courts and tribunals are targeted in London—Bow, Hammersmith, Lambeth and Woolwich county courts, and Feltham, Greenwich, Richmond, Tottenham and Waltham Forest magistrates’ courts, and Pocock Street Tribunal Hearing Centre.
The consultation closes on 8 October.
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