§ Vera BairdTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment the Department has made of the extent to which(a) the closure of county magistrates courts and (b) the pressure on the Courts Service's outlying civil and family estate affect the distance people are required to travel to have access to justice in each region. [147673]
§ Mr. LeslieThe extra time and distance people are required to travel is always carefully considered when magistrates courts are closed. Other factors taken into consideration are workload, the facilities available and the costs of renovations which would be required to bring a court up to standard. All of these are assessed when I consider any appeal on a magistrates court closure.
The Court Service has been working with the Magistrates Courts Committees to look at the opportunities to share court accommodation to ease the pressure on the court estate and thereby improve access to justice.