§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list, by county area, those magistrates courts which have been closed since April 1992 and those magistrates courts which he expects to be closed by April 1995.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe provision of magistrates' courthouse accommodation is a matter for the courts' 397W committee for the area concerned in conjunction with the local paying authority; there is no requirement of notification to the Lord Chancellor. The Department has no central record of the number of magistrates' courthouses that have been closed or are scheduled to be closed. A local authority that is aggrieved by a decision of a magistrates court committee to close a courthouse has the right of appeal to the Lord Chancellor. In 1993 the Lord Chancellor dealt with six appeals. There are no appeals currently outstanding.
§ Mr. SimsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received from representatives of outer London magistrates courts concerning the Police and Magistrates' Courts Bill[Lords].
Mr. John M. TaylorThe Lord Chancellor has received 118 responses from representatives of the outer London magistrates courts service to the consultation documents issued by his Department. In addition to this he has received in the region of 80 letters from hon. Members for constituencies in the outer London area concerning the Police and Magistrates' Courts Bill. There have been approximately 300 letters from members of the magistrates courts service overall and other interested bodies; it is not possible, however, to give an accurate figure of those from representatives of the outer London service since this information is not recorded. The Lord Chancellor and I have also met representatives of the outer London action group, and the Lord Chancellor will continue to correspond with them.