§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the average volume of work undertaken by county courts in each year since 1980. [30184]
§ Mr. HoonThe information for 1987 to 1997 is set out below. County courts vary considerably in size but the average figures have been calculated by taking the county court workload as a whole and dividing it by the number of county courts open in that year. Figures prior to 1987 will take a little longer to prepare. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as they are available.
1987 1988 1989 Telford Default and fixed date summons 5,138 4,865 5,597 Warrants 3,306 3,482 3,465 Company winding-up petitions 0 0 0 Bankrupt petitions—creditors 0 0 0 Bankrupt petitions—debtors 0 0 0 High Court work 0 0 0 Divorce petitions filed 0 0 753 Mortgage possession actions entered 300 227 246 Trials heard 30 22 26 Arbitrations heard 97 123 222
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will undertake a feasibility study into extending the Shrewsbury Crown and Magistrate's courts to include provision for the County Court. [30182]
§ Mr. HoonWe have already looked at the possibility of housing the county court in these two buildings. It is very unlikely that the magistrates' court would have future capacity to accommodate the county court. The Crown Court is located in a building leased from Shropshire 153W County Council. Discussions about the county court are continuing with the council, which has not yet been able to offer any suitable space.
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the factors which are taken into account in consideration of the proposed closure of a county court by the Court Service. [30183]
§ Mr. HoonThe criteria, as set out in the Department Accommodation Plan, are:
- The court's workload;
- The condition of the existing accommodation and the availability of facilities;
- The frequency of judicial visits and waiting times for hearings;
- The capacity of alternative court(s) to cater for additional workload;
- The facilities provided by the alternative court; and
- The distances involved for court users travelling to an alternative court, and public transport consideration.
Ludlow 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Default and fixed date summons 696 753 858 841 881 780 641 571 538 534 570 Warrants 389 351 384 479 570 687 417 274 312 269 273 Company winding-up petitions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bankrupt petitions: creditors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bankrupt petitions: debtors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 High court work 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Divorce petitions: filed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mortgage possession actions entered 32 13 33 60 48 46 41 39 28 25 34 Trials heard 4 11 7 11 11 5 8 9 1 9 2 Arbitrations heard 30 43 58 35 27 43 94 50 77 83 106
Owestry 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Default and fixed date summons 3,153 2,555 1,073 1,116 1,421 1,708 1,493 1,184 1,159 873 781 Warrants 1,451 1,225 689 728 910 1,031 814 662 649 363 292 Company winding-up petitions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bankrupt petitions: creditors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bankrupt petitions: debtors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 High court work 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Divorce petitions filed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mortgage possession actions entered 39 13 15 62 94 87 68 61 78 64 48 Trials heard 22 25 13 10 13 11 9 3 3 12 6 Arbitrations heard 48 59 48 38 54 76 103 55 68 81 84