§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how many court houses have closed since 1997; and how many have had improvements made to them. [54208]
§ Mr. WillsThere have been 77 magistrates' court houses closed since 1997 in England and Wales, as set out in the table. Of the 404 magistrates' courts in England and Wales currently in operation, almost all have had improvements made to them in one way or another, for example, improvements to environmental systems or enhancements to enable compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act or Health and Safety legislation, including security provisions.
The Department is currently funding an ongoing programme of building works on magistrates' courts throughout England and Wales. It received a £100 million capital grant allocation during the current Spending Review 2000 period for maintenance and other building enhancements. This is funding priority maintenance and improvement works such as facilities for victims and vulnerable witnesses, as well as Disability Discrimination Act and Security facilities. The grant provides 80 per cent. of the funding with a further 20 per cent. being provided by the local authority. There is also a public private partnership programme for the provision of new courts to 411W meet the needs of a 21st century court system. £210 million national credit approval (NCA) has been allocated over the CSR 2000 period.
There have been 15 county court closures since 1997 in England and Wales, as set out in the table. There are two county court closure proposals (Gravesend and Gateshead) under consideration, both of which have gone out to public consultation.
There have been no Crown court closures in England and Wales since 1997. There is, however, currently public consultation on the proposal to close the Crown court at Knutsford. Consultation commenced on 10 April and will run until the end of May.
There are 78 Crown court centres and 218 county courts (permanent) in England and Wales; many have had various renovation works undertaken. The nature of works covered varies but they include items such as health and safety works, security work, Disability Discrimination Act compliance and environmental improvements. In most instances these works have been undertaken within the scope of major maintenance schemes.
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MCC Magistrates' courthouse Closure date Bedfordshire Ampthill 1 January 2000 Bedfordshire Biggleswade 1 January 2000 Bedfordshire Dunstable 1 January 2000 Bedfordshire Leighton Buzzard 1 January 2000 Cambridgeshire March 31 December 1998 Cheshire Warrington Patten Hall 1 April 2001 Cheshire Macclesfield Park Green 1 April 2001 Cumbria Keswick 30 April 2000 Cumbria Appleby 31 May 2000 Cumbria Windermere 31 May 2000 Cumbria Wigton 31 May 2000 Derbyshire Alfreton 1 January 2001 Derbyshire Ashbourne 1 January 2001 Derbyshire Bakewell 1 January 2001 Derbyshire Matlock 1 January 2001 Devon and Cornwall Bideford 30 April 2001 Devon and Cornwall Exmouth 30 April 2001 Devon and Cornwall Kingsbridge 30 April 2001 Devon and Cornwall South Molton 30 April 2001 Devon and Cornwall Teignmouth 30 April 2001 Devon and Cornwall Tavistock 30 April 2001 Devon and Cornwall Axminster 4 May 2001 Devon and Cornwall Tiverton 4 May 2001 Devon and Cornwall Newquay 30 June 2001 Dorset Christchurch 31 March 1999 Dorset Gillingham 30 September 2001 Durham Barnard Castle 31 December 1998 Essex Saffron Walden 31 December 1998 Gloucestershire Stow on the Wold 30 June 1999 Greater London Marlborough Street 31 March 98 Greater London Clerkenwell 31 December 1998 Greater Manchester Leigh 31 March 2001 Greater Manchester Middleton 31 March 2001 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Southampton (Commercial Road) 31 August 2001 Hertfordshire Bishop's Stortford 31 March 1998 Hertfordshire Hatfield 31 March 1998 Hertfordshire Hitchin 31 March 1998 Humberside Bridlington 9 November 2001 Humberside Brough 9 November 2001 Humberside Driffield 9 November 2001 Humberside Hull (Guildhall) 9 November 2001 Humberside Hull (Lowgate) 9 November 2001 Humberside Pocklington 9 November 2001 Humberside Withernsea 9 November 2001 Kent Sheerness 31 December 1998 Kent West Mailing 31 December 1998
MCC Magistrates' courthouse Closure date Kent Gravesend 9 June 2000 Lancashire Lytham 31 December 1998 Leicestershire Lutterworth 31 July 1998 Lincolnshire Market Rasen 31 March 1998 Norfolk Diss 31 December 1998 North Wales Corwen 31 December 1998 North Wales Abergele 31 December 2000 North Yorkshire Malton 6 February 1998 North Yorkshire Ripon 1 August 1998 Staffordshire Lichfield 31 March 2000 Staffordshire Leek 31 March 2001 Staffordshire Womborne 1 September 2001 Suffolk Felixstowe 31 December 1998 Suffolk Haverhill 31 December 1998 Suffolk Saxmundham 31 December 1998 Suffolk Stowmarket 31 December 1998 Suffolk Newmarket 31 December 1998 Surrey Chertsey 31 March 1998 Surrey Farnham 31 March 1998 Surrey Oxted 31 March 1998 Sussex Arundel 1 December 2001 Thames Valley Abingdon 31 March 1999 Thames Valley Henley on Thames 31 March 1999 Thames Valley Windsor 31 March 1999 West Mercia Worcester 31 March 2001 West Mercia Bridgenorth 31 January 2002 West Mercia Leominster 31 January 2002 West Yorkshire Morley 31 March 1999 West Yorkshire Pudsey 31 March 1999 West Yorkshire Keighley 1 April 2000 Wiltshire Wootton Bassett 2 October 2000
County court Closure date Rochdale 7 September 1998 Holywell 7 September 1998 Camborne and Redruth 24 December 1998 Hemel Hempstead 24 December 1998 West Bromwich 24 December 1998 Loughborough 31 December 1998 Corby 1 March 1999 Bridgwater 20 December 1999 Great Yarmouth 31 January 2000 Grays Thurrock 31 January 2000 Lichfield 3 July 2000 Caerphilly 30 November 2000 Workington 2 January 2001 Chepstow 1 April 2002 Monmouth 1 April 2002