Debate pack: court and tribunal closures

On 23 June 2015, Michael Gove, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, indicated that as part of a broader programme of reforming access to justice, the Government intended to make further court and tribunal closures.[1]

In the previous Parliament, the Coalition Government created the Court Estates Reform Programme (CERP), which reviewed the estate of Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS). The consultation on planned closures began in June 2010 and the Government produced its response in December 2010. The response confirmed that 141 courts would close between April 2011 and September 2014. On 9 September 2014, the responsible minister, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Mr Shailesh Vara, stated:

1. The court estate reform programme has been important in improving efficiency through the closure of poor quality and underused court buildings. Through the programme, 140 courts have closed and these closures are expected to generate estimated savings of £152 million. The last court in the programme, Alton magistrates court, closed last week on 5 September 2014.[2]

In April 2011 HMCS was merged with the Tribunals Service to create Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), which has a larger combined estate. HMCTS runs 460 court and tribunal hearing centres in England and Wales. The Government has stated that one third of the estate has a utilisation rate of less than 50%.[3]

On 16 July 2015, the Government published a consultation on plans to close 91 courts and tribunal hearing centres. The Impact Assessment indicates that the aim is to concentrate the work of HMCTS into a consolidated number of larger buildings, which would enable the estate to be used ‘more intelligently and flexibly’.[4] The Government claims that the closures will improve utilisation rates, and will also release significant savings, which will be reinvested to modernise the court system and to improve access to justice.[5]

[1] HC Deb 23 June 2015, Cols 745-755.

[2] HC Deb 9 September, Col 753.

[3] HC Deb 23 June 2015, Col 744.

[4] Ministry of Justice, ‘Impact Assessment on Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service proposals on the provision of court services in England and Wales’ (2015) p.3.

[5] Ibid; Ministry of Justice and HM Courts & Tribunals Service, ‘Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal estate in England and Wales’ (2015) p.5.