(10 years, 2 months ago)
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John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
“British justice is the envy of the world,” said the Government in the previous debate. Elizabeth I, James I, Henry III, Henry VIII, Richard I, Richard II, Richard III, Mary Queen of Scots and many, many more monarchs of this country have rested overnight in Bassetlaw. In 617, King Edwin defeated Aethelfrith of Northumbria in a battle that established some of the initial boundaries across the country that we now call England. During the reign of King Alfred, England was divided into shires and counties and then subdivided into hundreds of wapentakes, one of which was Bassetlaw. It was reinforced and confirmed in the Domesday Book when the modern geographic area of Bassetlaw was granted by William the Conqueror to Roger de Busli, a well known northern baron. Why is that relevant to British justice today? Well, the basis of law—the law that the Government say is the envy of the world—is precisely this geographical, political, social and economic history that has meant that, as an entity, Bassetlaw has existed in the concepts of law in this country for 1,000 years.
The local courts, which determined where residents could graze their lands and the rights of tenants under the dukes who resided there, have gone on for the past 1,000 years. Bassetlaw has been the home of many great dukes, including Norfolk, Newcastle, and Portland who, as landowners, administered justice in disputes on their land. Following the dissolution of the abbeys during the reign of Henry VIII—soon after he had visited the great priory of Worksop—the Earl of Shrewsbury was granted the land in Bassetlaw that used to belong to the great priory abbey. The local records note that Gilbert, the new Earl of Shrewsbury, had to pay a tax of 100 shillings to the court when his father died in what was known as knight’s duties. He became a Privy Counsellor to Elizabeth I and was also made a knight of the garter. He gave to the monarch, on behalf of the manor of Worksop, the gloves that were held in the right hand of the monarch in every coronation for many hundreds of years.
It is important to remember that while common law was only introduced in Bassetlaw during the reign of Henry III, canon law had been administered at the local abbeys by monks who were trained to try cases involving the Church. That is how justice in this country was developed—how it originated. Bassetlaw was there at the beginning of English justice. All the way through—be it through the canons or the dukes—justice has been administered in Bassetlaw, by Bassetlaw, for Bassetlaw. The Social and Economic History of Nottinghamshire says that
“summary justice in Nottingham was mainly administered in these local courts”—
such as in Retford and Worksop—
“to which the tenants almost always made suit. The majority of the lords possessed the rights of the gallows, the pillory, the tumbrel…together with the assize of bread and ale.”
All that history and the basis of justice are now threatened for the first time in 1,000 years by the cutbacks of this Government. It is this Government now, in this year, who are proposing a single site for youth work. They are not talking about Bassetlaw, or Retford court, which was closed by the previous cuts of the previous Secretary of State. They are talking about youth work going to Mansfield, with the new single family courts. Worksop is being offered only as an occasional court, “as an overspill”.
New criminal work will never be commenced again in Bassetlaw, shifted to Worksop. There will be no listings of trials at Worksop any more because under this Government and their police cuts the cells at the court room, run by the police, have been mothballed. What does that leave for justice in Bassetlaw in the Government’s consultation document? TV licence offences, while at the same time the coalition Government are consulting on decriminalising TV licence offences. That leaves local taxation enforcement, to quote from the consultation document, “for the time being”.
This is the death of the last remaining court in Bassetlaw—Worksop court—through a thousand cuts. Bit by bit, justice has been stripped away; so have 1,000 years and so has the basis of the law we gave to the rest of the world, which this same Government claim is the envy of the rest of the world—although not for long, if the principle of local justice administered by local people is stripped away from the very place where it was founded.
What are the practical implications? In their document, the Government suggest a small journey—a 30-mile round trip—failing to recognise the geographical size of Bassetlaw. It takes more time, to pick an entirely random comparison, to journey across Bassetlaw by car than it does to journey from this place to Basingstoke. It takes more time to get into Worksop from the villages of Bassetlaw than it does to get from Worksop to Mansfield by public transport. If a person is lucky and buses are available, they could potentially get to Mansfield and the courts in three hours but not in time to turn up for the start of court. Having got there, they would not be able to get back home. That means that magistrates, the basis of local justice, will no longer be able to be recruited from Bassetlaw. Witnesses wishing to appear in court who do not have access to their own transport will not be able practically to make a return journey and, if they do, on the one train they could take from Worksop that gets to Mansfield in time they would be sitting in the same carriages as those they were giving evidence against.
What kind of justice system is that, that we say is the envy of the world, when the Government, through their measly cutbacks, reduce to nothing 1,000 years of justice in Bassetlaw? How will those who are not financially well off, those without access to transport, those who are infirm and those who are unable to drive, either because they no longer have a licence or have not yet acquired one, be able to get the courts and get back? The real hidden cost will be in police officers chasing youths who have failed to turn up in time in court over the 550 square miles of Bassetlaw, an area bigger than the whole of Greater London. Police resources will be wasted on people who have failed to turn up in court when charged with small offences.
Once the Government have cut to ribbons what is left, stripped out criminal trials in Bassetlaw and denuded it of any real opportunity in the field of justice, the last little bits will be taken away because the next cut will be the final cut: the closure of Worksop court. What will that mean when that happens, which will be a matter of months if the consultation goes through? The area that helped create British justice and produced MPs such as the Earl of Liverpool, the last Prime Minister and MP before my good self to live in Bassetlaw while representing Bassetlaw, or Gladstone, who was not an MP for Bassetlaw but spent four years living there—that is what is being thrown away, but this is far greater than that.
Where did the Great Reform Act, which eventually led to this country exporting the universal franchise and the current system of democracy to everywhere in the democratic world, come from? It came from Bassetlaw and the great reformer John Cartwright. Because of the rotten borough of Retford, the Great Reform Act, when it was written, was inspired by events in Bassetlaw. Legal brains from Bassetlaw led to the Great Reform Act and created the model of democracy that this country gave the world, but this is about more than that.
The essence of democracy and the fact that there was so much local democracy in Bassetlaw also led to the confidence that meant that the people who became the pilgrim fathers nearly 400 years ago—the anniversary is in 2020—and formed the United States of America could create the ethos behind the constitution of the United States. Those people were brought up, bred, schooled, educated and churched in Bassetlaw. The history of local justice inspired them to be the ones who dared to go out and have the vision that led to the United States. World democracy was exported by this country. British justice, to quote the Government in the previous debate, is the envy of the world. That 1,000-year-old system of local people in the local area administering local justice is now being kiboshed by this Government and their penny pinching cuts.
My demand is that the Minister should tear up the consultation, reject the death by a thousand cuts of the final court in Bassetlaw, Worksop court, and say to the world that British justice will in the future be the envy of the world and that we will have the principle of local justice administered by local people in the local area. If it has been good enough for 1,000 years in Bassetlaw, it is good enough for a number more years to come. I demand that the Government withdraw these proposals and guarantee the future of Worksop court.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Shailesh Vara)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) on securing this important debate. I am sure that historians in years to come will want to look at his historical analysis of Bassetlaw eagerly, because it certainly was very interesting.
Let me make something absolutely clear at the outset: I want to assure the hon. Gentleman that the consultation is not a consultation on court closure.
I want to make three things clear. First, no decisions have yet been made. The local area is conducting a consultation on the proposal to reduce the number and type of court sessions listed in Worksop and I would not want to prejudge the outcome of that consultation.
Secondly, the consultation relates to proposed changes to the type of work that will be allocated to Worksop magistrates court in light of the facilities available there and the overall requirements of the Nottinghamshire local justice area. It is not a proposal to close the court at Worksop. If that were proposed it would be subject to a separate consultation that specifically said it was about possible closure.
Thirdly, the maintenance of appropriate arrangements for the deployment of the judiciary of England and Wales and the allocation of work within courts is the statutory responsibility of the Lord Chief Justice, not the Lord Chancellor. Together with, and supported by, the justices’ clerk through the judicial business group, local judiciary ensure that there is sufficient court time available to meet demand, and that the right facilities are provided for the particular types of cases that come before them. That includes reviewing the sitting programmes of magistrates courts within their area.
I should explain that judicial business groups comprise a magistrates liaison judge nominated by the resident judges in each clerkship, up to two district judges from magistrates courts, up to three bench chairs from benches within the clerkship areas, a justices’ clerk, a representative from the Magistrates Association, and a senior regional official from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. In line with other areas, Nottinghamshire reviews its performance and sitting programme on a monthly basis to ensure that it is properly aligned with the workload. There has been a steady reduction in criminal workload across Nottinghamshire, which reflects a national trend, and the forecast is for further reduction. By contrast, family court work has increased slightly in the area, and it is right that local arrangements are made to accommodate that at Mansfield, Nottingham and, where necessary, Worksop.
The low volume of criminal cases, particularly in rural areas, means that some courts are not fully occupied, and the steps taken by the judicial business group in Nottinghamshire to consolidate similar types of business are designed to help make the best use of the estate, accommodate a growing family and tribunals workload, and reduce the inconvenience to court users caused by sitting patterns changing at short notice.
The proposals seek fully to utilise judicial sittings and to reduce the amount of judicial time wasted when cases collapse at short notice. The combining of resources in fewer venues will increase flexibility and afford more resilience when listing the criminal, civil and family case load. That in turn will provide the judiciary with more opportunity to use skills acquired and to expand on those that have been little used while sitting in courts where listing has been restricted, as experienced in Worksop.
The proposals are subject to a wide stakeholder consultation in the local area. It closes on 30 April 2014, and I hope the hon. Gentleman will contribute to it. The responses to the consultation will be given thorough consideration and the judicial business group will meet to discuss them. The final decision on how to arrange business within this area will rest with that group. A response to the consultation paper will be published in June.
The consultation has been designed to draw out specific impacts on various groups, and they will be considered carefully by the judicial business group, which will also give proper consideration to the public sector equality duty before implementation. The justices’ clerk for the area and bench chairman have held meetings with local defence advocates and a representative of the Legal Aid Agency better to understand their concerns. The judicial business group will consider carefully the impact on magistrates’ rotas. Those considerations will take into account the need to balance travel time and costs against maintaining their competencies and sittings across the range of work.
I understand the concern that some of the changes may result in increased travel for victims and witnesses in the north of the county, which is why the criminal justice system is looking at ways to overcome that, especially by making the most of video technology. That would mean that victims and witnesses may, in some instances, be able to give their evidence from the local police station or local court via a video link. The increased use of video technology in the courts is a key part of the Government’s modernisation plans for the criminal justice system, and I, for one, welcome its use for those purposes.
It is important to remember that the proposals for Worksop magistrates court will serve to benefit all court users while improving performance and service delivery, and creating better value for money. Worksop has the lowest effective trial rate in the area. In 2013, 34.6% of trials that were listed actually went ahead as trials. In the same year, in 20% of trials, the defendant changed their plea to guilty at the court door, causing the trial to collapse. As only one court operates at the site, when a trial collapses, the court has no other work to do. Conversely, if more than one listed trial is ready to proceed, there is no scope for that trial to be heard elsewhere in the building, as there is only one operational court. That happened in 10% of trials listed at Worksop in 2013, and it is the highest instance of ineffective trials in the area. When that happens, the trial has to be adjourned and relisted for another day, leading to further delay. Proposals in the consultation seek to make better use of court time for magistrates and court users while improving performance and service delivery. That will be brought about by combining resources in one building, thus providing increased flexibility to dispose of the work load in a more efficient manner.
Criminal business in magistrates courts has reduced nationally. We have a duty to court users to deliver an efficient and effective service across all parts of our business, and we believe the proposals will help to do both. I reiterate that this is a local initiative, which is being appropriately managed through the consultation paper. Local justice is about visible and continual engagement with communities. It is working with local criminal justice agencies to understand the issues that affect those communities and what can be done to resolve them.
Local justice does not mean providing a courthouse in every town or city that hears every type of business. Quality, speed and efficiency of the service that is provided, and a safe, comfortable environment for court users that commands respect for the justice system, are much more significant to the delivery of effective local justice across communities. The lay magistracy serves as a vital link connecting the criminal justice system to local communities, and it is important to ensure that magistrates continue to play a central role in the system of summary justice.
We will continue to work closely with the judiciary and other key stakeholders as we consider how best to harness the potential of the magistracy through our wider reform programme. I hope that that reassures the hon. Gentleman that the Government are serious about working with magistrates and the judiciary to improve the local and regional administration of justice in the county of Nottinghamshire, and nationally. Again, I congratulate him on taking the opportunity to put on record in the Chamber his views, and I very much hope that my response has given him some comfort that the consultation is not about closure.
Question put and agreed to.