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Written Question
Courts: Closures
Monday 8th February 2021

Asked by: Baroness Rawlings (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) County Courts, (2) Family Courts, (3) magistrates' courts, and (4) youth courts, have been closed since 2015; and for each such closure, how many (a) have been sold, and (b) stand empty.

Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

The table below provides the status of all courts closed since 2015, shown by the jurisdictions as requested.

Name

Jurisdiction Closed

Date of Closure

Disposal Status

2015

Chesterfield County Court

County

31/10/2015

Disposed

Harrogate County Court

County/Family

30/09/2015

Disposed

Hereford County Court

County/Family

31/12/2015

Disposed

2016

Accrington County Court

County

31/03/2016

Disposed

Accrington Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

31/03/2016

Disposed

Aldershot & Farnham County Court

County/Family

31/01/2016

Disposed

Aylesbury Magistrates and County Court

Combined

30/09/2016

Building retained as Aylesbury Crown Court

Barnstaple Magistrates' and County Court (Crown part only)

Crown part only

30/06/2016

Building retained as Barnstable Magistrates, County and Family Court

Brecon Law Courts

Combined

30/09/2016

Disposed

Bridgend Law Courts

Combined

29/07/2016

Disposed

Burton upon Trent Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Bury St Edmunds Crown & Magistrates' Court

Combined

07/10/2016

Disposed

Buxton Magistrates' & County Court

Combined

30/06/2016

Disposed

Caerphilly Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/05/2016

Disposed

Carmarthen Law Courts (The Guildhall)

Combined

27/05/2016

Disposed

Consett Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

29/07/2016

Disposed

Corby Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

01/07/2016

Disposed

Dartford Magistrates' Court

Magistrate/Family

03/05/2016

Disposed

Dolgellau Crown & Magistrates' Court

Combined

25/08/2016

Disposed

Doncaster County Court

County/Family

03/05/2016

Disposed

Dorchester Crown Court (Weymouth & Dorchester Combined)

Combined

30/09/2016

Disposed

Fareham Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Feltham Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Gloucester Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

09/12/2016

Disposed

Grantham Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/06/2016

Disposed

Greenwich Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

27/05/2016

Disposed

Halifax County Court

County

02/12/2016

Disposed

Halifax Magistrates' Court (Calderdale)

Magistrate/Family

30/09/2016

Disposed

Hammersmith Magistrates' and County Court (County Court Only)

County part only

24/06/2016

Disposed

Hinckley Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

31/07/2016

Disposed

Kettering Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/06/2016

Disposed

King's Lynn County Court

County

30/09/2016

Disposed

Lowestoft Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Macclesfield County Court

County

29/07/2016

Disposed

Macclesfield Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Morpeth & Berwick County Court

County

30/05/2016

Disposed

Neath and Port Talbot Civil and Family Court

Combined

29/07/2016

Disposed

Oldham Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Ormskirk Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

28/06/2016

Disposed

Pontypridd Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

29/07/2016

Disposed

Prestatyn Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

15/08/2016

Building retained as Prestatyn Justice Centre

Rhyl County Court

County

04/11/2016

Disposed

Richmond Upon Thames Magistrates’ Court

Magistrate

18/03/2016

Disposed

Rotherham Magistrates' & County Court

Combined

30/09/2016

Disposed

Sandwell Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Shrewsbury Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

31/03/2016

Building retained as Shrewsbury Crown Court

Skegness Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Solihull Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

31/03/2016

Disposed

St Helens Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

24/06/2016

Building retained as St Helens County and Family Court

Stroud Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Swansea Crown Court (Guildhall)

Crown

27/05/2016

Disposed

Tameside Magistrates' & County Court (County Part Only)

County part only

30/06/2016

Building retained as Tameside Magistrates’ Court

Trafford Magistrates' Court & Altrincham County Court

Combined

30/06/2016

Disposed

Tunbridge Wells County Court

County/Family

09/12/2016

Disposed

Wakefield & Pontefract Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

26/09/2016

Disposed

Waltham Forest Magistrates’ Court

Magistrate

30/03/2016

Disposed

Warrington Combined Court (County Part Only)

County part only

30/09/2016

Building retained as Warrington Crown Court

West Berkshire Magistrates' Court (Newbury)

Magistrate

24/06/2016

Disposed

Weymouth & Dorchester Combined Court (Westwey House)

Combined

25/04/2016

Disposed

Worksop Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

31/03/2016

Disposed

Yate Magistrates' Court (North Avon)

Magistrate

30/09/2016

Disposed

Yeovil County Court

County

25/11/2016

Disposed

2017

Bicester Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

19/05/2017

Disposed

Bolton Combined Court Centre (County Part Only)

County part only

09/06/2017

Building retained as Bolton Law Courts

Bolton Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/11/2017

Disposed

Bournemouth Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

27/01/2017

Disposed

Bow County Court

County/Family

30/06/2017

Disposed

Bury Magistrates' & County Court

Combined

09/06/2017

Disposed

Caernarfon Civil and Family Court

County/Family

18/08/2017

Disposed

Chichester Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

02/06/2017

Awaiting disposal

Dover Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

26/05/2017

Disposed

Eastbourne Magistrates' & County Court

Magistrates/Family

29/09/2017

Disposed

Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court

Magistrate

31/12/2017

Disposed

Hartlepool Magistrates' & County Court

Combined/Family

30/01/2017

Awaiting disposal

Holyhead Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

28/04/2017

Disposed

Kendal Magistrates' & County Court

Combined

30/06/2017

Disposed

Kettering County Court

County

07/07/2017

Disposed

Lambeth County Court

County/Family

22/12/2017

Disposed

Lancaster County Court

County/Family

01/12/2017

Disposed

Llangefni Civil and Family Court

County/Family

18/08/2017

Disposed

Oldham County Court

County/Family

14/07/2017

Disposed

Redhill Magistrates' & Reigate County Court

Combined

31/03/2017

Disposed

Runcorn (Halton) Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

13/01/2017

Disposed

Scunthorpe Magistrates' & County Court

Combined

13/01/2017

Awaiting disposal

St Albans Crown & County Court (County Part Only)

County part only

28/07/2017

Building retained as St Albans Crown Court

Stafford Magistrates' Court

Magistrate/Family

28/04/2017

Disposed

Telford County Court

County/Family

29/09/2017

Currently being used as a temporary Nightingale Court

Torquay Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

01/09/2017

Awaiting disposal

Tottenham Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

10/02/2017

Disposed

Warrington Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

13/01/2017

Disposed

Watford Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

28/07/2017

Disposed

Woolwich County Court

County/Family

30/06/2017

Disposed

2018

Birmingham Magistrates' Youth Court

Magistrate/Youth

31/01/2018

Disposed

Chichester Combined Court

Combined

28/12/2018

Awaiting disposal

Chippenham Magistrates' & Civil Court

Combined/Family

27/07/2018

Disposed

Maidenhead Magistrates’ Court

Magistrate

31/12/2018

Awaiting disposal

Sunderland County Court

County/Family

07/09/2018

Awaiting disposal

2019

Banbury Magistrates’ and County Court

Combined

31/03/2019

Disposed

Blackfriars Crown Court

Crown

20/12/2019

Disposed

Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

31/01/2020

Disposed

Chorley Magistrates’ Court

Magistrate

29/03/2019

Awaiting disposal

Colchester County Court

County/Family

30/04/2019

Disposed

Fleetwood Magistrates’ Court (currently sitting as a Family Hearing Centre)

Magistrate/Family

26/04/2019

Currently being used as a temporary Nightingale Court

Harlow Magistrates' Court

Magistrate

30/04/2019

Awaiting disposal

Northallerton Magistrates' Court

Magistrate/Family

30/04/2019

Disposed

Shrewsbury Crown Court

Crown

08/03/2019

Disposed

Southend County Court

County/Family

06/09/2019

Disposed

Disposed = The property has either been sold, or our tenancy has ended. The property is no longer part of the HMCTS estate.

Awaiting disposal = The property is closed and disposal is pending.

Ensuring that we can operate safely during the Covid-19 pandemic is our top priority. We have put in place measures in our court rooms so that they can hold Covid-19 secure trials, moved to virtual hearings where possible and opened additional court rooms in Nightingale courts as part of a package to increase available capacity.

We have now opened Nightingale courts at 21 locations, including the use of former court buildings, bringing the total number of temporary court rooms set up nationwide to 40. These additional temporary courtrooms have allowed us to increase capacity, particularly for jury trials, in locations where there is an operational requirement and hold additional hearings within a safe environment.