Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse arising from the closure of courts in rural communities.
All court closure proposals must meet our key estates principle of providing value for money and are subject to full public consultation. Impact assessments are conducted and published alongside all court closure proposals and any potential impacts, including those on rural communities, are carefully considered before final decisions are made.
Since 2015, HMCTS has raised over £210m in sales proceeds from the disposal of underused and dilapidated buildings. This funding is being reinvested into the HMCTS £1.2bn Reform Programme to transform the justice system, including introducing 21st Century technology and online services to increase access to justice and improve efficiency.
The decision to close any court is not taken lightly; it only happens following full public consultation and only where sufficient capacity existed in other nearby courts to accommodate the work of the closing courts. Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to one another.