Courts: Closures
(asked on 5th March 2019) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts his Department closed in 2017; on what dates those court buildings were sold; and what the value was of each of those sales.
The decision to close a court is never taken lightly. Court closures have taken place following a public consultation and only when the Lord Chancellor was satisfied that effective access to justice could be maintained. We have closed less efficient courts allowing for resources to be concentrated into a smaller number of better quality and more flexible buildings.
The table below provides a list of courts closed in the 2017/18 financial year, their date of sale and the disposal proceeds.
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Court building closures 2017/18 | Date Sold | Proceeds (£) |
Bicester Magistrates' Court | Oct-17 | 1,270,000 |
Birmingham Magistrates' Youth Court | Pending disposal | N/A |
Bolton Combined court centre (county part only) | Leasehold property | N/A |
Bow County Court | Dec-17 | 3,500,000 |
Bury Magistrates' & County Court | Oct-17 | 400,000 |
Chichester Magistrates' Court | Pending disposal | N/A |
Dover Magistrates' Court | Aug-17 | 350,000 |
Eastbourne Magistrates' & County Court | Oct-17 | 805,000 |
Hammersmith Magistrates' Court | Dec-17 | 43,000,000 |
Holyhead Magistrates' Court | Oct-17 | 112,500 |
Kendal Magistrates' & County Court | Nov-17 | 720,000 |
Kettering County Court | Oct-17 | 200,000 |
Lambeth County Court | Leasehold property | N/A |
Llangefni Civil and Family Court | Mar-18 | 72,000 |
Oldham County Court | Leasehold property | N/A |
St Albans County Court (County Part Only) | Located within St Albans Crown Court which did not close | N/A |
Stafford Magistrates' Court | Sep-17 | 435,000 |
Torquay Magistrates' Court | Pending disposal | N/A |
Watford Magistrates’ Court | May -18 | 3,836,000 |
Woolwich County Court | Nov -17 | 2,555,000 |
To note, the list does not include court integrations, which involve the movement of (or merging) of services into another existing HMCTS location in the same local area.