asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many magistrates’ courts have been closed or amalgamated since the beginning of 1997. [HL977]
The table below details the magistrates’ court closures and amalgamations that the department has been notified of since May 1997.
Up until 1 April 2005 magistrates’ courts were the responsibility of locally managed magistrates’ courts committees who were statutorily independent. They were not required by statute to inform the department of any magistrates’ courts closures that were not subject to an appeal under Section 56(3) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997 (now repealed). Since May 1997 a number of new courthouses have been built.
Year Courthouse closed Date of closure 1997 Bromsgrove 31 May 1997 1997 Ledbury 31 May 1997 1997 Hebburn 5 June 1997 1997 South Shields (Kepple Street) 5 June 1997 1997 Chippenham (Market Place) 30 June 1997 1997 Ashton-Under-Lyne (Manchester Road) 31 August 1997 1997 Duckinsfield 31 August 1997 1997 Thorne 31 August 1997 1997 Pontardawe 9 October 1997 1997 Braintree 31 December 1997 1997 Stokeley 31 December 1997 1997 Clacton-on-Sea 31 December 1997 1997 Bargoed 31 December 1997 1997 Monmouth 31 December 1997 1997 Pontlttyn 31 December 1997 1997 Pontypool 31 December 1997 1998 Malton 6 February 1998 1998 Marlborough Street 31 March 1998 1998 Bishop's Stortford 31 March 1998 1998 Hatfield 31 March 1998 1998 Hitchin 31 March 1998 1998 Market Rasen 31 March 1998 1998 Chertsey 31 March 1998 1998 Farnham 31 March 1998 1998 Oxted 31 March 1998 1998 Lutterworth 31 July 1998 1998 Ripon 1 August 1998 1998 Barnard Castle 31 December 1998 1998 Clerkenwell 31 December 1998 1998 Sheerness 31 December 1998 1998 West Mailing 31 December 1998 1998 Lytham 31 December 1998 1998 Diss 31 December 1998 1998 Corwen 31 December 1998 1998 Felixstowe 31 December 1998 1998 Haverhill 31 December 1998 1998 Saxmundam 31 December 1998 1998 Stowmarket 31 December 1998 1998 Newmarket 31 December 1998 1998 March 31 December 1998 1998 Saffron Walden 31 December 1998 1999 Christchurch 31 March 1999 1999 Abingdon 31 March 1999 1999 Henley-on-Thames 31 March 1999 1999 Windsor 31 March 1999 1999 Morley 31 March 1999 1999 Pudsey 31 March 1999 1999 Stow-on-the-Wold 30 June 1999 2000 Ampthill 1 January 2000 2000 Biggleswade 1 January 2000 2000 Dunstable 1 January 2000 2000 Leighton Buzzard 1 January 2000 2000 Lichfield 31 March 2000 2000 Keighley 1 April 2000 2000 Keswick 30 April 2000 2000 Windermere 31 May 2000 2000 Wigton 31 May 2000 2000 Appleby 31 May 2000 2000 Gravesend 9 June 2000 2000 Wootton Bassett 2 October 2000 2000 Abergele 31 December 2000 2001 Alfreton 1 January 2001 2001 Ashbourne 1 January 2001 2001 Bakewell 1 January 2001 2001 Matlock 1 January 2001 2001 Leigh 31 March 2001 2001 Middleton 31 March 2001 2001 Leek 31 March 2001 2001 Worcester 31 March 2001 2001 Warrington Patten Hall 1 April 2001 2001 Macclesfield Park Green 1 April 2001 2001 Bideford 30 April 2001 2001 Exmouth 30 April 2001 2001 Kingsbridge 30 April 2001 2001 South Molton 30 April 2001 2001 Teignmouth 30 April 2001 2001 Tavistock 30 April 2001 2001 Axminster 4 May 2001 2001 Tiverton 4 May 2001 2001 Newquay 30 June 2001 2001 Southampton (Commercial Road) 31 August 2001 2001 Womborne 1 September 2001 2001 Gillingham 30 September 2001 2001 Bridlington 9 November 2001 2001 Brough 9 November 2001 2001 Driffield 9 November 2001 2001 Hull (Guildhall) 9 November 2001 2001 Hull (Lowgate) 9 November 2001 2001 Pocklington 9 November 2001 2001 Withensea 9 November 2001 2001 Arundel 1 December 2001 2002 Bridgenorth 31 January 2002 2002 Leominster 31 January 2002 2002 Fakenham 1 May 2002 2002 Tunbridge Wells 2 June 2002 2002 Beaconsfield 1 July 2002 2002 Buckingham 1 July 2002 2002 Evesham 30 November 2002 2003 Thame 31 January 2003 2003 Droitwitch 21 March 2003 2003 Machynlleth 21 March 2003 2003 Chester-le-Street 21 March 2003 2003 Rugeley 21 May 2003 2003 Lempeter 9 June 2003 2003 Tenby 30 June 2003 2003 Camberley 30 June 2003 2003 Trowbridge 30 September 2003 2003 Whitchurch 3 October 2003 2003 Long Sutton 31 October 2003 2003 Caistor 31 December 2003 2003 Horncastle 31 December 2003 2004 Richmond 31 March 2004 2004 Stourbridge 23 June 2004 2006 Wetherby 7 March 2006
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether delays in bringing those charged with offences before magistrates’ courts have increased as a result of closing smaller courts; and, if so, to what extent. [HL978]
It is not possible to attribute any changes in delay specifically to the closure of smaller courts. However, the estimated average time from offence to first listing for charged indictable/triable-either-way cases in 2005 was 60 days, a 9 per cent decrease in delay from 66 days in 1997.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
By how much failure by persons charged to attend courts has increased since 1997 (a) in absolute terms, and (b) in relation to total cases heard in magistrates’ courts. [HL979]
Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) collects information on the number of magistrates’ court trials which were ineffective because the defendant was absent. This covers trials only, which may include both charged and summonsed cases. The available information is provided in the table below.
Number of recorded ineffective trials where defendant absent (trial did not proceed in absence) Total number of recorded trials Defendant recorded absent as proportion (%) of total recorded trials 2003-04 9,200 182,300 5.0 2004-05 7,100 190,500 3.7 2005-06 4,700 184,000 2.6 This data collection only covers trials and not other hearing types where the defendant's attendance may be required. Information is therefore not available for other areas of magistrates’ business (first listings, guilty plea hearings, et cetera.) The financial year 2003-04 is the earliest year for which data are available. Data for 1997 are not available. Source: Cracked and Ineffective Trial Monitoring Form, HMCS Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether delays between conviction and sentencing in magistrates’ courts have increased since 1997; and, if so, by how much. [HL980]
The estimated average time from date of verdict to completion in magistrates’ courts for indictable/triable-either-way cases decreased from seven days in 1997 to six days in 2005. These figures are based on all completions in the magistrates’ courts and will include cases committed to the Crown Court, and cases dismissed or discharged as well as those where a sentence was passed in the magistrates’ court. This is because timeliness data broken down by case completion type have been available only since February 1999. Therefore estimates covering all completion types have been provided to enable valid comparisons between 1997 and 2005. Recent data suggest that sentenced cases account for around two-thirds of all completions in the magistrates’ courts.