A public safety chief has slammed the closure of Halton Magistrates Court as a ‘massive blow for Runcorn’ and accused the Government of basing its decision on ‘inaccurate’ data.
Cllr Dave Thompson, safer Halton policy and performance board chairman, said the move will lead to the loss of 90 jobs in the area because the Cheshire And Merseyside Central Payment And Enforcement Unit is also based in the building and will need to move.
This contrasted against the Ministry Of Justice’s claim that the site only has ‘one employee’.
He branded the closure ‘shameful’ and said the court will shut despite being more efficient than several sites that were spared the axe.
Freedom Of Information data obtained by Cllr Thompson showed that the cost of holding a hearing at Halton is £43, ‘an astonishingly low cost’ compared to the national average of £150.
Running the court in Runcorn costs £950 a day.
Cllr Thompson, who also represents Halton Lea ward where the court is, said Halton Magistrates Court is also occupied 66% of the time, more than several sites which are to remain open – Stockport (54%), Bath (46%) and Workington (42%).
He further slated the Government’s decision, accusing it of using out-of-date travel time estimates that did not take into account rush-hour or peak-time travel costs, citing a The Law Society Gazette report from October that said the HM Courts And Tribunals Service had revealed that its travel-time analysis had used figures from the Department For Transport’s ‘journey planner’ tool, which was closed in September 2014.
In light of this he said the Government’s consultation was ‘a joke’ and the public would suffer.
Cllr Thompson said: “Runcorn magistrates offers outstanding value for money as an operational court and there is absolutely no justification for this decision.
“Decommissioned court buildings at Northwich and Huyton have remained empty for years due to prohibitive conversion and demolition costs.
“Not only are innocent victims and witnesses going to suffer but the chances are we may also be saddled with a derelict building.
“The Cheshire And Merseyside Central Payment And Enforcement Unit is based in the building and the loss of 90 staff here on top of the closure of Castle View House and Tesco is a massive blow for Runcorn.
“That’s 650 jobs lost in this area in the last three years.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/