Magistrates Courts: Closures
Justice
Written answers and statements, 5 November 2009
Dominic Grieve (Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Justice; Beaconsfield, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates courts have been closed in each criminal justice area in each year since 1997.
Jack Straw (Lord Chancellor, Ministry of Justice; Blackburn, Labour)
The following table provides details of the magistrates court closures (broken down into HMCS Criminal Justice Areas) which have taken place since 1997. Officials estimate that 240 magistrates courts were closed from 1979-97 and 124 from 1997 to date.
| Magistrates courts closed since 1997 and their HMCS criminal justice area | ||
| Courthouse closed | Criminal justice area | |
| 1997 | Ellesmere Port | Cheshire and Merseyside |
| 1997 | Hampstead | London North and West |
| 1997 | Marylebone | London Central and South |
| 1997 | Otley | North and West Yorkshire |
| 1997 | Stokeley | North and West Yorkshire |
| 1997 | Thorne | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 1997 | Hebburn | Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria |
| 1997 | Seaham | Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria |
| 1997 | South Shields (Kepple Street) | Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria |
| 1997 | Bromsgrove | Black Country, Staffs and West Mercia |
| 1997 | Ledbury | Black Country, Staffs and West Mercia |
| 1997 | Chippenham (Market Place) | Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| 1997 | Ashton under Lyne (Manchester Road) | Cumbria and Lancashire |
| 1997 | Duckinsfield | Cumbria and Lancashire |
| 1997 | Braintree | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 1997 | Clacton on Sea | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 1997 | Pontardawe | South East Wales |
| 1997 | Bargoed | South East Wales |
| 1997 | Monmouth | South East Wales |
| 1997 | Pontlttyn | South East Wales |
| 1997 | Pontypool | South East Wales |
| 1998 | Malton | North and West Yorkshire |
| 1998 | Ripon | North and West Yorkshire |
| 1998 | Marlborough Street | London Central and South |
| 1998 | Clerkenwell | London North and West |
| 1998 | Saffron Walden | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 1998 | Bishop's Stortford | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 1998 | Hatfield | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 1998 | Hitchin | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 1998 | Market Rasen | Leicestershire, Lincoln and Northamptonshire |
| 1998 | Lutterworth | Leicestershire, Lincoln and Northamptonshire |
| 1998 | Chertsey | Surrey and Sussex |
| 1998 | Farnham | Surrey and Sussex |
| 1998 | Oxted | Surrey and Sussex |
| 1998 | Sheerness | Kent |
| 1998 | West Malling | Kent |
| 1998 | Barnard Castle | Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria |
| 1998 | Lytham | Cumbria and Lancashire |
| 1998 | Corwen | North Wales |
| 1998 | Diss | Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
| 1998 | Felixstowe | Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
| 1998 | Haverhill | Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
| 1998 | Saxmundam | Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
| 1998 | Stowmarket | Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
| 1998 | Newmarket | Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
| 1998 | March | Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk |
| 1999 | Christchurch | Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| 1999 | Stow on the Wold | Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| 1999 | Abingdon | Thames Valley |
| 1999 | Henley on Thames | Thames Valley |
| 1999 | Windsor | Thames Valley |
| 1999 | Morley | North and West Yorkshire |
| 1999 | Pudsey | North and West Yorkshire |
| 2000 | Ampthill | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 2000 | Biggleswade | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 2000 | Dunstable | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 2000 | Leighton Buzzard | Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire |
| 2000 | Lichfield | Black Country, Staffs and West Mercia |
| 2000 | Keighley | North and West Yorkshire |
| 2000 | Keswick | Cumbria and Lancashire |
| 2000 | Windermere | Cumbria and Lancashire |
| 2000 | Wigton | Cumbria and Lancashire |
| 2000 | Appleby | Cumbria and Lancashire |
| 2000 | Gravesend | Kent |
| 2000 | Wootton Bassett | Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| 2000 | Abergele | North Wales |
| 2001 | Alfreton | Nottingham and Derbyshire. |
| 2001 | Ashbourne | Nottingham and Derbyshire |
| 2001 | Bakewell | Nottingham and Derbyshire |
| 2001 | Matlock | Nottingham and Derbyshire |
| 2001 | Middleton | Nottingham and Derbyshire |
| 2001 | Leigh | Greater Manchester |
| 2001 | Womborne | Black Country, Staffordshire and West Mercia |
| 2001 | Leek | Black Country, Staffs and West Mercia |
| 2001 | Worcester | Black Country, Staffs and West Mercia. |
| 2001 | Warrington Patten Hall | Cheshire and Merseyside |
| 2001 | Macclesfield Park Green | Cheshire and Merseyside |
| 2001 | Bideford | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Exmouth | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Kingsbridge | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | South Molton | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Teignmouth | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Tavistock | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Axminster | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Tiverton | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Newquay | Devon and Cornwall |
| 2001 | Southampton (Commercial Road) | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
| 2001 | Gillingham | Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| 2001 | Bridlington | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Brough | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Driffield | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Hull (Guildhall) | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Hull (Lowgate) | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Pocklington | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Withensea | Humber and South Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Arundel | Surrey and Sussex |
| 2002 | Bridgnorth | Black Country, Staffordshire and West Mercia |
| 2002 | Leominster | Black Country, Staffordshire and West Mercia |
| 2002 | Evesham | Black Country, Staffordshire and West Mercia |
| 2002 | Fakenham | Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk |
| 2002 | Tunbridge Wells | Kent |
| 2002 | Beaconsfield | Thames Valley |
| 2002 | Buckingham | Thames Valley |
| 2003 | Thame | Thames Valley |
| 2003 | Droitwitch | Black Country, Staffordshire and West Mercia |
| 2003 | Rugeley | Black Country, Staffordshire and West Mercia |
| 2003 | Whitchurch | Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire |
| 2003 | Machynlleth | North Wales |
| 2003 | Lampeter | Mid and West Wales |
| 2003 | Tenby | Mid and West Wales |
| 2003 | Camberley | Surrey and Sussex |
| 2003 | Trowbridge | Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| 2003 | Chester Le Street | Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria |
| 2003 | Long Sutton | Leicestershire, Lincoln and Northamptonshire |
| 2003 | Caistor | Leicestershire, Lincoln and Northamptonshire |
| 2003 | Horncastle | Leicestershire, Lincoln and Northamptonshire |
| 2004 | Richmond | North and West Yorkshire |
| 2004 | Stourbridge | Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and Coventry |
| 2005 | — | — |
| 2006 | Bow Street | London Central and South |
| 2007 | Flax Bourton | Avon and Somerset |
| 2007 | Marylebone | London Central and South |
| 2008 | Aldridge | Black Country, Staffordshire and West Mercia |
| 2008 | Pickering | North and West Yorkshire |
| 2009 | Devizes | Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| Note: Since the creation of HMCS in 2005 the number of HMCS criminal justice areas has reduced from the original 42. The above table should enable the reader to identify the relevant county relating to the closure. | ||