Closed courts costing half a million pounds per year

The government is spending almost half a million pounds a year on courts which have already closed, with 13 courts that shut up shop in May 2010 still not be sold by the government.

The £478,146 costs include rates, fuel and utilities, facilities management, telephony and other property costs, according to new figures released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

Knutsford Crown Court and Alton Magistrates' Court alone account for £9,274 and £9,828 respectively per month. The combined costs of all closed courts total £40,618 per month (see figures below).

The disclosure comes from the following written parliamentary question, tabled by Labour's shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter MP on 18 June 2015.

'The government needs to get a grip on this huge waste of taxpayers' money before they can be trusted to deliver effective court reform,' said Slaughter.

'With cases in magistrates' courts taking a week longer than they did four years ago, and dozens of magistrates resigning, the government must act before they further destroy local justice.'

Responding to the question, the justice minister, Shailesh Vara, said the MoJ was committed to disposing of surplus property assets 'expeditiously' and reducing holding costs.

'As of 4 September 2015, a total of 80 courts closed under the Court Estate Reform Programme have been sold, attracting disposal receipts of £49.18m,' said Vara.

'The total cumulative gross benefits expected from the 2010 Court Estate Reform Programme are £152m, consisting of resource savings from court closures of £98m and gross capital proceeds of £54m from the sale of buildings.'

The minister explained the disposal of these surplus courts was dependent on a number of factors and that five of the buildings that have not been disposed of are either under offer or on the market.

Of those which have not yet been brought to the market, four courts have shared locations with the police, one has a flying freehold issue, and the other three were closed recently.

In addition, preparing the building for sale results in some costs that cannot be disaggregated from the overall running costs.

Vara added the average running costs for these courts was now £4,000 lower per month than when the courts were open.

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal
john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD