Concerns over possible court closure

Rochdale Magistrates Court

Concerns have been raised over the possible closure of Rochdale Magistrates court.

It was announced in June that Rochdale Magistrates Court may be closed and its workload shifted to Bury Magistrates Court as the Government aims to save £15.3m in running costs and £21.5m in maintenance costs across the justice sector.

Vivien Carter of the Rochdale Connections Trust has voiced concerns of the effect this proposal will have on Rochdale.

Ms Carter said: “Rochdale is a much bigger town than Bury and has more than its fair share of deprived areas. Indeed on the index of deprivation, some of those areas are at the top of the national list.

“On the other hand Bury is below number 50 on the same list. So moving all the court work to Bury means that more deprived offenders will be travelling further, spending money they can ill-afford ,to obtain justice. This sector of the public find travelling about difficult and they do not do it willingly – for some of them, leaving their own district is a major event. Furthermore, for about 75% of Rochdale’s population, travelling to Bury will take more than 90 minutes. For those on benefits, it could cost 20% of their weekly income. Defendants are not able to claim expenses.

“The result of this will be that they do not turn up at court. Witnesses and victims – who will have the same difficulties travelling – and who have summoned up all their courage to appear and tell the court their recollection of what happened, will have wasted their time. A warrant will be issued for the arrest of the accused -more time and money- and the victim and witnesses asked to return at a later date; they may not have the courage to return.”

Ms Carter described Rochdale Magistrates Court as a “pleasant modernised building” which “has facilities to protect those victims and witnesses.”

The court has a separate entrance for victims and witnesses and volunteers to assist them through the ordeal and where necessary, video links into court so that they can give evidence in total security. Such witness support is not available in Bury and there is no space in which to develop it.

Ms Carter continued: “Recent thinking on justice, has indicated that magistrates should be proactive in involvement with the community, courts should offer advice and guidance to those with problems, in an attempt to divert them from offending. Rochdale has just opened the first Help Desk, where offenders can receive help on homelessness, substance abuse problems, unemployment issues and so on.

“Twelve years ago, Rochdale magistrates started a charity for disaffected young people, they still support that. There is a very active “Magistrates in the Community” group, which has won awards for the work it does. If the court is not sited in the community, will all that still be relevant?”

Ms Carter concluded: “With cost cutting in mind, Rochdale has been unable to replace a number of vital staff, yet it is still the best performing court in Greater Manchester. The building has active energy-saving devices installed and no major building work is required – despite our being told that there was a maintenance backlog of £436,000 – this turned out to be a wish list, not a fact.

“Cost efficiencies are essential but justice is vital too and moving justice so far away from the community it serves is not justice and will, in the long term, prove to be counter-productive.”