Court closure plan could be revived

Sep 18 2009 by Cheryl McEvoy, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

COURTS in Girvan and Cumnock could still close despite a vote rejecting the plan.

And MSP Cathy Jamieson has blasted the move, claiming that justice secretary Kenny McAskill is pushing his own agenda.

She questioned Mr McAskill on the issue in the Scottish Parliament.

The MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley said: “I was very disappointed at the justice secretary’s answer to my questions.

“It seems clear to me that he is pushing this agenda of cuts and he seems determined to close these courts despite losing a vote on this issue just a few months ago.”

The parliament’s justice committee voted against the closure of Girvan and Cumnock district courts earlier this year.

However, Ms Jamieson believes that the plan will be revived after a letter was sent to consultees from the Scottish Courts Service asking for their views on the issue.

She added: “I have no criticism of the way the Scottish Courts Service (SCS) has handled this, the process of consulting is perfectly correct.

“However, SCS would not be going ahead with a second consultation without ministerial direction from the justice secretary.

“This is clearly a political decision by the SNP government, and it is bad news for Ayrshire.”

Ms Jamieson’s fears were compounded when Mr McAskill refused to rule out closure during the debate.

She went on: “The original idea behind court unification was to ensure duplication was avoided, and my view when I was the minister for justice was that we should avoid having both a sheriff court and a separate district court building sitting virtually side by side in the same town.

“However, fundamental to the concept was the idea of justice being delivered as locally as possible. Kenny McAskill seems to have turned his back on that, as closing both Cumnock and Girvan makes a nonsense of the idea of justice at local community level.”