Anger at loss of local justice as RAAC forces permanent closure of Blackpool Magistrates Court

Concerns have been raised about access to justice following a decision to close Blackpool Magistrates Court meaning there will be no criminal courts on the Fylde coast.

Instead defendants, witnesses and solicitors will have to travel to courts at Preston and Blackburn until 2026 when Blackpool’s new courthouse is due to be completed.

Both Blackpool’s MPs have expressed concerns  after the Ministry of Justice announced on Tuesday it was permanently shutting the courthouse after RAAC (crumbling concrete) was found in the building last November. The courts have been closed since then, but it has been decided it is not worth the cost of repairing the building which had been due to close at the end of this year anyway.

Blackpool South MP Scott Benton said:”The costs of bringing the Blackpool court complex back into use for just a few extra years are very excessive and don’t represent good use of public money, given that the building is due to be demolished shortly.

“The fact that the building won’t be opened again will help the £300m  regeneration of the area as it could see the economic benefits of the Blackpool Central Project  being delivered sooner.

“However, I am concerned about the extra distance local people attending court will have to travel. I have tabled a parliamentary question asking, given the cost savings to the government of not reopening the court, whether they can assist local people with travelling expenses. I will also be discussing this issue with the relevant minister later today.”

Blackpool North and Cleveleys MP Paul Maynard said: “This is why I have pushed so hard to secure the funding for Blackpool’s new court complex Even before these issues it was clear Bonny Street was outdated and in poor repair. It is important work is progressed on the new site as soon as possible to support the delivery of justice locally.”

Ron Heywood, a legal executive at Fylde Coast Advice and Legal Centre in Bispham, warned many people on low incomes would struggle to travel to courts in Preston and other parts of Lancashire.

He said: “I am concerned about the impact on people’s access to justice, having to travel miles to attend a hearing and the cost that entails – especially if they are on benefits.

“From a criminal viewpoint, if someone misses their hearing that could lead to a warrant for arrest, while in civil matters such as housing it could mean a decision being made in their absence. We have had clients in a housing possession case who couldn’t get to a hearing at Fleetwood and it went pear-shaped because they weren’t there.”

Former Blackpool councillor Maxine Callow, who spent 27 years as a magistrate and is still on the supplementary bench, said: “I understand for safety reasons they can’t re-open the courthouse, but it is certainly not ideal. Even if there was somewhere in Blackpool to hold hearings for minor offences such as motoring, it would be something. If they don’t have their own transport, people will be relying on buses and trains which aren’t always reliable, and some are on very low budgets.”

Coun Paul Galley, leader of the Conservative group on Blackpool Council, said it was vital plans for the new courthouse should be “brought forward at best or delivered on time and within budget at worst.”

He added: “I shall be lobbying to ensure both the Ministry of Justice and our council deliver this project as soon as possible. Justice at a magistrates level on the Fylde is best delivered by the Fylde.”