ORGANISATIONS in East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire have slammed plans to close Burton’s county court.
The Citizens’ Advice Bureaux (CAB) in the two regions have described the proposals to close the Station Street courthouse as a threat to people’s access to justice.
The East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire branches of the CAB have joined forces in a bid to prevent the building from being closed as the Ministry of Justice implements its share of the spending cuts.
Jackie Spencer, chief executive of the South Derbyshire bureau, said: “Many of our clients use the court, either as claimants or defendants.
“Forcing them to make longer, more difficult and more expensive journeys to access justice or defend themselves imposes huge barriers.” Burton MP, Andrew Griffiths, has also lent his support to the campaign.
He said: “One of my concerns is the amount of time it will take people to travel to another county court.
“I have tabled some parliamentary questions to get the Ministry of Justice to say in writing how long it realistically expects people to travel to get to a court.
“I have been told people should not have to travel more than 60 minutes to reach a court, however it can take longer than this to get to Stafford from Burton or Uttoxeter by public transport.” Civil service trade unions have expressed their concerns over potential job losses if courts are closed.
Andrew Lloyd, Midlands area secretary for the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents civil servants, said: “There is the potential for compulsory redundancies if the court is closed.
“There will be job losses if the Government goes ahead with these plans as employees have no guarantee that they will be relocated once the closures begin.” He added: “Any court closures will have a real impact on the local economy.”
