Court construction
A major investment of £400 million to include building six new major
courts has been announced today by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of
State for Justice, Lord Falconer.
In addition to the new courts, the capital maintenance budget for repairs and maintenance for all courts is being doubled to £191 million. Eight further Private Development Schemes to build new courts are also progressing well.
Four of the new courts will be magistrates courts located in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bolton and Salford. Sunderland is to get a new combined court comprising Crown, county and magistrates court and Aylesbury will get a new Crown court. It is expected that these courts will be open for business around 2012.
Lord Falconer said: This announcement marks a substantial investment in HMCS court estate, demonstrating the Ministry of Justice`s commitment to the courts and the communities that they serve. At the heart of this investment are the needs of court users. All of these new courts will have separate facilities for victims and witnesses providing them with a safe environment in which to come to court to ensure that justice is delivered.
Sir Ron De Witt, HMCS Chief Executive said: We have targeted the money at areas where new courts are most needed. These courts will have the best facilities for dealing with criminal, civil and family cases, providing a first class service for court users. We will also ensure that the extra money we have for maintenance will go to help improve other courts within our estate.