WORKSOP AND RETFORD MAGISTRATES' COURTS (No. 2)

Motion Text

That this House notes the Lord Chief Justice's response to the Ministry of Justice's plans to cut magistrates' courts; further notes that closing Retford Magistrates' Court leaves him with `concerns with regard to reasonable access to justice'; notes too that closing Worksop Magistrates' Court would `not produce meaningful savings but would mean significant travel problems'; does not recognise the right hon. Lord Judge's estimates of travel times to Mansfield Court as reasonable to the many residents in the villages around Retford and Worksop; also notes that the Lord Judge's estimates of travel times from Retford or Worksop to the alternative court in Mansfield are based on services that are subject to cuts; urges the Government to assess the collective impact of cuts in other departments on justice in Bassetlaw; and calls on the Minister to reject these cheap but destructive cuts.