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<p>Details of the operational costs of courts considered for closure can be found
in the consultation document on the provision of the court and tribunal estate in
England and Wales, which can be accessed via the following website:</p><br /><p><a
href="https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/proposal-on-the-provision-of-court-and-tribunal-es/consult_view"
target="_blank">https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/proposal-on-the-provision-of-court-and-tribunal-es/consult_view</a></p><br
/><p>The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously
and reducing holding costs. As of 10 December 2015 a total of 80 courts closed under
the Court Estate Reform Programme have been sold attracting disposal receipts of £49.6m.</p><br
/><p>The disposal of surplus property assets is dependent on a number of factors,
such as the market, potential future use, location and the fact that some are occupied
in part by the police and local authorities which also make disposal difficult. Nine
of the closed court buildings which have not been disposed of are either under offer
or on the market. Of those which have not yet been brought to the market, two court
buildings have shared locations with the police, which means the future of the building
is tied in with the Police Station, one has a site contamination issue and the other
three were closed only within the last seven months. We are working on bringing all
of them to the market as soon as possible.</p><br /><p>There are temporary costs associated
with making sure unused buildings are kept secure, protecting the fabric of the building
and property rates payable to local councils. In addition, decommissioning the buildings
to make them ready for sale results in some costs which cannot be disaggregated from
the overall running costs. However, these are significantly lower than the costs of
running the courts when open, which will have included estates costs, staffing costs
and the cost of the judiciary.</p><br /><p><strong>Table: Monthly cost of each court
building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010 as at 10 December
2015</strong></p><br /><table><thead><tr><td><p><strong>Court building</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average
monthly cost<sup>1</sup></strong></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>Abergavenny
Magistrates’ Court<sup>4</sup></p></td><td><p>Not available</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Alton
Magistrates’ Court<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>£9,828</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bracknell
Magistrates’ Court</p></td><td><p>£5,319</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cirencester Magistrates’
Court</p></td><td><p>£1,472</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Coleford Magistrates’ Court</p></td><td><p>£1,561</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Keighley
Magistrates’ Court (sitting at Bingley)</p></td><td><p>£2,011</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Knutsford
Crown Court<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>£9,274</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Liverpool Magistrates’
Court<sup>5</sup></p></td><td><p>Not available</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lyndhurst Magistrates’
Court</p></td><td><p>£1,783</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oswestry Magistrates’ Court /
County Court</p></td><td><p>£2,269</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pontefract Magistrates’
Court</p></td><td><p>£1,957</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stourbridge County Court<sup>6</sup></p></td><td><p>Not
available</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Spalding Magistrates’ Court<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>£3,909</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Totnes
Magistrates’ Court<sup>3</sup></p></td><td><p>£790</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Towcester
Magistrates’ Court<sup>3</sup></p></td><td><p>£445</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br
/><p><strong>Footnotes:</strong></p><ol><li>Monthly cost based on financial year data
2014/15 (unless otherwise stated). Holding costs include rates, fuel and utilities,
facilities management, telephony and other property costs.</li><li>These courts closed
in financial year 2014/15 and the stated average monthly cost is therefore based on
the last three months of 2014/15. The stated costs for these 3 courts are abnormally
high because maintenance costs are likely to include decommissioning costs which are
incurred shortly after closure. It is not possible to strip out any decommissioning
costs from this answer without incurring disproportionate costs.</li><li>Monthly cost
based on financial year data 2013/14 and 2014/15 in order to address accounting adjustments
made in 2014/15.</li><li>Abergavenny Magistrates Court closure was announced on 9
July 2015 but has not yet been decommissioned.</li><li>Liverpool (Dale Street) Magistrates'
Court was integrated into the QEII Law Courts as of 30 June, creating a single centre
for crime in the city of Liverpool. It is not possible to disaggregate the costs of
the Dale Street premises from those of the operational court without incurring disproportionate
costs.</li></ol><ol start="6"><li>Stourbridge County Court was being used for the
back office function for Dudley County and Family Court until 7 August 2015.</li></ol>
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