MPs press minister over Telford court concerns

Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow, arranged a meeting with Lucy Frazer, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice after being told of the concerns of Shropshire and Telford magistrates.

The issues centre on a decision to centralise all remand hearings for the county in Kidderminster, instead of at Telford Magistrates Court.

Remand cases are those where people who have been arrested are kept in custody before their appearance at court.

Mr Dunne was joined at the meeting by Telford MP Lucy Allan and Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard.

The Ludlow MP said that magistrates in the county had been concerned that moving remand cases out of the county could be the "thin end of the wedge", resulting in Telford Magistrates Court being closed.

Mr Dunne said he had voiced the concerns and used the meeting to stress the importance of the county's sole magistrates court remaining open.

He said: "I was pleased the minister took the trouble to listen to our concerns. I felt we had a good hearing and I emphasised to the minister and the official that they should not treat this as a pre-cursor to further reductions of magistrates courts in the area as Telford remains our last magistrates court."

Following the meeting Mr Pritchard said: "I was pleased the minister made a commitment to keep all existing magistrates courts open and in particular welcome her praise for the work of local magistrates who do important work in and for the local criminal justice system."

Mr Dunne said that an official from the Ministry of Justice was also attending this evening's annual meeting of Shropshire and Telford Magistrates to listen to the concerns first hand and to share details of plans to modernise the courts service.