Technology trial plea to save court

A NORTH Yorkshire MP has called for an under-threat court to be used to pilot new technology aimed at ensuring access to justice is retained.

Northallerton Magistrates’ Court is one of eight across England and Wales earmarked for closure in the Ministry of Justice’s latest cost-cutting drive, with the results of a consultation expected soon.

A £1bn modernisation plan aims to promote ‘virtual justice’ through an increased use of video links and internet-based proceedings, but critics have said the technology is either unreliable or still in developmental stages.

In the House of Commons yesterday, local MP Kevin Hollinrake asked Justice Minister Lucy Frazer QC to use Northallerton to trial new technology before any closure takes place.

The Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton said: “Will the Minister consider using that court as a pilot for some of the future technology solutions, to ensure that those are workable in practice, before the closure is implemented?”

Ms Frazer said Mr Hollinrake made “a valid point,” adding: “It is important to consider the appropriateness of pilots for mobile technology, and we will do so.”

Shadow Justice Minister and Leeds East MP, Richard Burgon, criticised the closure programme, saying the sale of the buildings had raised minimal sums. A third of Yorkshire’s courts have closed since 2010, a special report by The Yorkshire

Post revealed, with Government ambitions to reduce the number of buildings even further.