Court buildings could shut under ‘flat cash’ funding for justice, MSPs hear

Three or four court buildings in Scotland could close and the justice system could become slower under a “flat cash” funding settlement, MSPs have been told.

A Scottish Parliament committee heard that the courts backlog could increase once again if cost-cutting measures were required.

Organisations in the justice sector have been asked to set out how a potential flat cash agreement in the coming years would affect their services, meaning funding would not increase in line with inflation.

On Wednesday, Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee heard from representatives of the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, the Crown Office and the Scottish Prison Service.

Eric McQueen, chief executive of the courts service, said he had “serious concerns” around a flat cash scenario, which would be “nigh on impossible to realise without impact on care and service delivery”.

He said he had the “hope and expectation” that this settlement would not ultimately come about.

Written evidence from the courts service said that cost-saving options included reducing sheriff summary and civil court cases by 25% and closing three or four court buildings.

Conservative MSP Jamie Greene said: “I’m quite concerned about the effect that may have on the backlog, which we already know is immense.”

Mr McQueen said he was “equally concerned” if this did come about, saying it would ultimately return the backlog of cases to levels seen at the start of the pandemic.

He said: “Essentially, it would be a reversal of all the good work that has gone on over the course of the last two or three years.”

Mr McQueen said specific court closures were not being actively planned but the court estate may need to be revisited if savings of £30 million per year need to be found.

John Logue, interim crown agent at the Crown Office, told the committee: “Flat cash undoubtedly would result in the system being slower.

“It would be a system that would not be as informed about trauma and the impact of trauma as we would like it to be.

“It would be a system, I think, that would not be able to focus on the victim and provide the services that victims need.”

Tory MSP Russell Findlay asked the crown agent about the latest costs of the Rangers malicious prosecution litigation, which has led to some connected to the football club receiving multi-million pound payouts.

Mr Logue said current costs are just under £51 million, adding: “There’s still ongoing litigation and, therefore, that I’m afraid  limits what I can say.”

This would not have an impact on the Crown Office’s budget, he said.

A letter from the Scottish Prison Service said there was “very limited” opportunity to scale back their operations in order to cut costs.

As well as impacting welfare support, it said this could lead to “reputational damage, the loss of essential rehabilitative regimes and risk to operational stability across the estate”.