Council vows to stand against Court threat

Graham Ford • Published 27 Jan 2012 09:30 0 Comments

SCOTTISH Borders Council has agreed to unite as one to fight all potential court closures in the area.

That was the firm message offered by Councillors at their monthly meeting yesterday morning (Thursday).

Three separate motions were put forward to protect Peebles, Selkirk and Duns Sheriff Courts.

But the idea of separate areas of the Scottish Borders fighting against each other for retention of their own court service is a route the local authority refuses to go down.

Councillor Vicky Davidson advised: "As Scottish Borders Council we have to support the retention of all our courts and we must not be drawn into battling local courts against each other. We need to quantify all the costs involved in moving any or all of the courts from this area. This has to be part of the strong argument we put forward."

Councillor Davidson proposed a Working Group be set up which would include representatives from the Police and local law firms to fully explore the implications on a local level.

The various motions were put forward as a result of leaked information suggesting that as a review of the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament which indicated that 15 of Scotland's 49 sheriff courts were under threat of closure.

Proposing to protect Peebles on behalf of all the Tweeddale Councillors, Gavin Logan said: "There is only a minimal cost to keeping Peebles Sheriff Court open.

"The Scottish Court Service pays SBC a minimal rent for the use of an excellent facility at Rosetta Road. Costs are also kept down because it is manned from Selkirk."

It is claimed that the Peebles Court is not busy enough and if that is true then the Penicuik cases could be moved to the Peebles Court. Keeping the court local will in fact have savings when the you consider the cost of travel to Edinburgh for the police, witnesses and court officials."

Donald Moffat, Leader of the SNP opposition, said: "We all need to be together on this, we will work at our best if we present a united front stating clearly that none of our courts should be under threat. We could save a lot of time if we make this decision today."

But Council Convener Alasdair Hutton advised: "At the moment no formal proposals have been made so we have nothing to formally challenge."

The Working Group will now be formally convened and due to the forthcoming elections must complete it's task by the end of March.

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 27 Jan 12

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