Peter Aldous today stepped up his campaign to save Lowestoft County Court from closure after learning that a report to Government by Lord Chief Justice Goldring recommended that further detail is required before a decision is made.

Lord Goldring’s report stated it would be difficult to justify closure if this would involve the moving of direct contact with court users. The report stated that more evidence is needed on the impact on court users of closure

Mr Aldous provided this evidence to Courts Minister Jonathan Djanogly in his letter dated 1st October and has today written again to Mr Djanogly pressing him to acknowledge the evidence from his local consultation with solicitors.

In his letter Mr Aldous highlights one response to his local consultation on the closure in which a local solicitor argues that the people who will be most affected by the closure will be vulnerable people in abusive relationships who require urgent attention from the Court.

Currently it is possible to go directly to Lowestoft Court to obtain a Non-molestation or Occupation Order (which excludes a violent partner from a home). If the Court is closed this could lead to vulnerable victims without resources required to fax applications for such orders to Norwich.

Mr Aldous said:

“Lord Goldring’s report clearly states that the decision on whether the court should be closed should be based on whether it would affect contact with users in the area. This was amongst the evidence I submitted in my earlier letter to Minister Jonathan Djanogly and I am now writing to him again to ensure this evidence is considered. In any decision on services closures the welfare of the most vulnerable is of paramount importance.”