Dave Thompson MSP

Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch has advocated closing the current Inverness and Dingwall courts and building a new state of the art facility in Dingwall to serve the Inner Moray area in the Scottish Parliament today.

A new consultation on the court structure in Scotland was issued last week which contained proposals to close Dingwall Sherrif Court. Dave proposed that neither Dingwall nor Inverness building were fit for purpose, and suggested that a new building in Dingwall would be a better solution.

Commenting on this, Dave said: “The Scottish Government is right to analyse the structure of the Scottish court system, especially in the light of the reduced volume of crime being dealt with.

Transport links between Dingwall and Inverness are good, and if we are to lose one court then it certainly makes sense to look at combining the Dingwall and Inverness Sherrif courts.

The Court in Inverness currently sits in quite cramped conditions in Inverness Castle, an iconic and popular tourist attraction. If we moved the court from here to a new purpose built facility, we would not only be getting a more suitable venue for the court, but we would also free up the considerable asset of Inverness Castle, to be better utilised as a tourist attraction.

I was encouraged by the response of the Cabinet Secretary today stating that the Scottish Court Service accept the limitations of the current courts in Inverness and Dingwall, I hope to work with the Court service in the coming weeks to secure support for my proposal.”

Note:

Text of Dave’s question and the Cabinet Secretary’s response:

Dave Thompson (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP): The consultation is proposing the closure of the Dingwall sheriff court and the moving of business to Inverness. However, neither Dingwall nor Inverness is fit for purpose to deal with cases in the 21st century. In my response to the consultation, I will propose that a brand new court be built in the inner Moray Firth area in Dingwall to replace the courts in Dingwall and Inverness. Of course, for that to happen, capital funding will need to be provided. Will the cabinet secretary look seriously at that as an option?

Kenny MacAskill: Again, those matters should be put to the Scottish Court Service. The service accepts Mr Thompson‟s point that the current facilities in Inverness and Dingwall have limitations, and I am sure that it would welcome the opportunity to have new purpose-built court facilities to replace some of its older and less flexible sites, but the financial situation is such that funding new facilities will be extremely challenging in the short to medium term. However, if local stakeholders believe that a business model exists that could fund a new court using proceeds from finding new uses for the existing buildings, I encourage those stakeholders to engage with the Scottish Court Service on that. It is clear that the current buildings cause great difficulties. I urge Mr Thompson to discuss the matter with the Scottish Court Service—he might find a willingness to see whether we can work towards shared solutions.