Evidence from the Scottish Conservatives has revealed crumbling court buildings across Lanarkshire require nearly £740,000 worth of repairs.
Lanarkshire MSP, Graham Simpson, has slammed the SNP for short-changing the court service and warned that a failure to carry out repair work risked the backlog of court cases growing even larger in his region.
More than £500,000 is needed to upgrade Hamilton Sheriff Court, £11,000 for Hamilton JP Court and £175,000 at Airdrie Sheriff Court.
Meanwhile, Lanark Sheriff Court needs £48,000 to replace its roof.
Across Scotland, more than £7.3 million is required to tackle this backlog.
The freedom of information response from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has revealed that much of this money is for crucial maintenance work to fix the likes of leaky roofs, ceilings and damp.
The cost of the repairs equates to almost the entire £8 million capital budget of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service – so there’s no guarantee that all the "essential" maintenance will go ahead.
That capital budget was £5m less than the £13m the SCTS had requested from the SNP Government.
The Scottish Conservatives have previously revealed how the courts were told by the SNP that justice was no longer a priority – and they say this is manifesting itself in the dilapidated court buildings that risk being forced to close, causing delays to trials.
MSP for Central Scotland, Graham Simpson, said: “The shocking scale of repair work required to keep courts in Lanarkshire safe and habitable should set alarm bells ringing for the SNP.
“The court service requested more capital funds to address this maintenance backlog – but they were ignored and short-changed to the tune of £5m by ministers.
“We already knew that justice was not a priority for the SNP, and now residents in Lanarkshire are seeing the consequences of their neglect.
“The number of victims of crime waiting years for justice could get even larger if the state of our courts is not addressed as a matter of urgency.
“Clearing this backlog will help victims get the swifter justice they deserve, but the SNP must provide courts in my region to funding to make this a reality."
The Scottish Government said it is working with the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Services to support improvement works to their court facilities to help continue the delivery of services and are supporting action being taken to address the backlog caused by the COVID pandemic.
A spokesperson said: "We have established a justice recovery fund of £53.2m to be allocated to recovery, renewal and transformation activity across the justice system in 2022-23.
“This includes funding of £26.5m to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service to maintain enhanced court capacity and remote jury centres and builds on our £50m programme in 2021-22.
"These measures are having a positive impact on the backlog with reductions in the number of outstanding scheduled trials seen each month this year.”
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