“Raab holding victims and taxpayers to ransom” says Labour, as funding energy costs at crumbling courts rises by 50% in five years

Labour today accused Dominic Raab of holding victims and taxpayers after new research from the Labour Party found that the cost of footing energy bills in England and Wales’s crumbling courts has risen by 50 per cent in the last five years, as well as causing delays to Crown Court trials.

A written answer to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed revealed that total spend on heating and electricity in court rose from £12,161,707 to £18,634,071 this year, with the hike expected to go even higher in the autumn amidst the worst cost-of-living crisis for a generation.

Labour’s research comes as crumbling courts with inefficient heating and air conditioning are causing delays to victims getting justice, with maintenance problems in courthouses across England and Wales mean cases have been stopped or disrupted 754 times since October 2021.

Delays in prosecuting suspected criminals have hit a record 708 days under the Conservatives for the average time it takes to go from offence to completion of a case. Reed accused Raab of “using striking barristers as a smokescreen” for delays in crown court trials.

Labour’s latest analysis follows previous revelations from the party that the prison heating bill has increased 25 per cent due to recent energy price rises.

Previous attempts at greening prisons and courts and helping to reduce energy costs to the taxpayer have stalled due to Government incompetence and waste.

Earlier this year the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab was forced to rip up a multimillion-pound contract to install solar panels on dozens of prisons and courts after Labour research revealed they contained parts made by a firm that uses forced labour camps in China.

Commenting on the findings, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, Steve Reed MP, said:

“Victims and taxpayers alike are paying through the nose for a decade of neglect of our criminal justice system by this bungling Conservative Government.

“The Conservatives’ mismanagement of the energy crisis they have caused has left taxpayers footing larger and larger bills to heat and power energy-inefficient courts and left victims waiting for justice

“Victims will see through Dominic Raab’s pathetic attempts to use striking barristers as a smokescreen for the delays he and the Conservatives have caused in our criminal courts: he needs to stop holding victims and taxpayers to ransom, get round the table with barristers and solve this impasse.

“Only Labour can deliver the long-term energy plan to cut bills, tackle the climate crisis, and deliver energy security for our country.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• New research from the Labour Party found that the cost of footing energy bills in England and Wales’s crumbling courts has risen by 50 per cent in the last five years.

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the cost of (a) heating and (b) electricity for (i) magistrates' courts and (ii) crown courts in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Answer

Answer:
James Cartlidge:

The table below provides the costs of heating and electricity for Magistrates' and Crown Courts in England and Wales over the previous five years. Please note that 2021-22 figures are provisional as the NAO audit of 21-22 is ongoing.

Answered on

14 June 2022

Source: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

• A written answer for Justice Secretary Dominic Raab’s department revealed that the increase for gas and electricity used to heat and light prisons went up from just above £56 million in 2017/18 to almost 70 million in 2021/22, the tax year ending 31 March. 

Question:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what were the cost to the public purse of (a) heating and (b) electricity for prisons in England and Wales in each of the last five years. (14497)

Tabled on: 08 June 2022

Answer:

The cost breakdown of gas and electricity for public sector prisons in England and Wales for the last 5 financial years are set out below.

There are four prisons that do not utilise gas as a main heating source; the costs for other fuel sources cannot be extracted within incurring a disproportionate cost.

Sources:

Lags cause energy crisis for taxpayers on HEATING prisons | Politics | News | Express.co.uk

The Ministry of Justice has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (31124):

• Earlier this year the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab was forced to rip up a multimillion-pound contract to install solar panels on dozens of prisons and courts after Labour research revealed they contained parts made by a firm that uses forced labour camps in China.

Source: Dominic Raab rips up solar contract linked to Uighur slavery | News | The Times

• Maintenance problems in courthouses across England and Wales mean cases have been stopped or disrupted 754 times since October.

Source: Hundreds of criminal trials delayed due to rat-infested courts as 754 cases held - Mirror Online