By Michael Alexander

CONTROVERSY OVER the current standing of the fiscal service at Cupar Sheriff Court continued yesterday as it was claimed that the court was suffering from “second rate delivery.”

The surprising comment came from resident Sheriff George Evans who said, during a case, that problems were arising in the running of court business because of no resident fiscal and subsequent lack of continuity.

He said that the court is suffering because of arrangements put in place by the area fiscal.

As revealed by The Courier last Friday, fears have been expressed by the legal community in north-east Fife that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service could have a budget-led “hidden agenda” to gradually erode Cupar court services and eventually justify the court’s closure.

The concerns have been raised by solicitors and other court staff who fear that the recent decision to move the permanent Cupar fiscal to Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, and also process many east Fife custody cases in Kirkcaldy could be the “thin edge of the wedge” in terms of running down the Cupar court and centralising Fife services.

Solicitors have privately expressed concerns about the “increasingly shambolic” running of the court and problems contacting a depute fiscal to discuss cases.

Yesterday Cupar-based solicitor Hilary Eldridge, who is vice-dean and east Fife faculty representative of the Cupar Court Users’ committee, said she had been given assurances by Fife Area Fiscal Cameron Ritchie that the sheriff court’s future was not in jeopardy.

She told The Courier he had taken concerns on board and given assurances that there was no “hidden plan” to close the court or the procurator fiscal’s office.

Mrs Eldridge said, however, that the meeting on Wednesday afternoon did reveal plans are afoot to widen the remit of the town’s fiscal’s office to cover Fife as a whole and not just the immediate area.

“Mr Ritchie said the difficulties we have had over the last few months are down to a combination of factors including staff sickness and holiday cover.

“But we have been given a reassurance there are no plans to close Cupar and we have to take his word for that.”

Mrs Eldridge said she was happy enough for custodies which normally fall under Cupar’s jurisdiction to be dealt with at Kirkcaldy on Saturday mornings if necessary and on public holidays. But this would “not make sense” on a regular basis as it would be unfair on the accused and their families to have to travel a substantial distance for a court appearance.

It is understood that Fife police chief constable Peter Wilson would like to see one custody suite for the whole of Fife, and this would ultimately involve custodies being taken away from smaller courts like Cupar to a conveniently situated centralised location.

Contacted by The Courier yesterday, Mr Ritchie said that the purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to discuss “certain aspects” of the future of Fife court business with the local criminal justice board.

Mr Ritchie added that it was not about specific issues at Cupar Sheriff Court but the concerns of east Fife faculty members had been raised.

Mr Ritchie said there were certainly no plans to close the procurator fiscal’s office in Cupar. He said it had just been refurbished.

There had been a number of “internal management changes” at Cupar but he said this did not change the status or the role of the Cupar procurator fiscal office.

He was not aware of any proposals to close Cupar Sheriff Court. Such powers would come under the jurisdiction of Scottish ministers.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive confirmed last night there were no plans to close Cupar Sheriff Court.