The decision to close Cupar Sheriff Court is a setback that needs to be put into perspective, according to Fife councillor Bryan Poole, who has urged people to get behind Cupar and “stop running the town down”.
Mr Poole told The Courier he would like to see a specially commissioned report for himself before passing judgment on claims the impact of the sheriff court’s closure on Cupar’s economy will be far worse than predicted.
According to the report commissioned by the Association of Businesses in Cupar and District (ABCD), around 130 jobs and almost £2.8 million will be lost from the town when court business is transferred to Dundee next May.
The findings are revealed in a report compiled by 4 Consulting, and have prompted dismay among the local business and legal community.
Mr Poole said: “While I would agree with the report’s assertion that the Scottish Court Service (SCS) figures were questionable and didn’t justify the decision to close Cupar court, I would want to see the details of the report commissioned by ABCD before making any judgement.
“If the figures of 130 job losses and £2.8 million loss to the local economy stacks up and comes to fruition then that is obviously a very serious situation.
“However, irrespective of the impact of the closure I don’t believe for a second that ‘it diminishes Cupar as a place to live’.”
The report accuses the SCS of being disingenuous when presenting its own conclusions from the consultation it carried out before recommending the court’s closure.
“The SCS consultation cited six job losses and operating costs saved of around £92,000 per annum resulting from the closure of Cupar Sheriff and Justice of the Peace courts,” says the report.
“This is clearly a significant underestimate by only considering a fraction of the activities involved in operating and supporting the courts.
“There is little mention of the wider implications for other Cupar-based business in the consultation. Indeed the consultation suggests that ‘any economic impact will be localised, minimal and short term’.
“This is misleading, as while the impacts are clearly local, they will be significant and permanent.”
ABCD said the cost savings for the court system are “completely overwhelmed by the local economic impact, yet the SNP chose to ignore the fact”.
ABCD have pledged to try to overturn the decision to close the court, which was made by the justice committee in June, despite overwhelming opposition.
According to the report, the figures “grossly underestimate” the operation and activities of Cupar’s courts and that the court-related employment as a share of overall employment in the town is nearly double that of the share of the other nine courts facing the axe.