One of Somerset's MPs has been reprimanded in the House of Commons over comments made about the ongoing closure of Taunton Crown Court.
The court at Shire Hall in Somerset's county town has been out of action since September 2023, after contractors uncovered "serious structural issues" with the flooring following unrelated repairs.
Gideon Amos, the Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington, has been putting pressure on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to speed up repairs to the court, removing the need for victims and jurors to travel to Weston-super-Mare for public hearings.
Mr Amos made the case for this afresh in the House of Commons on Tuesday (September 15) as part of a series of questions to prisons and probations minister Catherine McKinnell MP.
But rather than receiving an answer, Mr Amos was sent away with a flea in his ear by the speaker of the House of Commons and told to raise the matter at a different time.
Mr Amos said: "The Ministry of Justice will be able to deliver its rapid deployment cells building programme more quickly if it completes other programmes.
"Taunton Crown Court has been closed since 2023, and the closure has just been extended.
"In March, I received a letter saying that the long-promised opening date in July was now cancelled, and that in due course I would receive an update. I have not received any update.
"Victims and jurors are having to travel up to 30 or 40 miles extra without public transport, which is a real burden on them.
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"An exacerbating issue is the fact that jury recompense has not been updated since 2010.
"Will the minister look into this issue, and also address jury recompense?"
Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle MP did not allow Ms McKinnell (the Labour MP for Newcastle-upon-Tyne North) to answer, instead giving Mr Amos a ticking off for asking such a question at an inopportune moment.
He said: "This is a question about cells. You kind of threw something in, and I do not think it was quite relevant, to be honest.
"Just because you think so, does not mean that I accept it. We really have to stick to the question.
"Personally, I would have thought this would have been better in topical questions."
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