Proposal on the future of Lancaster Crown Court

From:: Ministry of Justice and HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Published: 21 May 2025
Last updated: 12 February 2026 — See all updates

Applies to England and Wales

Read the full outcome

Consultation response

PDF, 548 KB, 24 pages

Detail of outcome

The post-consultation report on proposals for the future of Lancaster Crown Court covers:

the background to the report
a summary of the responses to the report
a detailed response to the specific questions raised in the report
next steps following this consultation

Original consultation

Summary

Announcing the launch of a consultation, seeking views on the proposed permanent closure of Lancaster Crown Court.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
10am on 21 May 2025 to 11:59pm on 2 July 2025

Consultation description

Lancaster Crown Court is currently closed and has not been utilised for either crime or civil hearings since 2019. We are proposing that Lancaster Crown Court is permanently closed and that crime hearings continue to be heard in Preston Crown Court, a modern and accessible building with capacity to accommodate any cases that could be heard in Lancaster. Lancaster Courthouse, which resides at a nearby location in Lancaster, will remain available for civil hearings.

The consultation seeks the views of anyone with an interest in or views on the subject matter covered by this consultation.

We will carefully consider all responses to the consultation before a final decision is made.

Documents