LCCSA COMPLAINT FORM - STRATFORD MAGISTRATES' COURT SECURITY

Please find attached a letter from HMCTS notifying us of revised security arrangements at Stratford Magistrates’ Court, effective from yesterday.

Letter from HMCTS to LCCSA 24.05.2024

We advise that you read the letter carefully in full, but in summary it states that Professional User Access Scheme members (i.e. those who have a PUAS ID card) will no longer be subject to “enhanced” searches upon entry at Stratford Magistrates’ Court from 28^th May 2024. This means that PUAS members should no longer be subjected to pat-down searches and required to remove their shoes. If they are randomly selected for a search, the search will consist of “wanding” and bag checking only.

This is a positive development for PUAS members which was arrived at following formal complaints and high-level meetings between LCCSA committee members and HMCTS. It acknowledges the fact that a degree of trust needs to be placed by HMCTS in professional court users. In order to ensure that trust is maintained, we would urge all PUAS users to familiarise themselves with the court Safety & Security guidance and abide by it, which you can read here:https://www.gov.uk/entering-court-or-tribunal-building

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/professional-users-court-and-tribunal-access-scheme

We shall continue to keep the situation at Stratford Magistrates’ Court under close review. If members have any concerns about the conduct of searches or of the security officers more generally at this court, or indeed any other court in London, we would urge you to let us know as soon as possible. As part of the process of dealing with our complaint, HMCTS have agreed to hold regular meetings with us at which we will be able to give feedback to high-level decision-makers, therefore it is important that we are kept informed of the situation on the ground. To that end, we again attach the complaint form for members to complete and send to us to report incidents. We will also be setting up a WhatsApp group for more immediate contact. If you want to be added to the WhatsApp group, please e-mail our administrator Sara Boxer on admin@lccsa.org and ask to be added to the group. 

We are aware that delayed access for our members to the court in the morning is a problem due a long queue forming. We shall therefore be pushing for a separate queue for PUAS users at this court.

Please feel free to share this message amongst colleagues who are not yet members and who do not have PUAS ID cards and suggest they sign up by emailing admin@lccsa.org.uk

Kind regards,

LCCSA committee