THE loss of Haddington Sheriff Court has been blamed for delays in protecting vulnerable children and tackling anti-social behaviour, after it was revealed that local authority lawyers spend 10 times longer travelling to Edinburgh and waiting to be seen than they actually do appearing in front of sheriffs.

East Lothian Council said that delays in the way cases were handled were having an impact on a range of vital services it provides, including applying for permanence actions for children who need to be brought into their care, guardianships, repossessing homes and chasing up rent arrears.

At a meeting of the council’s policy and performance review committee, housing officials told councillors that a two-week wait for a court date when Haddington Sheriff Court was open had now turned into a four-month wait to have a case heard in Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

They said the loss of East Lothian’s only operational courthouse had “without doubt” had an impact on their ability to collect rent arrears and take action against anti-social tenants.

Haddington Sheriff Court was closed in a cost-saving exercise at the end of January 2015, despite a public campaign to keep it open, supported by the Courier and cross-party politicians including Iain Gray MSP.

In November last year, Rachael Hamilton, South of Scotland MSP, described the closure as a “mistake”, telling the Courier it had now caused a backlog in the court system.

She said: “Ministers told us that the Scottish Courts Service had ‘capacity within courts to deal with current anticipated cases’.

“This is clearly not the case.”

And Stephen Mannifield, from the Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA), said: “The closure of Haddington Sheriff Court in the EBA’s jurisdiction has had a massive effect. Edinburgh is now dealing not only with all the sheriff and jury and more serious cases for the Edinburgh area, but with all the more serious cases from East Lothian.”

Holyrood’s Justice Committee, which is looking into how the criminal justice system is working, has called the Lord Advocate James Wolffe before it to answer questions on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s (COPFS) performance.

Margaret Mitchell, committee convener, said: “The Justice Committee’s inquiry has unearthed some serious concerns about the COPFS, from the amount of time wasted through trials not proceeding on schedule to the workload of prosecutors and the support offered to the victims and witnesses who appear at court.”

Now, East Lothian Council has confirmed it is seeing an impact on its ability to provide support and services to people. A spokesperson said: “The closure of Haddington Sheriff Court, as we predicted, has had an adverse affect on various aspects of the council’s work. In terms of court actions, these have been taking longer to progress and to conclude in the areas of guardianships, recovery of possession of council houses, rent arrears and permanence actions for children. This is partly due to the different procedures being used in Edinburgh as compared to Haddington Sheriff Court and partly due to the large workload that the clerks and sheriffs at Edinburgh have to manage.

“Our solicitors are also spending 10 times longer travelling and waiting than they are actually appearing in court, compared to minimal travelling and waiting times when they were able to conduct their duties in Haddington.

“While we appreciate the hard work of sheriff court staff at Edinburgh and the increasing pressure they, too, have found themselves under, the closure of Haddington Sheriff Court was always going to have a significant impact on legal aspects of the council’s work and this has indeed proved to be the case.”

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has insisted the closure is part of a strategy that would prove beneficial in the long term.