A PLAID Cymru MP accused the government yesterday of underhandedly skewing data to justify plans to close over 80 courts in England and Wales.

Both opposition MPs and Tory backbenchers have queried the motivation behind a £700 million government attempt to “modernise” the justice system, warning that it would deny many people access to justice.

The most damning allegation came from Plaid’s Liz Saville Roberts, who claimed that she had evidence that cases had been deliberately moved from certain courts to doctor government data.

“The government defends itself by saying the courts are underused, but I have been told by credible sources that court cases are being moved in order to skew these figures and to justify closing some courts,” Ms Saville Roberts told a backbench business debate.

She said that if the justification for the closure was not the lack of demand but a need to save money, the costs would effectively be passed “from the state on to the individual engaging with the justice system, whether as an offender or as a witness or a victim.”

The closures would mean that greater emphasis was placed on video links for witnesses, the online filing of court papers and provision to allow pleas to be entered by mobile phone.

But Labour’s Helen Hayes said the government had failed to set out how the technology would fill the capacity gap caused by closing the courts.

She said there was great concern that “these closure plans appear to be putting the cart before the horse, closing courts and tribunals without a clear plan for replacing the capacity that will be lost with new technology.”

Tory backbencher Andrew Bingham also complained about the impact of the plans, claiming the court service had had a decision imposed upon it that it did not want.

He said that he was concerned ministers and officials had been let down “because the consultation was flawed” and “what I thought was almost arrogance and an unwillingness to accept the mistakes they’d made.”