10
Acknowledged
Centralisation of County Court operations has devastated justice delivery, causing debilitating delays.
Conclusion
Despite its intended aim of simplifying the operation of the County Court, the centralisation of essential court operations has had a devastating impact on the delivery of justice, entrenching the postcode lottery and results in debilitating delays for all parties. The current methods of contacting a county court do not work. Users cannot find the necessary contact information, and centralised inboxes and phone numbers appear unmonitored as they fail to provide the required response rate. (Conclusion, Paragraph 53)
Government Response Summary
The government states it already publishes some information on claimant representation status and will review existing court data to consider whether further granular data can be made available.
Government Response
Acknowledged
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Ministry of Justice and HMCTS already publish some information on the representation status of claimants through the following publications, namely: Civil justice statistics quarterly – GOV.UK, HMCTS management information – reformed services – GOV.UK and Assessing Access to Justice in HMCTS Services – GOV.UK We will review existing data collected in the courts in line with the recommendation, to consider whether further, more granular data can be made available, ensuring we balance accuracy and quality against the needs of the committee and wider users.
Source
Committee
Justice Committee
Inquiry
Work of the County Court
Report
4th Report - Work of the County Court
21 Jul 2025
HC 677
Addressee Bodies
Ministry of Justice
Timeline
Recommendation age
0.9 yr
Report published
21 Jul 2025