Value for Money
Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme
Published 23 February 2023
6 recommendations
Ministry of Justice
Courts, sentencing and tribunalsCrime, justice and law
nao.org.uk
HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s £1.3bn court reform programme is nearing its end. This report examines progress implementing the programme.
Recommendations (6)
Source: NAO Recommendations Tracker · PAC follow-up below
Ministry of Justice
Rec 1
Accepted
Implemented
Get a better understanding of how efficiently reformed services are working so it can identify where improvements are needed. HMCTS should consider how to get more routine and timely data on how efficiently reformed services are working, including where variation exists.
Ministry of Justice
Rec 2
Accepted
Implemented
Develop an overarching benefits realisation plan. It should set out:
? the main improvements required to each service to ensure they deliver the intended scope and how it plans to prioritise changes to maximise benefits;
? how and when it can safely make changes that will deliver benefits; and
? how it plans to engage partners to ensure the required behaviour change is achieved.
Ministry of Justice
Rec 3
Partially Accepted
Implemented
Publish findings from its impact on access to justice assessments for each service as they are completed and explain how it will address any issues it identifies.
Ministry of Justice
Rec 4
Accepted
Implemented
Prioritise and take forward common platform improvements that will make it easier to use, and communicate these plans to users. It should set out a prioritised list of upcoming upgrades to the system with expected completion dates, focusing on those that will relieve workload pressures or support users in assuring data quality.
Ministry of Justice
Rec 5
Partially Accepted
Implemented
Ensure that common platform users have sufficient support as it continues the rollout. It should assess whether its current remote support model is sufficient as the number of courts on common platform increases and avoid withdrawing support from courts until it is sure that doing so will not be detrimental to court processes.
Ministry of Justice
Rec 6
Accepted
Implemented
Identify lessons learned from the reform programme as it comes to an end and feed those lessons into both reform and wider HMCTS and MoJ programmes. This should include a detailed section on lessons learned from the design and rollout of common platform.
Parliamentary Committee Follow-Up
The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.
Sixty-First Report - Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme
Public Accounts Committee
· 30 June 2023
· 12 recommendations