Public Accounts Committee says that it is ‘seriously concerned’ about multiple delays and revisions to court reform programme
New report finds that HMCTS’s continued underestimation of programme’s complexity means it has struggled to deliver the reforms it promised and meet its deadlines
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said that it is ‘seriously concerned’ about the multiple delays and revisions to the HMCTS court reform programme.
While Transforming our justice system – an HMCTS programme driven by the need to address complex and inefficient case management systems and to achieve substantial efficiency savings – was launched in September 2016, in November 2019 the Committee expressed concerns about whether HMCTS would be able to deliver the reforms within its timetable despite having extended it to seven years.
In today's report, Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme – which sets out the results of a further inquiry launched in February 2023 – the Committee again voices its concern and says that HMCTS's continued underestimation of the £1.3 billion programme’s complexity along with the impact of the pandemic means it has struggled to deliver the reforms it promised and meet its deadlines. The Committee adds that –
'HMCTS has extended its timetable again and now aims to complete most projects in March 2024, three months later than planned, and its digital case management system, common platform, in March 2025, over a year later than planned. It will also deliver less than previously promised, with work on some services paused altogether and expected savings at least £310 million lower than the £2.3 billion forecast in 2019.'
The Committee also finds that –
'Multiple technical and design problems throughout HMCTS’ roll-out of the Common Platform created extra problems for court staff working hard to deal with large case backlogs worsened by the pandemic. HMCTS’ failure to engage with court users on the roll-out also increased the burden on pressured courts and staff. The PAC is disappointed that court users still did not feel properly heard by HMCTS, despite past assurances that it would do more to ensure staff and stakeholders felt listened to.'
The Committee goes on to conclude that –
'We are seriously concerned that despite a long history of resets to the programme, HMCTS has had to revise and delay its plans again…. When we last examined the programme in 2019, HMCTS had already extended the time it expected to take to deliver the reforms twice, from four years to six years and then to seven years. We warned that its timetable was over-optimistic given the work still required. By November 2022, HMCTS had only managed to complete 24 of its 44 (55 per cent) projects. HMCTS has since decided to reset the programme again…. HMCTS asserts that it is confident it can deliver the remainder of the programme within the new timetable, but it gave us the same assurances in 2018, 2019 and 2021.'
As a result, the Committee recommends that, in their response to the report, the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS should outline –
- what they are doing to assure themselves and Parliament that their plans are now realistic and will not require further resets; and
- how HMCTS will improve its approach to engagement and transparency to ensure that staff and stakeholder concerns are responded to adequately.
Committee Chair Dame Meg Hillier said today –
'Our courts were already stretched thin before the pandemic, and the backlogs now faced pose a real threat to timely access to justice. These are services crying out for critical reform, but frustratingly HMCTS' attempts appear in some cases to be actively hindering its own staff’s ability to carry out their jobs. In particular, the roll-out of the Common Platform digital system was a blow upon a bruise for pressured court users.
We would expect HMCTS to appreciate by now that complex reform such as this cannot be properly implemented while failing to engage with those impacted, but our report paints a picture of a service now rushing to introduce its plans following multiple delays. HMCTS has now burnt through almost its entire budget for a programme of reform only a little over halfway complete. The government told us that the complexity of managing some of these reforms was like ‘redesigning the jet engine while it is in flight’. It must explain how it intends to land the plane.'
For more information, see PAC seriously concerned at Court Reform Programme’s multiple delays and revisions from parliament.uk