Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 42
4th Report - Work of the County Court
Published 21 Jul 2025
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Work of the County Court All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The causes of the inefficiencies and delays in the County Court are well- established, and openly recognised by Ministers and officials, yet it is unclear how HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), together with the Judiciary and the Ministry of Justice, intends to address them. The recent reviews into both sentencing and the criminal courts, highlight an absence of any attention or commitment to improving the dire situation currently facing the County Court. The Committee found that such problems would 60 be all the greater without the highly commendable efforts of court staff to operate a system that ultimately fails to deliver civil justice. (Conclusion, Paragraph 158)
From: Justice Committee, 4th Report - Work of the County Court (HC 677), 21 July 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 October 2025 (deadline 21 September 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says most of the Committee's 25 recommendations are "accepted in full", while it does not accept the call for a root-and-branch review of the County Court and sets out a different approach where it departs from a recommendation.
- It does not accept a root-and-branch review, saying it is "keen to focus on taking tangible and practical steps" to improve the County Court "without further delay".
- It does not accept that litigants should recover costs wasted by over-listing, stating that listing is a judicial function and over-listing is necessary because about 45% of cases settle before hearing. It considers improved, data-informed listing the "better strategic solution".
- It accepts that HMCTS should integrate Civil Auto File Share (CAFS) and improve contact services, and says CAFS will be delivered "by the end of the year".
- It commits to provide a breakdown of the £220 million capital spending, by letter to the Committee, "before the end March 2026". It also commits to deliver Find a Court or Tribunal improvements by September 2026.