Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
Sixty-First Report - Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme
Published 30 Jun 2023
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Court Reform Programme: progress review All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
In our examination of the programme in 2018, we concluded that the Ministry of Justice did not understand the financial implications of the planned changes on the wider justice system. We warned that some of the changes, such as the increased use of video hearings, could lead to increased costs for other organisations in other parts of the justice system, and could also have indirect costs. We warned that such cost-shunting across the justice system needs to be well understood given the stress that all parts of the system were already under strain and recommended that the Ministry should quantify the likely financial implications of the reforms on the wider justice system.39 In its response to our report, HMCTS recognised the need for a more joined-up model to understand the costs and benefits of the programme across agencies within the criminal justice system to ensure that costs are properly distributed and prevent cost-shunting.40
From: Public Accounts Committee, Sixty-First Report - Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme (HC 1002), 30 June 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 24 September 2023 (deadline 30 August 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the six conclusions, describing five as "Recommendation implemented" and one, on assessing the full cost of the programme, with a target implementation date of December 2023.
- On assurance of plans, the response says the programme is "conducting ongoing reviews of plans", overseen by programme boards and a portfolio board, with updated confidence assessments reported against each portfolio-level milestone.
- On access to justice, it commits to publishing four completed assessments in autumn 2023, with further publications "in 2024 and into 2025". Where impacts are identified, it will do further work and, "where appropriate", implement a service fix.
- On full costs, the government will respond within the six-month deadline, considering the proposed inclusions "where they are within the scope of the programme". It adds that in some cases it will be necessary to rely on estimates.
- On savings, it says delay will mean £50 million fewer recurring annual net savings by the end of 2025-26. The full £227 million is "still expected" a year later than originally expected, by the end of 2026-27.