Recommendation 20

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