Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 24
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 2019, we concluded that HMCTS could not demonstrate whether claimed savings were attributable to the reforms and so taxpayers could not be confident they were getting what was promised. We recommended that HMCTS should set out how it intended to measure and monitor the benefits arising from the reform.49 In response, HMCTS developed an approach to help it understand how efficiently services are working. Its unit cost calculations compare the running costs of a service with the output produced, for example the number of cases resolved, to calculate the cost per person using the service. However, HMCTS acknowledged that it needed to do more to refine its approach. It explained that while the methodology allowed it to monitor organisational costs, it cannot differentiate between the impact of efficiencies gained from introducing reforms and the impact of other factors – for example, increases in cost due to changes in demand.50 43 Q 86; Letter from Nick Goodwin, Chief Executive HM Courts and Tribunals to Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of Committee of Public Accounts, 17 March 2023 44 Qq 89, 93, C&AG’s Report, para 3.8, Figure 11 45 Q 88; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.11–3.13 46 Q 90 47 Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming courts and tribunals: progress review, Second Report of Session 2019, 4 November 2019, para 7; In its 2021 business case, HMCTS provided an updated estimate of £237 million in expected yearly savings for its previous 2019 business case. 48 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.11, 1.15 49 Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming courts and tribunals: progress review, Second Report of Session 2019, HC 27, 5 November 2019, para 5 50 Qq 94–95; C&AG’s Report, para 3.5–3.6 Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme 17
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.