Recommendation 5

Vulnerable users and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are potentially impacted disproportionately by efforts to tackle the Crown Court backlog, which the Department and HMCTS have not done enough to understand. Since the start of the pandemic, HMCTS significantly increased the number of hearings held remotely using video technology. However, it only published its formal evaluation of remote hearings on 10 December 2021, nearly two years into the pandemic. The limited coverage of the experiences of those with disabilities or accessibility difficulties painted a mixed picture, which HMCTS is still reviewing. A third of people requesting reasonable adjustments felt their requests were denied. There is insufficient data on ethnicity for the Department to assess its recovery plans or the pandemic’s impact on different groups. The Department is continuing to work on improving the ethnicity data it collects. Reducing the backlog in criminal courts 7 Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response the Department and HMCTS should set out their plans to specifically evaluate the experience of victims, witnesses and defendants—particularly those deemed vulnerable and from ethnic minority backgrounds—in criminal courts.