Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Accepted
Ministry of Justice still lacks sufficient data on litigants in person's impact on courts
Recommendation
On litigants in person, MoJ acknowledged that its data have not been good enough to understand the impact of LIPs on courts. However, it said that its court reform programme, which included the introduction of a common platform in criminal courts, will allow it to capture data about LIPs and more accurate data on hearing times. We asked MoJ what it had learned from this data and whether it allows it to differentiate between litigants in person who are more actively involved in presenting their case compared with those who are not. MoJ explained that it does not yet have full data from its new systems, but that its previous analysis showed that LIPs do not slow court processes down. We note that LIPs may add costs in other ways. MoJ told us that its new systems record whether a LIP has appeared at a hearing, but that assessing their involvement in a case from this data could be quite subjective.38 Sustainability
Government Response Summary
The department will improve data and analysis regarding litigants in person, and will write to the Committee in October 2026 setting out the current position on data collection for litigants in person, and the department’s intention to write to the Committee in October 2026 setting out how the department will improve data and analysis.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.3 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2026 4.4 The department has written to the Committee, alongside the Treasury Minute response, setting out the current position on data collection for litigants in person, and the department’s intention to write to the Committee in October 2026 setting out how the department will improve data and analysis.