Conclusion 9

Organisations representing users of the justice system told us that HMCTS has improved how it engages with them, echoing the NAO report which recognised positive changes in the way that HMCTS shares information on reform. The Law Society noted improved engagement on particular projects such as divorce petitions and online civil proceedings.20 But churn in HMCTS staff gave the Bar Council the feeling that “it was often saying the same things it had said two years ago, but to different people on the same sorts of groups.” Transform Justice noted the lack of transparency around the purpose of HMCTS’s engagement saying it is “not clear why anybody has been invited, why somebody else has not been invited, what the remit of the group is and what its result is.” The Law Centres Network also observed that engagement has tended to be around communicating changes in the hope that stakeholders get on board.21