HM Courts and Tribunals Service Board meeting – 1 November 2023
Published 25 October 2024
Applies to England and Wales
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1. Attendees
1.1 Present
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Sir Richard Broadbent | Chair |
| Victoria Cochrane | Senior Independent Non-Executive |
| Nicky Wilden | Non-Executive Member |
| Lakh Jemmett | Non-Executive Member |
| Nick Goodwin | Chief Executive Officer |
| Andrew Baigent | Chief Financial Officer (part) |
| Paul Harris | Deputy Chief Executive and Operations Director |
| Louise Alexander | HR Director |
| Lord Justice Andrew Edis | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| Sir Keith Lindblom | Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) |
| District Judge Tim Jenkins | Judicial Board member |
| Annabel Burns | Judicial and Legal Services Policy Director (MoJ rep) |
1.2 Presenters and additional attendees
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Sir Richard Broadbent | Chair |
| Victoria Cochrane | Senior Independent Non-Executive |
| Nicky Wilden | Non-Executive |
| Lakh Jemmett | Non-Executive |
| Nick Goodwin | Chief Executive |
| Andrew Baigent | Chief Financial Officer (part) |
| Paul Harris | Deputy Chief Executive and Operations Director |
| Louise Alexander | HR Director |
| Lord Justice Andrew Edis | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| Sir Keith Lindblom | Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) |
| District Judge Tim Jenkins | Judicial Board member |
| Annabel Burns | Judicial and Legal Services Policy Director (MoJ rep) |
1.3 Secretariat
| Role |
|---|
| Board Secretary and Chief of Staff |
| Head of Corporate Governance and Board Secretariat |
| Head of Operational Judicial Private Offices |
2. Board Minutes
The Chair welcomed the Lady Chief Justice. The draft minutes from meeting on 4 October 2023 and the action log were reviewed.
3. Management Information
An update was provided on the development of new Management Information. The initial focus had been on the least complex measures with attention now turning to developing the other areas. The Board noted progress and the importance of clarity around what each metric was seeking to measure.
4. Performance and Finance Updates
The Board welcomed the recent appointment of Annabel Burns as HMCTS Strategy, Analysis & Performance Director.
An update was provided in respect of prison capacity.
The Board discussed fee paid sittings in Civil and Family Courts and it was proposed that a paper on this matter would be presented to a future meeting.
Progress on the utilisation of the capital maintenance budget was noted. An update was provided on sites where defective RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) had been identified and the actions being taken.
Updates were provided on the performance of a number of key jurisdictions. In discussion, regional variances in trend data for disposals was highlighted, and the reasons behind these explored.
The underlying financial forecast remained stable, though there remained the need to closely monitor expenditure.
5. Quarterly Service Demand forecasting update
The forecast projected demand in the Family, Crown, magistrates and Civil jurisdictions and the potential impact on next year’s financial allocation were noted.
6. Reform Programme: proposed plan
Following a discussion, the Board broadly endorsed the proposals and, subject to its feedback, it gave its endorsement to engaging Principals on the proposed plan.
7. Probate Lessons Learned
The Board noted the key issues and lessons-learnt in relation to the implementation of the new Probate service.
Mechanisms had been put in place to capture lessons for each project and embed that learning. This had informed changes to the implementation approach and other changes in relation to new services.
8. Review 26 Weeks Post Relaunch of the Public Law Outline
The emerging data following the relaunch of the Public Law Outline in January 2023 was discussed. It was agreed that a further update on the impact of the PLO would be presented to the Board at the appropriate time in the next 12-18 months.
9. Follow-up from the HMCTS Board Strategy Awayday
The Board agreed the summary of conclusions and the full minutes from the previous month’s Strategy Awayday and confirmed it was content for the work to proceed as outlined.
10. HMCTS Environmental Performance Annual Review
The biggest challenge in respect of achieving Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) related to securing sufficient funding. Despite this, significant progress had been made using the existing facilities management contract, through initiatives designed to change behaviour and as a result of using external grants/schemes.