HM Courts and Tribunals Service Board meeting – 10 October 2024
Published 20 January 2025
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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1. Attendees
1.1 Present
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Sir Richard Broadbent | Chairman |
| Nick Fishwick | Non-Executive Member |
| Nicky Wilden | Non-Executive Member and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair |
| Luisa Fulci | Non-Executive Member |
| Nick Goodwin | Chief Executive Officer (CEO) |
| Daniel Flury | Operations Director |
| Catherine Blair | Interim Chief Finance Officer |
| Jerome Glass | DG Policy – Courts and Access to Justice (MoJ) |
| Lord Justice Nicholas Green | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| Sir Keith Lindblom | Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) |
| HHJ Alison Raeside | Judicial Board member |
| Annabel Burns | Strategy, Analysis and Planning Director |
1.2 Presenters
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Alison Wedge | Deputy Director, Head of Governance and Assurance |
| Tim Stamp | Deputy Director, Strategic Finance and Planning |
| Head of Financial Strategy |
1.3 Secretariat
| Role |
|---|
| Deputy Head of Board Secretariat |
| Interim Business Manager |
| Deputy Director Head of Judicial Private Offices |
1.4 Apologies
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Richard Price | DG Performance Strategy and Analysis (MoJ) |
2. Board minutes
The draft minutes from the meeting on 12 September were reviewed and the action log were discussed.
3. Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) Update
The quarterly report from the most recent ARAC meeting was presented.
4. Reflections from Non-Executive Directors (NED) Site Visits
An update was provided following NED visits to the Courts and Tribunals Service Centres (CTSCs) in Salford and Birmingham, and to HM Prison Pentonville.
5. HMCTS Board Meetings
Members were reminded that the HMCTS Board meeting frequency would be changing in the new year and would include visits to two operational sites.
6. Performance and finance updates
An update was provided following a pay announcement for HMCTS staff, which also included increased allowances for Legal Advisers. Discussions took place around the demographic of HMCTS staff and the importance of having a workforce plan in place.
It was noted that the principal challenge in Operations was the ongoing transformation of the organisation, including ensuring that CTSCs were effective as possible and provided support to judges and users.
An update was provided on jurisdictional performance, and it was confirmed that work continued on validation of the data.
7. Risk Appetite and Overall Risk Exposure
The Board considered the three areas suggested by ARAC as priorities to manage.
It was agreed HMCTS should be highly averse to risks of serious harm to people who are employed in or interact with the Courts and Tribunals. It was also suggested that there should also be an aversion to significant under or over-spending outside of the financial control regime. The Board concluded that greater granularity was required to reach conclusions and asked for further analysis to be done.
8. Update on Crown Court Data
Work continued to address the discrepancies in the Crown Court outstanding caseload data. The Board noted the progress that had been made to rectify the issues.
9. Further Update on Spending Reviews
It was confirmed that the HMCTS Spending Review Return had been submitted to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and that engagement with MoJ colleagues was ongoing.