Transparency data

HM Courts and Tribunals Service Board meeting – 13 June 2024

Published 25 October 2024

Applies to England and Wales

1. Attendees

1.1 Present

Name	Role
Sir Richard Broadbent	Chair
Lakh Jemmett	Non-Executive Member
Nicky Wilden	Non-Executive Member and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) Chair
Nick Fishwick	Non-Executive Member
Luisa Fulci	Non-Executive Member
Nick Goodwin	Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Daniel Flury	Operations Director
Louise Alexander	HR Director
Jerome Glass	Director General Policy, Courts and Access to Justice (MoJ)
Lord Justice Andrew Edis	Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ)
Sir Keith Lindblom	Senior President of Tribunals (SPT)

1.2 Additional attendees and presenters

Name	Role
Dame Victoria Sharp DBE	President of the Kings Bench Division
Lord Justice Nicholas Green	Deputy Senior Presiding Judge (DSPJ)
Catherine Blair	Incoming (Interim) Chief Finance Officer
Annabel Burns	Strategy, Analysis and Planning Director
Richard Price	DG Performance Strategy and Analysis (MoJ)
John Laverick	Chief Digital and Information Officer
Jason Latham	Development Director
Head of Futures and Innovation Team
Joanne Burch	Deputy Director, Courts and Tribunals Joint Unit
Head of Financial Account
Henry Young	Deputy Director Financial Reporting - MoJ
Paul Stock	Deputy Director Financial Management
Head of Modelling and Forecasting

1.3 Secretariat

Role
Head of Corporate Governance and Board Secretariat
Deputy Head of Board Secretariat
Head of Operational Judicial Private Offices

1.4 Apologies

Name	Role
District Judge Tim Jenkins	Judicial Board member

2. Board Minutes

The draft minutes from the meeting on 1 May 24 were approved and outstanding actions were discussed.

An update was provided on the current position on prison capacity.

The Board was given a high-level summary of two ongoing incidents. Firstly, a technical fault in the new online divorce system which allowed applications to be made on the anniversary of a marriage onwards (as opposed to 1 year and 1 day). The second issue related to several train companies who had erroneously prosecuted some specific offences through Single Justice Procedure (SJP).

3. Operationalising the HMCTS Strategy

The Board was invited to consider how the strategy vision should be operationalised through defined actions and goals, reflecting the role of HMCTS in the justice system. Areas identified for priority action were agreed.

4. Current thinking on longer term structural changes and options

An overview of emerging policy thinking was presented.

5. Quarterly Report from the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) Chair

The Board was provided with the key conclusions from the recent ARAC meeting at which the 2023-24 financial statements were discussed.

6. Draft HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts and Draft HMCTS Trust Statement 2023-24

The Board agreed to delegate approval of the HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 and the Trust Statement 2023-24 to the HMCTS Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC), noting that the reports remain draft and subject to audit.

7. Performance and Finance Updates

The Board noted that the Automatic Referral to Mediation was now in place for the small money claims track which was a significant milestone. The introduction of the HMCTS fire safety strategy was also welcomed. The Board discussed court security and noted the potential outcome from the task and finish group.

There were discussions in relation to performance in the Crown Court, Family jurisdiction and the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC), Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) and Employment Tribunals. The number of complaints being received, and the time taken to answer telephone calls were also discussed.

It was confirmed that the financial allocation that had now been agreed was largely consistent with the interim budgets that had previously been issued.

8. Quarterly Service Demand forecasting update

The Board discussed forecast demand against the actuals across 2023-24.