HMCTS Board meeting summary - 30 July 2020
Published 18 December 2020
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1. Present HMCTS members
| Board member | Role |
|---|---|
| Tim Parker | Independent Chairman |
| Victoria Cochrane | Senior Independent Non-Executive Member and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair |
| Ian Playford | Non-Executive Member |
| Susan Acland-Hood | Chief Executive, HM Courts & Tribunals Service |
| Kevin Sadler | Deputy Chief Executive & Operations Director |
| Andrew Baigent | Chief Finance Officer |
| Lady Justice Kate Thirlwall | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| District Judge Tim Jenkins | Judicial Board member |
| Annabel Burns | Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Director, Judicial and Legal Services Policy |
1.1 Presenters and additional attendees
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Lord Justice Keith Lindblom | Vice-President of the Unified Tribunals |
| Marie-Claire Uhart | Strategy and Change Director |
| Jan Gower | Non-Executive HMCTS Change Portfolio Board member/Critical Friend |
| Catherine Blair | Deputy Director, Strategic Finance |
| Head of Modelling and Forecasting | |
| Head of Legal Operations Team | |
| Strategic Finance – Reform Programme Business Case Lead | |
| Claire Barrett | Programme Director, Property Reform & Strategy |
| Clare Farren | Deputy Director, Judicial Private Offices |
| HMCTS Board Secretary | |
| Head of HMCTS Corporate Governance and Board Secretariat |
1.2 Apologies
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Lakh Jemmett | Non-Executive Member |
2. Welcome and introductions
Tim Parker welcomed attendees to the meeting.
3. Minutes and actions
The minutes from 3 July 2020 were approved and updates on actions were noted.
4. Performance and finance
The Board noted that the COVID-19 recovery plan continued to be a main focus. In addition to the work taking place regarding the ‘Nightingale’ sites and pilots of extended operating hours, it was confirmed that there had been a further review of the HMCTS estate based on 2 metres and ‘1 metre plus mitigations’ social distancing. This work had identified a significant increase in capacity for hearings rooms that could be used, and steps were now being taken to utilise this additional space.
Updates on the impacts of changes to COVID-19 guidelines and the mitigations being put in place were provided. There was a discussion around the potential approaches to COVID Operating Hours across different jurisdictions.
The Board considered operational performance which was now being tracked against COVID-19 recovery trajectories. There were particular discussions around the current and forecast positions in relation to the civil and probate jurisdictions, and crown court performance.
The Board discussed the current financial position, including approved additional COVID-19 expenditure that had been included in the forecast and unapproved costs which were being captured as risks.
The Board considered the current financial position.
5. Report from the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) Chair
An oral report of the last ARAC meeting on 1 July was presented to the Board. It was noted that ARAC had approved the 2019-20 HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts subject to its feedback and reviewed the draft HMCTS Trust Statement document.
6. Quarterly service demand forecasting update
The Board discussed the key conclusions in relation to the forecast demand across all jurisdictions. In addition to COVID-19, there were other significant drivers of future demand related to the expected economic downturn, the end of the post-Brexit Transition Period and wider government policy changes.
7. Legal advisors in HMCTS
The Board commended the positive impacts as a result of changes in the legal advisor role. Following on from this, there was a discussion around how further expanding their variety and responsibilities, where appropriate and agreed by judges, could help release judicial capacity in certain jurisdictions.
8. Spending review
Following a discussion, the Board provided steers in relation to the proposed approach to developing options for HMCTS’s input into the departmental response to the spending review.
9. Reform Programme Business Case 6 (PBC6)
Noting the timetable for delivering PBC6, the Board discussed and provided comments in relation to the options for the business case and the key areas that were being proposed.
10. Proposed London Tribunals Centre
Following a discussion of the merits of the different potential approaches, the Board approved the preferred solution.
11. HMCTS capital investment programmes 2020/21
An overview of the additional funding that had been provided from HMT was presented. Board members provided their comments and supported the continuation of the existing works, and commencement of the new programme of works.