HMCTS Board meeting summary - 4 June 2021
Published 30 July 2021
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1. Present HMCTS Members:
| Board member | Role |
|---|---|
| Tim Parker | Independent Chairman |
| Victoria Cochrane | Senior Independent Non-Executive Member |
| Lakh Jemmett | Non-Executive Member |
| Nicky Wilden | Non-Executive Member & Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair |
| Kevin Sadler | Acting Chief Executive |
| Andrew Baigent | Chief Financial Officer |
| Gemma Hewison | Strategy and Change Director |
| Annabel Burns | Judicial & Legal Services Policy Director – MoJ Representative |
| Lady Justice Thirlwall | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| Lord Justice Lindblom | Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) |
| District Judge Tim Jenkins | Judicial Board member |
1.1 Presenters and additional attendees:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Lord Justice Charles Haddon-Cave | Deputy Senior Presiding Judge (DSPJ) |
| Jan Gower | Non-Executive Change Portfolio Board member/Critical Friend |
| Craig Robb | Deputy Director, Governance & Assurance |
| Head of Risk and Assurance | |
| John Laverick | HMCTS Chief Digital and Information Officer – Interim |
| Graham Dickinson | HMCTS Head of Digital Operations |
| Head of Service Operations, MoJ Digital and Technology | |
| Theresa Browne | Programme Director, Future Operations Programme |
| Project Manager, Future Operations Programme | |
| Future Operations Programme team member | |
| Rupert Morgan | Property Director |
| Mark Evans | Deputy Director, COVID Response (Property) |
| Head of Sustainability | |
| Sarah Wallace | HMCTS Deputy Director Financial Control |
| HMCTS Head of Financial Accounts | |
| MoJ Senior Financial Accounting Manager | |
| Louise Alexander | Human Resources Director |
| Neil Sheppard | Organisational Capability Deputy Director |
| Mark Stewart | Acting Courts and Tribunals Director |
| Private Secretary to the Senior Presiding Judge | |
| Head of HMCTS Corporate Governance and Board Secretariat | |
| HMCTS Board Secretariat Officer |
1.2 Apologies:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Paul Harris | Operations Director |
2. Welcome and Introductions
Tim Parker welcomed attendees to the meeting and gave apologies.
3. Minutes and actions
The minutes from 6 May 2021 were approved and updates on actions were noted.
4. Performance updates
The Board noted that COVID-19 incident rates had generally been continuing to decline and that the national HMCTS response team had not had to deploy any live COVID-19 crisis management teams for over a month.
Consideration was given to ongoing work in respect of recovery, including cross government engagement and activity.
There were substantive performance discussions in respect of jurisdictions including the Crown Court and a number of tribunals.
The Board was pleased to hear that Her Majesty’s Treasury and Cabinet Office had agreed the MoJ pay case, which would now be subject to formal negotiations with trade unions.
5. HMCTS Reform Programme - update of key achievements and challenges
The Board considered the key points from the monthly update on the Reform Programme.
As well as noting the updates on milestones that had been achieved, there was a discussion around how to best balance the need to roll-out new services with managing the potential impacts on operational colleagues and judges.
6. HMCTS corporate risk register update
Following a discussion, feedback was provided on the strategic risks proposed for management through the refreshed corporate risk register.
7. Deep dive into digital and technology risks
Consideration was given to the current digital and technology risks and how they were being managed.
8. Performance of HMCTS digital and technology services
The Board discussed the arrangements in place and reviewed the digital and technology services monthly reports.
9. Demonstration of Courts & Tribunals Service Centre strategic technology
The Board was provided with a demonstration of the new strategic technology and noted the efficiencies that it afforded in relation to the managing of incoming work by colleagues in Courts & Tribunals Service Centres.
10. HMCTS environmental sustainability strategy
Consideration was given to the HMCTS environmental sustainability strategy overview and the HMCTS environmental investment priorities summary. It was confirmed that this would be the subject of a future funding bid, balancing the ongoing priority of the overall condition of the HMCTS estate.
The Board recognised the achievements so far and confirmed its support of this work going forward.
11. Draft HMCTS annual report and accounts 2020 to 2021 and draft HMCTS trust statement 2020 to 2021
The Board was invited to review the statutory reports for 2020 to 2021.
Subject to the consideration of its feedback, the Board agreed to delegate final approval of the HMCTS annual accounts and remuneration report 2020 to 2021 and HMCTS trust statement to the HMCTS Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.
12. Senior civil service performance
The Board discussed capacity, performance and talent management in respect of the HMCTS senior civil servants, as well as other critical leadership roles across the organisation more broadly.