HMCTS Board meeting summary - 5 November 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 |
| Nicky Wilden | Non-Executive Member and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair |
| Kevin Sadler | Acting Chief Executive |
| Andrew Baigent | Chief Finance Officer |
| Gemma Hewison | Strategy and Change Director |
| Annabel Burns | Director, Judicial and Legal Services Policy Directorate – MoJ Representative |
| Lord Justice Keith Lindblom | Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) |
| Lady Justice Kate Thirlwall | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| District Judge Tim Jenkins | Judicial Board member |
1.1 Presenters and additional attendees
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Paul Harris | Courts and Tribunals Director |
| Jan Gower | Non-Executive Change Portfolio Board member/Critical Friend |
| Lord Justice Adrian Fulford | Vice-President Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) |
| Rose Pennells | Head of Business Strategy |
| Head of Portfolio Impact and Change Reform Team – Judicial Office | |
| Strategy Officer - Business Strategy Team | |
| Head of Modelling and Forecasting | |
| Catherine Blair | Deputy Director, Strategic Finance |
| Craig Robb | Deputy Director, Governance & Assurance |
| Head of Counter Fraud and Corporate Reporting | |
| Simon Vowles | Deputy Director, Civil |
| David Parkin | Deputy Director for Civil Justice and Law Policy |
| Service Manager – Scheduling and Listing Project | |
| Senior Project Manager – Scheduling and Listing Project | |
| 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 and gave the apologies.
3. Minutes and actions
The minutes from 5 October 2020 were approved and updates on actions were noted.
4. Approach to data
An update was provided on the work undertaken since the Board’s initial approval of the data proposals in June. It was confirmed that the shadow Data Governance Panel had been established and was working well.
5. Performance, finance and spending review update
The Board was provided with an update on COVID recovery, including in terms of improving magistrates’ performance and the target of 250 rooms being enabled to hold jury trials by the end of October having been exceeded.
The hard work of HMCTS staff across the organisation, and the challenging environment still being faced, were noted, as well as progress with recruitment to provide additional support.
In the Crown Court, the Board discussed the ongoing challenge of multi-hander trials as well as the situation regarding police withdrawal from supporting Video Remand Hearings.
The Board was provided with an update on the latest discussions around the forthcoming Spending Review announcement (which had been recast to a one-year settlement). An update was also provided on the process for the Reform Programme Business Case (PBC6) that was going through its next stage of approval with the Cabinet Office and Treasury, following the recent Projects Assessment Review (PAR).
An update was provided on the latest financial position.
6. Quarterly service demand forecasting update
The key conclusions from the latest demand forecasting across jurisdictions were discussed by the Board.
In family and the employment tribunal, receipts were now exceeding pre-COVID levels, while demand in civil was below pre-COVID levels, largely due to a reduction of cases from bulk issuers. It was highlighted that external factors were likely to increase demand in social security and child support and immigration and asylum tribunals.
Overall demand in the magistrates’ courts was below pre-COVID levels, but more serious triable cases were back up at that level. It was noted that action to address backlogs in the magistrates’ system would have a knock-on in terms of workload in the crown court.
7. Update on corporate business planning work
The Board was reminded that the 2020/21 business plan had been superseded by the COVID Recovery Plan, which had been the organisation’s priority focus over this period.
The proposed approach for the Corporate Business Plan for 2021/22 was agreed.
8. HMCTS audit and risk assurance (ARAC) report
Victoria Cochrane provided her report from what was her last ARAC meeting as Chair.
The Board placed on record its thanks to her for her chairmanship of the ARAC over the past six years.
9. Mediation and alternative dispute resolution for court users in HMCTS
An update was provided on the findings of a rapid evidence review of mediation, as well as the current use of mediation in civil claims and options for maximising mediation in small claims.
The Board highlighted that it would welcome consideration to be given to a more proactive approach to mediation and asked for updates on how this work was progressing.
10. Demonstration of scheduling and listing assist tool
A demonstration of the current iteration of the new scheduling and listing assist tool was provided.
The Board agreed that there was a need to strike the correct balance between developing the tool to a position where it was ready to be piloted and increasing one-off development costs to the possible detriment of the overall time and funding envelope.