Policy paper

HMCTS Vulnerability Action Plan April 2024 update

Updated 8 August 2024

1.  Introduction

Needing to use one of our services can be a daunting experience for anyone. It can be an even bigger challenge for the most vulnerable in our society.

We say that people are vulnerable when they have a difficulty and need extra support. This could be a disability, mental health condition or an experience which has made someone feel unsafe.

Our Vulnerability Action Plan shows how we aim to make our courts and tribunals accessible for everyone. It sets out what we’re doing to make sure our vulnerable users are not disadvantaged or discriminated against, as we deliver services now and in the future.

We’re committed to making sure we’re listening to people using our services who are more vulnerable, and our partners who support vulnerable groups. We’re working to adapt and improve our services to meet their needs. We’re working with our Ministry of Justice (MoJ) colleagues and other government departments to make sure we provide the right level of support. It’s important to us our vulnerable users can always access the justice system safely and with confidence.

2. Background

We’re committed to keeping our Vulnerability Action Plan up to date, we last published in October 2023.

As before, this plan includes our work to design future accessible services.

We continue to focus on three priority areas. These are:

• providing our vulnerable users with support to access and participate in court and tribunal services and signposting to other sources of information and support when needed
• gathering and collating evidence and using it to identify impacts of changes on vulnerable users
• making our services accessible for vulnerable users.

We’ll continue to make sure our vulnerable users can access our services and will do this through:

• ongoing engagement with vulnerable users and our partners who support the needs of vulnerable groups
• implementing cross government strategies such as the National Disability Strategy, the National strategy for autistic children, young people, and adults, and the MoJ Neurodiversity action plan

We continue to support vulnerable people to access and participate in court and tribunal services by:

• ensuring special measures continue to be in place.

Special measures are provisions which can be put in place to support vulnerable users, the type of support will depend on the case or hearing as special measures are not the same in all jurisdictions. Examples of special measures include providing a remote link to give evidence and the use of screens in court.

• providing reasonable adjustments for users with disabilities. Reasonable adjustment is the name used in the Equality Act 2010 for something we can put in place to help users with disabilities.  Examples of reasonable adjustments include providing our information in an alternative format e.g. in audio or easy read, helping someone complete a form or providing a chair to meet a user’s specific need

• providing intermediary services if users need communication support at a court or tribunal hearing. Intermediaries are communication specialists who work on behalf of HMCTS to support people participating in a court or tribunal hearing. They provide impartial recommendations to HMCTS about a person’s specific communication needs and outline the steps needed to achieve them

• using remote hearing links and providing users with information about video hearings. This includes a website link, details of how to join the hearing and what to do if they need support

• completing equality impact assessments to understand the potential impacts of change on users with protected characteristics.  It is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of age, gender, marital status, being pregnant, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.  These are called protected characteristics

• publishing a range of information and guidance on GOV.UK to prepare users and reassure them about coming to a court or tribunal

• signposting people to additional support that will help them. With the right information, we can identify the user’s needs and connect them to external support services

• providing Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyards. People who choose to wear the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower are discreetly indicating they need additional support, help or a little more time.

3. What we’ve done since our last update

3.1 Providing our vulnerable users with support to access and participate in court and tribunal services and signposting to other sources of information and support when needed

Cross Jurisdictional

We have:

• launched a new design for the Digital Support Service (We Are Group) which supports users after their initial application at key stages in their journey. This is currently live in
  • Divorce
  • Single Justice Service (SJS)
  • Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC)
• launched a cross-jurisdictional Help with Fees scheme targeted at the financially most vulnerable in November 2023. New digital and paper applications can be submitted by the applicant who needs to pay the fee, their Legal Representative or Litigation Friend. The service has support from the ‘We Are Group’ contract
• extended the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) funded Witness Service contract with Citizens Advice.

Civil, Family and Tribunals

We have:

• introduced a webchat option for Employment Tribunal users in Scotland and are monitoring how it is being used. Help to use the system is available via the Employment Tribunal service centres

• agreed each region will have a designated domestic abuse champion

• completed domestic abuse training with operational staff in the Family jurisdiction
• continued testing Family Private Law applications for litigants in person to see how we can improve the system for applicants. Private Law cases are between family members, such as parents or other relatives and do not involve Local Authority.

Crime

We have:

• continued to support the introduction of Community Sentence Treatment Requirements (CSTR’s) and Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTR’s) in all courts in England and Wales. This means judiciary can consider Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR), Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR) and secondary care MHTR’s when sentencing

• held a number of pre-recorded cross examinations in care homes or private residences for individuals who are unable to attend court or travel. Normally these witnesses will be receiving end of life care or have a debilitating illness which would result in their evidence being compromised if they need to wait for the trial

• made improvements to the three Specialist Sexual Violence Support (SSVS) courts, including facilities and technology upgrades, to make sure special measures can be better accommodated, and victims feel more comfortable.

3.2 Gathering and collating evidence and using it to identify impacts of changes on vulnerable users

Cross Jurisdictional

We have:

• completed access to justice assessments and published what we have found across
  • Probate
  • Social Security and Child Support (SSCS)
  • Divorce and
  • Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC)

These assessments help identify common barriers to accessing justice, what causes these barriers and what might help remove them

• continued to collect protected characteristics data, which will help us gain a fuller understanding of people who use our services.

Civil, Family and Tribunals

We have:

• worked with HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to make sure they are notified of non-molestation orders. Non molestation orders protect people from abuse or harassment. This will help HMPPS manage offender behaviour to prevent protected parties from receiving unwanted contact.

3.3 Making our services accessible for vulnerable users

Cross Jurisdictional

We have:

• tested the Video Hearing Service in the crime jurisdictions, which is now live in 16 sites across civil, family and tribunals. With the permission of the judge, video hearings allow participants to attend a hearing remotely

• announced that we will spend £220 million to maintain, improve and modernise our buildings to increase the accessibility of our estate.

Civil, Family and Tribunals

We have:

• made it possible for parties to apply digitally for a final divorce order when over 12 months old.

4. Our plan

4.1 Providing our vulnerable users with support to access and participate in court and tribunal services and signposting to other sources of information and support when needed

We are:	Schedule for completion	Jurisdiction involved
continuing to roll out the digital support service (We Are Group) to more services where appropriate. The service supports users who are unable to, or struggle getting online.	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
piloting cross jurisdictional Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPO) in Greater Manchester, Croydon and Bromley County courts. We are working with the judiciary, operations and cross jurisdictional partners to plan for the implementation (expected 2024)	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
continuing to embed the HMCTS Safeguarding Policy to help protect vulnerable users from abuse or neglect	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
continuing to work on improvements to Help with Fees	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
carrying out research to better understand what support HMCTS users need when they visit court and tribunal buildings and how effective current support is	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
continuing to support remote link sites. There is an ambition to expand pre-recorded cross examination to remote link sites to allow greater flexibility to victims and witnesses	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
preparing a final evaluation report of the Video Hearing Service	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
continuing to test Family Private Law applications for litigants in person to see how we can improve the system for applicants	Summer 2025	Family
continuing to plan for a juror counselling service and juror de-briefing sessions at 15 Crown court sites	Ongoing	Crime
working with NHS England as they fund new primary care Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTR) services. We will continue to support the roll out across England and Wales	Ongoing	Crime
introducing: a trauma-informed training course for all staff at the SSVS courts who interact with victims	Ongoing	Crime
introducing: Case Coordinators to improve case progression	Ongoing	Crime
introducing: an opportunity for adult rape victims to observe sentence hearings remotely	Ongoing	Crime
enhancing the quality of communication and support offered to victims of sexual offences across the three SSVS courts and Crown courts	Ongoing	Crime
making improvements to facilities at SSVS courts	Ongoing	Crime
partnering with the Home Office Policy and Innovation Lab (CoLab) who have undertaken a review of Liaison and Diversion services. We will be working with stakeholders to implement recommendations to support improvements	Ongoing	Crime
continuing to work with MOJ in the development of the new witness service	Ongoing	Crime

4.2 Gathering and collating evidence and using it to identify impacts of changes on vulnerable users

We are:	Schedule for completion	Jurisdiction involved
completing access to justice assessments for Immigration and Asylum First Tier Tribunal (IAC) and Single Justice Service (SJS). We will publish the findings later this year	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
continuing to work with OCS, one of our contracted services partners to understand their domestic abuse awareness training for Court Security Officers	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional
making improvements to the existing Usher training to support victims of domestic abuse	Ongoing	Cross- jurisdictional

4.3 Making services accessible for vulnerable users

We are:	Schedule for completion	Jurisdiction involved
continuing to make improvements to physical accessibility of our buildings by making sure Equality Impact Assessments (EIA) are considered at an early stage in all new major projects	Ongoing	Cross-jurisdictional
continuing to make improvements to physical accessibility of our buildings by working across HMCTS to address accessibility concerns	Ongoing	Cross-jurisdictional
continuing to make improvements to physical accessibility of our buildings by reviewing data about accessibility of our buildings	Ongoing	Cross-jurisdictional
continuing to make improvements to physical accessibility of our buildings by using surveys to understand the current condition of our estate (pilot surveys started March 2024)	Ongoing	Cross-jurisdictional
continuing to make improvements to the case flags process to our civil case management systems. Case flags notify staff something specific is required in a case. This could be special measures, reasonable adjustments, Welsh language or anything else the court needs to be aware of	Ongoing	Civil, Family and Tribunals
reviewing the information provided by users when using the Automated Payment Line (APL) which gives another way to pay for warrants on County Court Judgements (CCJ’s). The information will help make further improvements to the service	Ongoing	Civil, Family and Tribunals
continuing to make improvements to the digital divorce service	Autumn 2024	Family
developing a process that will automatically highlight any reasonable adjustments requests so users’ needs are identified and prioritised at the earliest opportunity. Any additional requirements can be submitted using the online user portal, at any point during the process.	Ongoing	Tribunals (Employment)

5.  Looking to the future

We’ll continue to review any changes we make to understand what the impacts are on vulnerable users.

The MoJ is conducting an overall evaluation of the Reform programme, which is focussed on access to justice and vulnerability across all jurisdictions. As part of this, they have commissioned a qualitative study that will explore the challenges vulnerable adults with legal problems experience, and what support would have helped them access justice. More information can be found at HMCTS Reform Overarching Evaluation: Research.

We’ll continue to talk with external stakeholders and partners and if we find negative impacts on vulnerable people using our services, we’ll continue to take steps to fix them and include our work in our Vulnerability Action Plan.

We’ll continue to publish our plan on GOV.UK.