HM Courts and Tribunals Service Board meeting – 8 September 2023
Published 26 March 2024
Applies to England and Wales
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1. Board members present
1.1 HMCTS
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Sir Richard Broadbent | Chair |
| Victoria Cochrane | Senior Independent Non-Executive |
| Nicky Wilden | Non-Executive |
| Lakh Jemmett | Non-Executive |
| Nick Goodwin | Chief Executive |
| Andrew Baigent | Chief Financial Officer (CFO) |
| Paul Harris | Deputy Chief Executive and Operations Director |
| Louise Alexander | HR Director |
| Lord Justice Andrew Edis | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| Sir Keith Lindblom | Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) |
| District Judge Tim Jenkins | Judicial Board member |
| Annabel Burns | Judicial and Legal Services Policy Director (MoJ rep) |
1.2 Presenters and additional attendees
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Richard Price | Director General, Performance Strategy and Analysis (MoJ) |
| Jerome Glass | Director General, Policy – Courts and Access to Justice (MoJ) |
| Jan Gower | Change Portfolio Board member/Critical Friend |
| John Laverick | Interim Chief Digital and Information Officer |
| Alison Wedge | Deputy Director, Governance and Assurance |
| Head of Courts and Tribunals Joint Unit | |
| Joint Head of Strategy Unit | |
| Head of Operational Judicial Private Offices | |
| Board Secretary | |
| Head of Corporate Governance and Board Secretariat |
2. Board Minutes
The Chair welcomed attendees, in particular Louise Alexander and Jerome Glass who were attending their first meetings. The draft minutes from the meeting on 12 July 2023 were approved as drafted and there were no comments on the actions.
3. Board forward programme
The Board reviewed and endorsed the proposed month-by-month Forward Programme, subject to the agreed changes.
4. Management information (MI) update
An update on progress in implementing the monthly MI pack.
5. HMCTS audit and risk assurance committee (ARAC)
An oral report in relation to the HMCTS Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) meeting on 6 September 2022 was presented.
6. Performance and finance updates
An update on the use of RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) in the HMCTS estate was provided.
The Board was informed of upcoming industrial action by PCS trade union members employed by OCS as court security staff which could lead to the temporary closure of a number of HMCTS sites mainly in the North-East and North-West. Assurance was given that work was being undertaken to mitigate the impact of this, where possible.
The Board discussed the current operational environment and the performance of a number of key jurisdictions.
7. HMCTS corporate business plan 2023-24
The Board noted the quarter 1 position in respect of the delivering of the 2023-24 Corporate Business Plan.
8. Principals review of HMCTS performance Q1
Consideration was given the proposed quarterly report and cover note from the Chair and a number of potential changes were suggested.
9. Reform planning update
An update was provided on a number of high-priority technology-related incidents that had occurred over the summer and learning as a result of these matters.
It was agreed that it might be beneficial for additional information to be provided to support the Board’s future discussion of the ‘integrated’ Reform programme plan.
10. ‘Court efficiency index’
A summary of the work from the Courts and Tribunals Joint Unit was presented, and next steps were discussed.
The Board welcomed and supported this work, whilst emphasising the importance of ensuring that judicial independence was maintained.
11. October board strategy awayday - update
The Board reviewed the proposed agenda and was content for further work to proceed on that basis.