HM Courts and Tribunals Service Board meeting – 9 June 2022
Published 26 March 2024
Applies to England and Wales
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1. Board members present
1.1 HMCTS
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Victoria Cochrane | Senior Independent Non-Executive Member – acting Chair |
| Lakh Jemmett | Non-Executive Member |
| Nick Goodwin | HMCTS Chief Executive |
| Andrew Baigent | Chief Financial Officer |
| Annabel Burns | Director, Judicial & Legal Services Policy – MoJ Rep |
| Lord Justice Keith Lindblom | Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) |
| Lord Justice Charles Haddon-Cave | Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) |
| District Judge Tim Jenkins | Judicial Board member |
1.2 Presenters and additional attendees
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Mark Stewart | Courts & Tribunals Director – acting as representative of Paul Harris |
| Jan Gower | Non-Executive HMCTS Change Portfolio Board member/Critical Friend |
| Head of Modelling and Forecasting | |
| Ed Wagstaff | Deputy Director, Business Strategy |
| Head of Strategy Unit | |
| Strategy Lead | |
| Joe Gilonis | Portfolio Delivery Deputy Director |
| Lauren Van Staden | Deputy Director, User Experience & Insight |
| Accessibility and Inclusion Lead | |
| Isobel Clarke | Deputy Director, MoJ Policy |
| Policy Lead - Dispute Resolution Project | |
| Policy Advisor - Dispute Resolution Team | |
| HMCTS Head of Financial Accounts | |
| Rupert Morgan | Property Director |
| Scott Findlay | Deputy Director, Property Strategy & Policy |
| Head of Sustainability | |
| Clare Farren | Deputy Director, Judicial Private Offices |
| HMCTS Board Secretary | |
| Deputy Head of HMCTS Board Secretariat |
1.3 Apologies
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Tim Parker | Independent Chairman |
| Nicky Wilden | Non-Executive Member and Audit & Risk Assurance Committee Chair |
| Paul Harris | Operations Director |
| Gemma Hewison | Strategy and Change Director |
2. Welcome and introductions
Attendees were welcomed to the meeting and the apologies were given.
3. Minutes and actions
The minutes from the meeting on 5 May 2022 were approved and updates on actions were noted.
4. Performance updates
An update was provided on key successes across the organisation over the last month, which included the conclusion of the HMCTS allocations process, following the response from the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) to the Lord Chancellor.
The Board discussed the recent decision of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, whereby the Civil Service had been tasked with bringing its workforce levels back to 2016 numbers over the next three years.
An update was provided on the impact of the action by the Criminal Bar Association.
The Board noted that the mandatory retirement age for the judiciary had been raised from 70 to 75, and that Magistrates’ sentencing powers had been increased from 6 to 12 months for a single Triable Either Way offence to allow more cases to be heard in the Magistrates’ court.
The Board was provided with an update on performance across all jurisdictions with particular focus on areas such as Family and Social Security & Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal and disposal rates.
5. Quarterly service demand forecasting update
The Board discussed the latest update on incoming demand, a review of receipts against forecasts for each jurisdiction, and considered some further detail on the Crime Projections.
6. Performance management framework
Following a discussion, the Board agreed the design principles and the proposed suite of board-level metrics.
7. Draft HMCTS annual report and accounts 2021-22 & draft HMCTS trust statement 2021-22
Subject to its comments being addressed, the Board approved the draft Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22 and the Trust Statement 2021/22, and delegated final sign-off to the HMCTS Audit & Risk Assurance Committee.
8. HMCTS reform programme update
The key themes in relation to the HMCTS Reform Programme, including delivery confidence, milestone delivery and risks and issues, were considered by the Board.
9. Update on dispute resolution (DR) policy work
The Board was provided with an update on recent developments in the workstreams being led by MoJ’s Dispute Resolution policy team.
10. Demonstration of the collection of protected characteristics data in our digital services
The Board was taken through the origins of the project, what data was collected and how it was used. The end-to-end journey of the service was explained, and Board members were invited to ask questions.
11. Quarterly performance reporting to the principals – proposition for 2022-23
Following a discussion, the Board agreed to the proposed Quarterly Performance reporting to the Principals, subject to inclusion of the specific points raised.
12. End of year review of HMCTS environmental performance
An update was provided on HMCTS environmental performance and the trajectory to achieving Government Greening Commitment targets (GGC) 2021-2025.