HMCTS Protected Characteristics Questionnaire - Data on Users of Reformed Services
Published 16 November 2023
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmcts-protected-characteristics-questionnaire-2023/hmcts-protected-characteristics-questionnaire-data-on-users-of-reformed-services
1. Introduction
This report summarises responses to the Protected Characteristics Questions (PCQ) collected for reformed HMCTS services between January and July 2023. This report reflects the intention for transparency highlighted by the HMCTS Data Strategy.
The scope of this report is limited to summarising the characteristics of users based on the PCQ results. Analysis of variations in the user experience by these characteristics can be found in the summaries of the relevant access to justice assessments, for those services that have been assessed so far. Assessing Access to Justice in HMCTS Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
PCQ data is currently available for the following services, some of which only began collecting this information during 2023:
- Divorce
- Probate
- Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC)
- Social Security and Child Support Tribunal (SSCS)
- Employment Tribunal (ET)
- Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC)
- Online Plea for the Single Justice Service (from May 2023)
- Jury summons (from June 2023)
The questionnaire will be added to more services as they complete the reform process. Due to data engineering issues, information for SSCS applications via the digital channel is only available for January to March.
2. Background
HMCTS is collecting data on protected characteristics to:
- Better understand user characteristics, to inform continuous improvement in services
- Identify any differences in the service experience by user characteristics, to improve access to justice
- Strengthen its approach to meeting its Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
The questionnaire covers the following characteristics and questions were aligned with ONS standards to enable comparisons with equivalent data from other sources:
- Main language
- Religion
- Date of birth
- Ethnicity
- Disability
- Pregnancy
- Sexual Orientation
- Sex
- Gender
- Marital status
Some questions are omitted for specific services where the information is already collected as part of the main application process. For example, SSCS appellants are not asked for their date of birth in the questionnaire as that information is collected directly as part of their appeal.
The questionnaire is voluntary and presented to users while they are making their application or responding to an existing case.
Service users can choose to skip the entire questionnaire or individual questions. More detail on this is provide in the next section, along with further guidance on interpreting the PCQ results.
3. Interpreting the PCQ results
As outlined in the previous section, the PCQ results can provide us with a valuable understanding of user characteristics. However, there are limitations to the questionnaire that we need to bear in mind when interpreting the results.
One key aspect is the voluntary nature of the questionnaire. This means results can be biased through two main routes:
- People can choose to opt out of the whole questionnaire; and
- People can leave individual questions blank or select the ‘prefer not to say’ option.
If people with specific characteristics are more likely to skip the entire questionnaire or individual questions, then our results will not be representative of service users.
Because of this risk of bias, questionnaire results like these are usually only published if the response rate is over 60%. That benchmark hasn’t been met for several services (see section 4) but for transparency we are sharing the results as they are, with a clear warning that the results need to be interpreted with care.
Additional points to bear in mind are:
-
Where the questionnaire is not yet available on both paper and digital channels, the results cannot be assumed to be representative of all service users. For example, results for the digital channel in divorce cannot be assumed to be representative of all divorce applicants. Equally, the results only cover unrepresented users of each service; the characteristics of people represented by a solicitor are likely to be different.
-
Similarly, we only have PCQ results for people who engage with each service. For example, with the OCMC service, every claimant will have an opportunity to complete the questionnaire, but defendants only have the same opportunity if they engage with their case. So, the defendant PCQ data can only tell us about those people who engage with their case, not the wider set of defendants.
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To be counted as providing a positive response to the questionnaire, people need to both choose to answer it and then provide an informative answer to at least one question. For example, if someone begins the questionnaire but then chooses the ‘prefer not to say’ option for every question, we treat them the same as someone who has opted out of the entire questionnaire. This is partly because in relation to the risk of bias, the two sets of responses are equivalent.
4. User responses
For this publication we are focusing on PCQs completed between January and July of 2023 inclusive. Table 1 shows the number of responses to the questionnaire in that time, split by service, channel and actor/user type. Response rate estimates are approximate and only available for PCQs via the digital channel.
Table 1: number of people choosing to answer the questionnaire (defined here as the number of people providing information on at least one characteristic)
| service_id | channel | actor | n | response rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| divorce | digital | applicant | 21011 | 50% |
| et | digital | claimant | 1186 | 70% |
| iac | digital | appellant | 2103 | 60% |
| jury summons | digital | citizen | 24489 | 60% |
| ocmc | digital | claimant | 13511 | 50% |
| ocmc | digital | defendant | 3372 | 40% |
| online_plea | digital | defendant | 3901 | 50% |
| probate | digital | applicant | 28894 | 50% |
| probate | paper | applicant | 5802 | NA |
| sscs | digital | appellant | 8147 | 40% |
| sscs | paper | appellant | 2762 | NA |
Table 2 summarises the second source of potential bias, which is missing information at the question level. It shows that people are more likely to skip individual questions or select the ‘prefer not to say’ option when the questions are about religion or disability. Probate and SSCS PCQs completed via the paper channel also show a higher percentage of missing information at the question level.
Table 2: percentage of responses to each question that are blank or ‘prefer not to say’
| actor group | main lang | religion | age | ethnicity | disability | sex | sexuality | gender | marriage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 1.2 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 6.6 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 0.7 | NA |
| et claimant digital | 1.5 | 8.7 | NA | 5.1 | 12.6 | NA | 6.4 | NA | 6.9 |
| iac appellant digital | 2.5 | 7.4 | NA | 8.3 | 5.6 | 1.2 | 8.9 | 1.8 | 5.5 |
| jury citizen digital | 0.7 | 3.8 | NA | 2.2 | 4.8 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 2.5 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 1.3 | 5.8 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 6.5 | 1.1 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 4.5 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 2.1 | 8.8 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 10.6 | 1.8 | 7.3 | 2.2 | 8.3 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 1.7 | 5.9 | NA | 5.9 | 7.7 | 1.0 | 6.4 | 1.4 | 5.2 |
| probate applicant digital | 0.3 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 5.9 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 3.4 |
| probate applicant paper | 2.2 | 6.8 | 11.0 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 4.8 | 8.4 | 5.3 | 9.8 |
| sscs appellant digital | 0.8 | 7.1 | NA | 4.7 | NA | 1.4 | 6.7 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| sscs appellant paper | 8.4 | 16.2 | NA | 11.5 | NA | 5.3 | 14.7 | 10.5 | 11.7 |
To confirm interpretation of overall response rates and Table 2: the overall 50% response rate for digital divorce applicants means that around 50 out of 100 people provide information on at least one protected characteristic. In addition, using Table 2: of those 50 people, 4% choose not to provide information about their religion, meaning that our religion results for digital divorce applicants are based on around 48 out of every 100 applicants.
5. Summaries of characteristics
Tables (a) to (j) below summarise the questionnaire results for each characteristic in turn, showing the distribution of informative answers for each characteristic by service/channel/actor group.
In this report we are not attempting to provide an interpretation of the results for every characteristic as that is best done by considering the PCQ data alongside other sources of information about users. However, there are some clear differences between the users of different services:
-
The language and ethnicity tables show probate users as outliers on both, with a high percentage of applicants that are white and a high percentage that speak English or Welsh compared to users of other services. This is consistent with the fact probate applicants are mainly from wealthier backgrounds. The ONS Wealth and Assets Survey shows that the average level of household wealth is highest for those with a White British household head.
-
The summary by age shows clear differences between probate, OCMC and divorce users. Probate applicants are heavily skewed to older age groups with a median age falling in the 55 to 64 age category. This is expected, as applicants are often either the spouse or son/daughter of the person who has died. By contrast, the median age of divorce applicants falls within the 35 to 44 age category. The age distribution for OCMC claimants is far broader, with the 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 categories each containing a similar share of claimants.
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The age information for probate applicants also demonstrates expected differences between users of the paper and digital channels, with a larger proportion of applicants in the paper channel being aged 65 or over. This emphasises the continued importance of the paper channel for older age groups.
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The disability data for OCMC defendants, ET claimants, and Online Plea defendants provides an additional indication of the potential needs of these users when using services. As noted above, disability data is not collected for SSCS appellants given that information on long-term health conditions and disabilities is central to the service.
Summary tables by characteristic
For each question and actor group, the tables below provide the distribution of informative responses across categories (i.e. rows sum to 100%):
a. Language: what is your main language?
| actor_group | English or Welsh | Other |
|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 90.9 | 9.1 |
| et claimant digital | 92.4 | 7.6 |
| iac appellant digital | 42.4 | 57.6 |
| jury citizen digital | 92.6 | 7.4 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 93.1 | 6.9 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 91.8 | 8.2 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 85.5 | 14.5 |
| probate applicant digital | 99.2 | 0.8 |
| probate applicant paper | 98.6 | 1.4 |
| sscs appellant digital | 91.9 | 8.1 |
| sscs appellant paper | 88.8 | 11.2 |
b. Religion: what is your religion?
| actor_group | No religion | Christian | Muslim | Hindu | Sikh | Jewish | Buddhist | Any other religion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 49.9 | 40.4 | 4.6 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.3 |
| et claimant digital | 45.0 | 41.7 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.9 |
| iac appellant digital | 11.0 | 49.4 | 31.7 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 1.3 |
| jury citizen digital | 47.9 | 42.7 | 4.4 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 47.9 | 42.7 | 4.2 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 51.2 | 39.0 | 5.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.2 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 50.6 | 35.6 | 9.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| probate applicant digital | 39.3 | 57.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| probate applicant paper | 29.2 | 67.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| sscs appellant digital | 51.9 | 36.4 | 8.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.1 |
| sscs appellant paper | 37.5 | 46.2 | 12.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
c. Age: what is your date of birth? [summarised by age band]
| actor_group | < 25 | 25 to 34 | 35 to 44 | 45 to 54 | 55 to 64 | 65 to 74 | 75 to 84 | 85 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 0.9 | 19.9 | 37.6 | 26.9 | 11.9 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 5.6 | 17.1 | 21.7 | 21.3 | 18.5 | 11.3 | 4.1 | 0.4 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 8.7 | 25.5 | 25.9 | 20.5 | 13.1 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 0.1 |
| probate applicant digital | 0.5 | 2.8 | 7.5 | 19.4 | 39.7 | 22.4 | 6.3 | 1.3 |
| probate applicant paper | 0.6 | 2.5 | 6.0 | 14.5 | 33.7 | 28.5 | 11.6 | 2.5 |
d. Ethnicity: what is your ethnic group?
| actor_group | White | Asian or Asian British | Black, African, Caribbean or Black British | Mixed | Another ethnic group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 83.2 | 7.9 | 5.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| et claimant digital | 78.3 | 9.9 | 6.7 | 3.6 | 1.5 |
| iac appellant digital | 26.7 | 27.7 | 33.4 | 2.5 | 9.6 |
| jury citizen digital | 84.7 | 8.6 | 3.7 | 2.1 | 1.0 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 84.3 | 7.2 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 1.4 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 82.4 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 2.7 | 1.2 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 77.6 | 9.9 | 7.3 | 3.1 | 2.1 |
| probate applicant digital | 95.6 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| probate applicant paper | 94.4 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| sscs appellant digital | 84.9 | 6.1 | 4.3 | 2.7 | 1.9 |
| sscs appellant paper | 81.3 | 8.8 | 5.5 | 1.8 | 2.6 |
e. Disability: Do you have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expected to last 12 months or more? If Yes, do any of your conditions or illnesses reduce your ability to carry out day-to-day activities?
| actor_group | No | Yes, but not limited | Yes, limited a little | Yes, limited a lot | Yes, unknown impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 82.0 | 4.7 | 7.4 | 4.8 | 1.1 |
| et claimant digital | 31.7 | 5.6 | 30.3 | 25.1 | 7.3 |
| iac appellant digital | 86.9 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.8 | 0.9 |
| jury citizen digital | 82.0 | 4.3 | 7.6 | 5.1 | 1.1 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 73.8 | 4.7 | 11.0 | 9.1 | 1.4 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 63.6 | 5.5 | 17.3 | 10.5 | 3.0 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 64.1 | 5.0 | 17.3 | 11.2 | 2.4 |
| probate applicant digital | 86.9 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 |
| probate applicant paper | 84.6 | 4.1 | 7.1 | 3.3 | 0.9 |
f. Pregnancy: Are you currently pregnant or have you been pregnant in the last year? [As percentage of female respondents]
| actor_group | No | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 96.2 | 3.8 |
| iac appellant digital | 92.3 | 7.7 |
| jury citizen digital | 95.7 | 4.3 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 94.6 | 5.4 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 89.6 | 10.4 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 89.0 | 11.0 |
| probate applicant digital | 99.1 | 0.9 |
| probate applicant paper | 99.3 | 0.7 |
| sscs appellant digital | 95.8 | 4.2 |
| sscs appellant paper | 98.3 | 1.7 |
g. Sexuality: Which of the following options best describes how you think of yourself?
| actor_group | Heterosexual | Gay or lesbian | Bisexual | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 93.8 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 |
| et claimant digital | 90.3 | 5.5 | 3.4 | 0.8 |
| iac appellant digital | 96.0 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 |
| jury citizen digital | 94.9 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 0.4 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 94.2 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 0.5 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 94.6 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 0.4 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 95.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 0.7 |
| probate applicant digital | 97.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| probate applicant paper | 98.1 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| sscs appellant digital | 92.7 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 0.9 |
| sscs appellant paper | 96.0 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.4 |
h. Sex: What is your sex?
| actor_group | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 67.4 | 32.6 |
| iac appellant digital | 51.1 | 48.9 |
| jury citizen digital | 55.2 | 44.8 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 43.8 | 56.2 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 49.2 | 50.8 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 40.0 | 60.0 |
| probate applicant digital | 51.3 | 48.7 |
| probate applicant paper | 54.6 | 45.4 |
| sscs appellant digital | 61.1 | 38.9 |
| sscs appellant paper | 55.7 | 44.3 |
i. Gender: Is your gender the same as the sex you were registered at birth?
| actor_group | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| divorce applicant digital | 99.7 | 0.3 |
| iac appellant digital | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| jury citizen digital | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| probate applicant digital | 99.9 | 0.1 |
| probate applicant paper | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| sscs appellant digital | 99.2 | 0.8 |
| sscs appellant paper | 99.5 | 0.5 |
j. Marriage: Are you married or in a legally registered civil partnership?
| actor_group | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| et claimant digital | 37.2 | 62.8 |
| iac appellant digital | 51.5 | 48.5 |
| jury citizen digital | 54.1 | 45.9 |
| ocmc claimant digital | 48.6 | 51.4 |
| ocmc defendant digital | 35.7 | 64.3 |
| online_plea defendant digital | 31.0 | 69.0 |
| probate applicant digital | 70.6 | 29.4 |
| probate applicant paper | 67.2 | 32.8 |
| sscs appellant digital | 31.3 | 68.7 |
| sscs appellant paper | 32.7 | 67.3 |