Strategic Public Engagement Group Meeting – February 2025
Published 27 March 2025
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1. Introductions
This is a summary of the discussions from the Strategic Public Engagement Group meeting held on 4 February 2025. The meeting was co-chaired by The Hon. Mr. Justice Robin Knowles CBE and Miriam Davidson (Head of User Inclusion - HMCTS).
2. Jurisdictional Public Engagement Groups (JPEG) – discussion topics
HMCTS provided members with an overview of various topics that have been discussed over the last year in the associate jurisdictional engagement groups (crime, civil, tribunals and family). Some themes were discussed at all the groups, including improvements to the Help with Fees service, intermediary services and At Court and Tribunal support.
Reflecting feedback from the last SPEG on collaborative agenda items, the Tribunals JPEG meeting in January 2025 included a panel discussion. It took an in-depth look at how online information and content is currently developed, and what improvements could be made, to signpost users to the right guidance and support they need according to where they are in their legal journey.
3. HMCTS digital support service
HMCTS gave an overview of how the digital support service is currently delivered, presenting some of the key delivery challenges to address in future iterations of the service; looking at referrals into the service, geographical distribution and how to encourage partnership working.
Discussion highlighted importance and challenges of maintaining a good geographical distribution for users to access support and making use of established networks.
4. Intermediaries and lay advocates
HMCTS outlined to members about the role and purpose of intermediaries and lay advocates in the courts and tribunals.
Discussion highlighted that members only had limited awareness of intermediaries and lay advocates being used across jurisdictions, and a lack of clarity on process for requesting an intermediary. It was also clarified that intermediaries work on behalf of the court to provide users with specialist communication support during court proceedings whereas lay advocates act and speak on behalf of the user.
Further discussion centred on funding and making referrals for intermediaries, which is managed through a commercial service provided and funded by HMCTS.
5. Remote hearings – user experience
HMCTS presented data and user feedback on the use of remote hearings. Having previously discussed the needs of neurodivergent users when engaging with remote hearings, this session followed up on this conversation, looking more widely at all user groups’ experience of using remote hearings.
The discussion focused on ways to improve guidance to help users prepare and know what to expect on the day of a remote hearing. A range of barriers and challenges that impact experience were also discussed, including users only having a mobile device, how to simultaneously access technical support and the need for a quiet space.
It was agreed that these situations should be taken into consideration when thinking about remote hearings. A conversation followed on existing research conducted on remote hearings and the need to further these studies.
6. Next Meeting
The next meeting is planned for June 2025.