The Justice Committee has today published the Government’s
response to its report into Court Capacity.
In its report, published in April,
the cross-party Committee called for a renewed focus on tackling
backlogs of cases in criminal, civil and family courts.
The Committee found that while the build-up of cases could be
partly attributed to disruption from the pandemic, long-term
staffing issues in the judiciary and HM Courts and Tribunals
Service (HMCTS) played a significant factor. Another issue has
been a failure to address maintenance issues in the physical
court estate.
The Committee’s report made a number of recommendations,
including for ministers to re-establish a Courts Inspectorate,
tasked with undertaking inspections of all courts, examining data
and making recommendations to improve policy. It called on the
Government to work with the Judiciary and Judicial Appointments
Commission to deal with a shortage of judges, and to ensure pay
levels in HMCTS are equal to similar roles in other government
departments. Other recommendations included producing a properly
funded, multi-year programme of works for court building
maintenance, and for improved data collection and processing so
that emerging trends in caseloads can be identified and
understood.
The Government’s response to the report’s conclusions and
recommendations is attached.
It states that ministers are “committed to further considering” a
Coroner Service Inspectorate, and will “continue to seek further
funding” to improve the condition of the court and tribunal
estate. It also argues that staffing capacity in the judiciary
has been addressed through pension reforms, increasing the
retirement age to 75, and loosening certain working
restrictions.
