Ministers' rejection of a key recommendation to undertake an
‘urgent and comprehensive' review of the County Court launched by
Spring 2026, risks perpetuating a ‘dysfunctional' system that has
‘failed' adequately to deliver civil justice across England and
Wales, the Justice Committee has warned.
In the Government's response published today (October 17) to the
Committee's Work of the County report, the Ministry of Justice
acknowledged the County Court “faces substantial challenges, and
the performance needs to improve” but added work that is
happening “is seeing progress towards a more efficient, timely
and digitised service and which we expect to continue”.
The cross-party Committee's July report called for a
‘root-and-branch' review to address systemic delays and
entrenched inefficiencies across its operations. The report found
the decade-long digital Reform programme has fallen well short of
its ambition, leaving a myriad of incompatible systems and
outdated paper-based processes.
The Committee pointed to the fact that reviews have been
undertaken into both sentencing and the criminal courts and yet
there is a ‘fundamental absence' of any equivalent process for
civil justice, demonstrating that it is the ‘Cinderella service'
of the justice system.
In its response, the Government said: “The work of the Justice
Committee through its Work of the County Court Inquiry has been
meticulous and thorough. The Inquiry itself has provided a solid
foundation and highlighted the areas of the County Court's
operation that need urgent attention.
“Rather than focusing on a root and branch review of the County
Court, the Government is keen to focus on taking tangible and
practical steps to improve the operation of the County Court –
which will benefit everyday users - without further delay. We are
already seeing these measures bear fruit with improvements to the
timeliness of claims that got to trial, improving call waiting
times, growth in small claims mediation and further improvements
to case management and file transfer systems.”
The Committee welcomed the MoJ's acceptance or partial acceptance
of its recommendations relating to “unacceptable” delays,
recruitment and retention issues across frontline staff and the
Judiciary, the complex "patchwork" of paper-based and digital
systems in the County Court and the “significant disrepair” of
the Court estate.
In its response the Government said: “In recent years, the County
Court has had an increasing workload, challenges around staffing,
and with judicial capacity particularly in areas such as London
and the South East. Performance has been of concern in several
areas. However, over the last year civil performance has been a
particular focus for investment (of both staff resource and
sitting days) and the latest civil justice statistics, published
on 4 September, show promising progress.”
On digitisation, it added: “In tandem with our work to expand the
reach of our digital services we are implementing improvements in
electronic document management through the Civil Auto File Share
(CAFS) project which will be delivered by the end of the year.
CAFS will end the slow and costly practice of the Civil National
Business Centre producing paper files and posting them to courts
with the risk of them being mislaid and where they then need to
be stored. This will save time and money, is more efficient and
will bring practices into the 21st century.”
Chair of the Justice Committee and Labour MP MP said: “It is right the
Ministry of Justice has acknowledged the County Court ‘faces
substantial challenges, and the performance needs to improve'.
“The Committee's report laid bare a “dysfunctional” system, that
has failed adequately to deliver civil justice across England and
Wales and could be best described as the 'Cinderella service' of
the justice system.
“It is welcome the MoJ has accepted or partially accepted the
Committee's recommendations in relation to “unacceptable” delays,
recruitment and retention issues across frontline staff and the
Judiciary, the complex "patchwork" of paper-based and digital
systems in the County Court and the “significant disrepair” of
the Court estate.
“However, a comprehensive review of the County Court is essential
for establishing a sustainable plan to reduce the systemic delays
and inefficiencies entrenched across its operations. Without it,
it is unclear how fundamental reform will be achieved.
“There needs to be measurable and timely improvement secured
across the remit of the Committee's report following years of
underfunding. Citizens and businesses can no longer afford to
wait. MPs will be tracking progress in the coming months against
the Government's response.”
