{"id":4346,"date":"2017-11-17T10:55:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T10:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/?p=4346"},"modified":"2017-11-21T10:24:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T10:24:00","slug":"hmcts-reform-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2017\/11\/hmcts-reform-update\/","title":{"rendered":"HMCTS reform update"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t meet many people working in the justice system who disagree that we need to change, but people do often question whether we will be able to do what we have said we will, and whether our reforms will be implemented well and will work properly. They point to criminal justice or wider Government IT problems of the past to illustrate these worries.<\/p>\n

Our approach<\/h3>\n

As any successful project should, we are planning our work carefully and testing our own readiness regularly. But we are also doing some things in a radically different way from old-style Government projects. Most importantly, we are using an \u201cagile\u201d approach to digital development. This means building small components quickly and putting them to the test in the real world, iterating and improving them in response to feedback so that the systems really work for the people who use them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a method that helps with the balancing act between making sure we are being radical enough in taking the opportunity to do things differently, and making sure we are engaging with and listening to those with the expertise and know-how to make sure it works in practice. This approach has characterised more recent Government IT changes like the system for applying for your passport online. It also means we actively want your feedback \u2013 as much of it as possible \u2013 on the early versions of things we develop, so that we can make them better.<\/p>\n

The main drawback is that sometimes the first version of something \u2013 the \u201cminimum viable product\u201d \u2013 can be disappointing compared to the eventual aim. For example, our early version of the new divorce service<\/a> is \u201cprint and post\u201d \u2013 just as the passport application service was when it was first launched. This may not feel very radical or digital; but starting fast and small lets us test things like how we make questions intelligible for people, and cut down the number of mistakes they make, before adding the next stage; and allows us to build pieces once that we can then use many times (for example, our \u201ctrack my appeal\u201d system<\/a>, being tested for social security appeals, will be the basis for systems to track all kinds of cases easily). It also removes the risk that we build a giant monolithic white elephant which is perfect in our heads but doesn\u2019t work when unleashed on the world.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019ve achieved so far<\/h3>\n

Here are some examples of the things we have done so far which (in my view at least) start to give us a track record and inspire confidence:<\/p>\n

Our Crown Court Digital Case System<\/strong> has made working lives easier for court staff, judges and advocates, and given better \u201clines of sight\u201d through the system, which cuts error and delay. I hear suggestions for improvement (we\u2019ve got work on multi-handler under way) but have yet to meet anyone who thinks life was better without it.<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi in the criminal courts<\/strong> now serves at least 55,000 legal professional users, helping them do their jobs better. At the end of 2016, we extended Wi-Fi to the civil, family and tribunal areas of 45 combined courts and we are now rolling out to all Civil and Family Courts and Tribunals, at very high bandwidth.<\/p>\n

Help with Fees<\/strong><\/a> took a long and complex paper form and replaced it with an online service developed with the user in mind. We radically simplified what was asked, and replaced an invitation to send lots of paper evidence with an automatic link to DWP to check benefit eligibility. We went from an 80 per cent rejection rate (mostly because the old, complicated form was hard to fill in correctly) to closer to 20 per cent, and saved \u00a31m. It\u2019s a great example of how a well-designed digital route (with paper back-up for those that need it) can actually improve access to justice, even for potentially very vulnerable people. 87 per cent of users rate it \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cvery good\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Common Platform Programme<\/strong><\/a> is creating an end-to-end system for crime that unites police, Crown Prosecution Service and HMCTS. This is now moving at pace. We have started rolling out \u201cDigital Mark-Up\u201d to every magistrates court. This gives legal advisers the ability to \u201cresult\u201d most cases directly in court (rather than writing longhand into a paper file in court, and passing the paper to an admin team to result later by typing it into the system). We\u2019ve also successfully launched a system to pull Transport for London (TfL) fare evasion cases directly into our systems, allowing magistrates to deal with them very rapidly, and result them automatically. 350 cases a week are now being dealt with entirely end-to-end through this system, and we will now add TV licensing and DVLA cases, followed by police prosecutions for things like speeding.<\/p>\n

The first digital release of the \u201cmain\u201d Common Platform \u2013 a true shared system between police, CPS and HMCTS that will let cases travel and be worked on through the system seamlessly \u2013 is now live with police and Crown Prosecution Service users in Mersey-Cheshire. This first slice of the system allows the CPS direct access to all the necessary material to review a case and make an initial decision online. A second release will allow cases to pass through into the early stages of the court process. It\u2019s been at least a decade since I was first involved in conversations about this kind of end-to-end system, so it really is remarkable to watch it starting to be used on real cases.<\/p>\n

Online applications for <\/strong>divorce<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>probate<\/strong><\/a> are being trialled with the public, who have given extremely good feedback. We\u2019re offering those who ring up to ask about the progress of their social security or child support appeal the option of tracking their case online<\/a> and getting text alerts in real time \u2013 testing a system which we can later expand to cover all types of cases. We\u2019ve also started the development of the online court<\/strong>, which will genuinely transform access to justice, and put us in the international vanguard. The first step is the development of a system for issuing and responding to civil money claims online<\/a>; that\u2019s also been launched for trial use by real people, on real disputes, over the summer; and the test version for legal professional users is also now live. We\u2019ll add the facility for people to seek and reach agreement with each other through the system next.<\/p>\n

In June, we launched \u2013 not as a pilot, but as a full system available to anyone \u2013 a tax appeals service<\/strong><\/a> that allows people to lodge their appeal online. So far we\u2019ve seen over 2,300 people use the online appeals service, with almost 700 appeals made \u2013 very rapid take up in just three months.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also changing the way we support these new systems<\/strong>, and help people use them. For example, we are bringing together all our telephone-answering on divorce in Loughborough \u2013 the new set-up is already handling around 700 calls a day, answering well and promptly (currently within around ten seconds). Staff are using a new phone system that \u2013 unlike our old one \u2013 allows for easier feedback, training, and links between what\u2019s being discussed on the phone and what advisers can see about a case on their screens. We\u2019re doing something similar with telephone support for the Single Justice Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, jurors<\/strong> summoned for Preston Crown Court are the first in England and Wales to be able to respond online<\/strong>. Jurors can respond on a phone, tablet or computer (and of course there is still a paper route available for those that want it). It\u2019s early days but it looks as though \u2013 not all that surprisingly \u2013 we\u2019re getting better and faster responses having given some easier ways to reply.<\/p>\n

In summary \u2013 we have been busy. We\u2019ve done far more than most people expected in what has, in truth, been less than a year of full running of the reform programme. Great credit is due to those who work in courts and tribunals every day who have helped design, test, and test again the new systems and ways of working. Our thoughtful, committed judicial partners have also been close to every bit of this – and we are also grateful to the many hundreds of litigants, applicants, jurors, legal professionals and others with whom we tested early versions well before these much wider beta versions.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

At the start of our reform programme we set ourselves a stretching list of things to have done by September 2017; and we are doing extremely well against that list. But, of course, this is still just the start. There\u2019s more work to do on each of the things we are testing now; and we are also standing up new projects all the time (including the work on scheduling and listing I mentioned in my most recent blog; and work on family law trailed in the messages sent out about e-filing and e-bundling). The next set of projects are in many ways more complex than the first set; and need wider dialogue and engagement to be delivered well.<\/p>\n

If you want to know more, or tell us what you think, you can follow the Inside HMCTS Blog<\/a> or sign up to attend one of a series of HMCTS roadshow events for members of the legal profession<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Susan Acland-Hood is CEO of HMCTS. Follow her on Twitter @CEOofHMCTS<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t meet many people working in the justice system who disagree that we need to change, but people do often question whether we will be able to do what we have said we will, and whether our reforms will be implemented well and will work properly. 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