The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mrs Helen Grant)
I am today publishing a strategic work programme for administrative justice and tribunals.
This document sets out the Government’s ambitions for administrative justice and tribunals under six headings:
1. Governance of the administrative justice and tribunals system;
2. Non-HMCTS tribunals and new appeal rights;
3. Funding of tribunals administered by HMCTS;
4. Improving initial decision making;
5. Enhancing proportionality; and
6. Maintaining a user focus.
The Government recognise that administrative justice plays a vital role in holding the Executive to account and upholding the rights and entitlements of people subject to the decisions of public bodies. It deals with issues that affect the lives of more people than any other part of the justice system, providing a means of redress across a range of issues as diverse as immigration, social security, mental health and taxation. It is delivered by many different bodies, including tribunals, ombudsmen and regulators.
The last decade has seen a period of major structural reform in the tribunal system which, with the creation of the Property Chamber, will be largely completed in 2013. The unified tribunal system that has emerged, administered by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), ensures that the members and administration of tribunals remain independent from the Departments and authorities that make the original decisions. It now provides rulings on hundreds of thousands of appeals on administrative matters every year. In addition to this, some tribunals also hear non-administrative claims such as disputes between employers and employees, which are heard by the employment tribunal.
With this period of structural reform almost at an end, the Government intend to shift their focus towards making practical improvements to administrative justice and tribunals processes. The programme of work planned under the headings above will allow us to make the system work better for users and be more cost effective for taxpayers.
This work programme will be taken forward by the Ministry of Justice in partnership with other central Government Departments, public authorities and other bodies.
Copies of the strategic work programme will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Department’s website at: www.justice.gov.uk.