Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 23 December 2020 (HL11500), how they assess the (1) effectiveness, and (2) value for money, of Nightingale courts; and on what basis the decision was taken in December 2020 to open nine more Nightingale courts.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
Nightingale courts provide much needed additional capacity for face-to-face hearings in a Covid-safe environment and contribute greatly for our response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of our recovery plans, we are working towards establishing a total of 60 additional court rooms through Nightingale courts by the end of March 2021.
When considering Nightingale courts, we assess where the need is greatest and look for suitable venues based on hearing capacity, whether building alterations are required, safety and security and length of hire. We consider the cost of provision, using public buildings where these are available and suitable, and each venue is assessed for value for money before final decisions are made.
Cases are listed in Nightingale courts in the same way as our permanent estate, and at similar utilisation rates.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they collect data on people's experience of remote court hearings; and, if not, what plans they have to do so.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) are evaluating the use of remote hearings during the Covid-19 outbreak. This will include a large-scale survey of over 5000 public users, capturing their experiences of and attitudes to remote hearings. Survey findings will be supplemented by in-depth interviews with users on their experiences. HMCTS will publish the findings of the evaluation once it is complete and has been quality assured.
In addition, as part of HMCTS’s ongoing perceptions work, all users can complete a short feedback survey on how they found their remote hearing.
HMCTS are also continuing to develop the Video Hearings Service as part of Reform. The Video Hearings Service is being tested in a small number of courts, and HMCTS are conducting research with users on their experiences to inform development of the service.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many family law cases were outstanding in each month of this year.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service publishes management information on workload and timeliness within the family courts on a monthly basis. This includes the number of outstanding cases which have been receipted but not yet disposed of at the end of each month.
The following table details the number of private family law (children) cases and public family law cases outstanding at the end of each month of this year. This presents the most current data at the time of responding.
Month | Private Family Law – outstanding cases | Public Family Law – outstanding cases |
January 2020 | 51,906 | 18,841 |
February 2020 | 53,844 | 19,367 |
March 2020 | 56,378 | 19,958 |
April 2020 | 58,819 | 19,626 |
May 2020 | 62,528 | 20,478 |
June 2020 | 66,271 | 21,156 |
July 2020 | 69,993 | 21,915 |
August 2020 | 73,126 | 22,390 |
September 2020 | 72,812 | 22,881 |
This information is extracted from HMCTS case management systems and as management information, it is not subject to the same quality assurance process as official statistics. The latest HMCTS management information report (October 2020) can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-october-2020.
The information relating to outstanding private family law case excludes applications made under the Family Law Act 1996. This information is not published.
Information about the volume of outstanding divorce applications each month is not published. However, this HMCTS management information report does contain other data about the management of divorce applications.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many house repossession claims were outstanding in each month since March this year.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The requested information is not held by HMCTS. Some possession claims do not progress because they have concluded by other means without the court being notified (for example because the Defendant has left the property or paid any arrears) and for this reason outstanding volumes cannot be calculated.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what targets they have set, if any, for reducing the backlog of outstanding cases across courts and tribunals in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HMCTS has published an update on their response to Covid-19 in the criminal courts, Civil and Family Courts and Tribunals in England and Wales, please see attached.
This provides a comprehensive update on recovery plans and the work being undertaken to restore capacity. This includes installing plexiglass screens to make the estate COVID-secure, recruiting additional staff and establishing Nightingale courts.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a timetable for implementing the recommendations they accepted in their response to the report by Dr Natalie Byrom Making the most of HMCTS data: HMCTS’ full response and update to Dr Byrom’s recommendations, published on 9 October.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HMCTS published a full response and progress update in October 2020 to Dr Byrom’s report Digital Justice: HMCTS data strategy and delivering access to justice. The response is attached and is also available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hmcts-response-and-progress-update-on-dr-natalie-byrom-report and details HMCTS response and progress made to date on each of the 29 recommendations.
The response confirms timelines for the collection of protected characteristics data; for starting to share data with academic researchers and others as part of the Data First project, and for the development of our approach to open and shared data.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they will make available to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service to implement those recommendations they accepted in their response to the report by Dr Natalie Byrom Making the most of HMCTS data: HMCTS’ full response and update to Dr Byrom’s recommendations, published on 9 October.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HMCTS published a full response and progress update in October 2020 to Dr Byrom’s report Digital Justice: HMCTS data strategy and delivering access to justice. The response is attached and details HMCTS response and progress made to date on each of the 29 recommendations.
Delivery of HMCTS response is funded in part through existing budgets including the Reform programme, and in part through funding from Administrative Data Research UK.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the data collected by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service on the outcomes of cases across courts and tribunals since March this year can be disaggregated by (1) case type, (2) whether the hearing was conducted remotely or in person, and (3) the protected characteristic of the parties to the case; and, if not, what plans they have to collect such data.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HMCTS continue to work to improve the data it collects, including following the recommendations in Dr Natalie Byrom’s report Digital Justice: HMCTS data strategy and delivering access to justice. The full response to the report is attached.
HMCTS’ legacy technology systems are limited in the data they collect – as new systems and services are introduced, HMCTS is able to improve the position, in order to support its core purpose to provide an efficient and effective courts and tribunals system, which supports an independent judiciary in the administration of justice - enabling the rule of law to be upheld, and providing access to justice for all.
To summarise the current position
(1) Case type
In the Crown Court HMCTS can disaggregate whether a case is triable either way, indictable only, for sentencing or an appeal. In the Magistrates Court HMCTS can report case type by Criminal, Enforcement and Civil, which can be further split by Offence type (ie Indictable, Either-way, Summary Non-Motoring, Summary Motoring, Breaches). In Family courts HMCTS can disaggregate public law and private law cases. Tribunal jurisdictions collect data which allows disaggregation into case type.
(2) Hearing conducted remotely or in person
HMCTS rapidly increased capacity for video and audio hearings as part of the response to Covid-19. At present for most jurisdictions the only information is a manual data collection via a ‘situation report’ (to provide overall picture of use of audio/video) and is not attached to cases. In the Magistrates’ Court there is a case marker to show if defendant appears via audio/video.
(3) Protected characteristics
Legacy systems collect some limited data on protected characteristics. As recommended by Dr Natalie Byrom, work has begun to collect data on users’ protected characteristics. This is data that we have been able to collect for Probate (digital) since 2 June, for Online Civil Money Claims (specified claims) since 21 July, for Divorce (digital) since 29 September and for Probate (paper) since 11 November. HMCTS will introduce this for new digital services entering public beta in 2021. HMCTS recognise that data about individuals’ protected characteristics is sensitive personal information – it is collected on a voluntary basis, held securely and with strict controls. It will only be possible to disaggregate outcomes by protected characteristics if the response rate to the voluntary survey is high enough to ensure individuals cannot be identified.
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many claims before employment tribunals were outstanding in each month of 2020.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The published number of outstanding single employment tribunal claims each month in 2020 are set out below:
Month | Outstanding claims |
Jan 2020 | 36,315 |
Feb 2020 | 35,653 |
Mar 2020 | 36,758 |
Apr 2020 | 39,241 |
May 2020 | 36,365 |
Jun 2020 | 42,786 |
Jul 2020 | 44,303 |
Aug 2020 | 45,130 |
Sep 2020 | 46,512 |
Asked by: Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases have been heard to date in each of the 'Nightingale Courts'.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is our top priority. By opening 18 Nightingale courts, we have added vital capacity and provided 33 extra court rooms, alleviating the pressure on courts and tribunals resulting from the pandemic. Additionally, we have secured £30m of funding to open a further 40 Nightingale court rooms in early 2021.
We do not break down data on cases heard in Nightingale Courts.