Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service on the Employment Tribunals Service since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Ministers regularly meet the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service to discuss a wide range of matters relating to the operation of court and tribunal services, including the Employment Tribunals. I also have regular meetings with other senior officials in the Ministry of Justice on the operation of the Employment Tribunals.
These discussions are part of ongoing engagement to ensure the efficient delivery of services across all jurisdictions.
Correspondence Jan. 09 2025
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: Letter from the Chief Executive at HM Courts and Tribunals Service relating to the publication of the
Correspondence Dec. 17 2024
Committee: Justice Committee (Department: Ministry of Justice)Found: Letter from Nick Goodwin, Chief Executive of HM Courts and Tribunals Service, dated 10 December 2024
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle the building maintenance backlog for courts and tribunals.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is important that the infrastructure of our courts does not prevent hearings from taking place. It is a priority for this Government to ensure that cases can be heard, and victims can be given the justice that they deserve.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service has a plan for future works to improve the resilience and quality of the court estate, and this is kept under regular review to make sure it meets operational priorities. Available maintenance funding is prioritised to sites that need it most, to ensure that buildings are safe, secure, meet statutory requirements and protect continuity of service.
£120 million was allocated for court maintenance and capital project funding for 2024/25. Funding for 2025/26 will be agreed through the concordat process and will be announced in due course. Funding for 2026/27 and beyond will be agreed through the Spending Review process, which is currently ongoing. The Chancellor has confirmed that the Spending Review will conclude on 11 June 2025.
Oral Evidence Jan. 09 2025
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: Ministry of Justice, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Ministry of Justice, and HM Courts and Tribunals
Oral Evidence Apr. 08 2025
Inquiry: Work of the County CourtFound: Ministry of Justice, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, and Ministry of
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of complaints that were submitted to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman about His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service in each year since 2015.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold the data requested.
The number of complaints submitted to the Parliamentary and Heath Service Ombudsman will be information held by them.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has plans to increase the use of artificial intelligence in the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.
AI has the potential to enable service improvements across HMCTS, and we are exploring how it can be applied responsibly to our operations and services, including to support document processing, transcription, summarisation and translation. The use of AI in the courts and tribunals will be focused on accelerating and assisting people’s work, not automating decisions.
All use of artificial intelligence in the Ministry of Justice is aligned with the AI Playbook for the UK Government and the Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard. The Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals issued AI Guidance for the judiciary in December 2023.
Oral Evidence Jan. 09 2025
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: Ministry of Justice, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Ministry of Justice, and HM Courts and Tribunals
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) judges and (b) other people were employed in the Employment Tribunal by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those roles were vacant in that time period.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of judges and members of tribunals is published annually in the ‘Diversity of the Judiciary’ statistics. Headcount figures can be found at the tabs named “3_2_JO_Area”.
2023: 2023_JDS_tables.ods
We are maintaining investment in the annual recruitment of about 1,000 judges and non-legal tribunal members across all jurisdictions. Annual recruitment requirements for judicial and non-legal tribunal members are determined by business need and judicial departures.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service has recorded Employment Tribunal staff (including legal caseworker) headcount in December each year as follows between 2020 and 2024:
Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
HMCTS Staff | 465 | 514 | 500 | 470 | 427 |
Agency Staff | 100 | 104 | 106 | 112 | 118 |
Total | 565 | 618 | 606 | 582 | 545 |
Staff vacancies in the Employment Tribunal over this period are not held centrally. Recruitment requirements for HMCTS staff and legal officers in the Employment Tribunal is determined in response to business need and staff departures.