Debates between Mike Freer and Rachel Hopkins during the 2019-2024 Parliament

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Freer and Rachel Hopkins
Tuesday 22nd November 2022

(1 year, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Kate Hollern Portrait Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)
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2. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Common Platform on the delivery of justice by HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Rachel Hopkins Portrait Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)
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13. What steps he is taking to improve the performance of the Common Platform.

Mike Freer Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mike Freer)
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We have rolled out the Common Platform at 173 criminal courts in England and Wales and 76% of courts are now live. It has improved the format and timeliness of outcomes of hearings generated and shared with our criminal justice partner agencies and removed the need for staff to re-key information across different IT systems. If we are to reform the criminal justice system, we need to press ahead and reform the IT that underpins it.

Mike Freer Portrait Mike Freer
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The simple answer to that question is no.

Rachel Hopkins Portrait Rachel Hopkins
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Last month, staff at courts across the country, including the magistrates court in Luton, went on strike—not over pay or pensions, but because the Common Platform IT system is so flawed that it is effectively unusable. That should have been enough to make the Government sit up and take notice, but if the Minister will not listen to his own workers and their trade union, the Public and Commercial Services Union, maybe he will listen to the judges who are speaking out? One judge called the Common Platform “completely unsuitable” and “not fit for purpose”. Does the Minister agree?

Mike Freer Portrait Mike Freer
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No, I do not agree. All new IT systems take time to bed down and officials continue to work with user groups, both staff within the criminal justice system and judges. The system replaces eight legacy systems that are at the end of their lives, support for which is being withdrawn. If we do not reform the IT system underpinning the criminal justice system, we will not be able to make the progress we wish.