Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of National Compliance and Enforcement Service staff that will be employed in each year to 2022.

The Transforming Compliance and Enforcement Programme (TCEP) will transform the National Compliance and Enforcement Service (NCES) and the way in which it operates. We will introduce a new operating model supported by new digital systems. As well as changing the way we do business, the introduction of new technology and streamlined process will increase efficiency, ensuring HMCTS staff can increase performance through focusing on key enforcement activities.

It is estimated that the number of full time equivalent staff working in the NCES from 2020 onward will be 548. Until this point we expect the current FTE level to remain at a similar level to now (1497 in 2017), with the reduction being phased through 2019. The reductions will be made possible through the introduction of improved technology, including a new finance and accounting system, which will enable the automation or streamlining of many of current manual processes and the centralisation to three national enforcement centres from over 50 dispersed locations. Consistent with the provision of wider government financial and accounting services, the ongoing administration of the new finance and accounting system will be delivered through an external provider.