Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Courts and Tribunals Service report, Evaluating our reforms: Response to PAC recommendation 4, published in January 2019, what areas of that service have achieved savings of £158 million.
This government is investing over £1 billion to reform and modernise the justice system, providing easier and more efficient justice for all. As we increase the use of digital services, we reduce the number of staff needed to run the Courts and Tribunal systems, decommission old IT systems and exit court and tribunal buildings which are no longer needed.
Savings of £158m have been achieved between the start of the programme in 2014-15 financial year and the date of the NAO report. Of this £76m arises from savings from closing court and tribunal buildings we no longer need, with every penny raised from selling these underused buildings reinvested back into the justice system; £68m has been saved from the costs of administering the courts system through achieving greater efficiency and the use of modern IT processes; £9m from more effective use of judge time; and £5m from decommissioning old IT systems.