Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many stage (a) one and (b) two complaints were submitted to HM Courts and Tribunals Service in each year since 2015.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service holds the following data on how many stage (a) one and (b) two complaints were submitted in each year since 2015. For context the annual HMCTS report published for the period 2015/16 states HMCTS handled over 3.98 million cases and the 2023/4 reports states HMCTS received over 4.1 million cases.
Year | First Contact (stage 1) | Review (stage 2) |
2015 | 16,511 | 1,591 |
2016 | 17,253 | 1,768 |
2017 | 17,575 | 1,928 |
2018 | 19,484 | 2,387 |
2019 | 21,078 | 3,011 |
2020 | 18,444 | 2,223 |
2021 | 23,797 | 2,878 |
2022 | 28,195 | 3,580 |
2023 | 32,745 | 4,188 |
2024* | 32,212 | 3,496 |
*Data for 2024 is for the period 1 January – 30 November inclusive.
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
Correspondence Jan. 27 2025
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: Letter from the Chief Executive at HM Courts and Tribunals Service relating to the Crown Courts Backlog
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what financial contribution the NHS makes to the tribunal service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The HM Courts and Tribunals Service is funded primarily by the Ministry of Justice. Where the National Health Service is party to a tribunal where a fee is levied, for instance immigration and asylum, and other fee charging special tribunals, they will pay this in the usual way. We would not expect the NHS to be a significant source of income through these tribunal fees, however the HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s annual report and accounts do not provide the level of detail required to be able to provide a figure.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what purposes HM Courts and Tribunals Service has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.
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.
Work to date has involved early-stage testing of solutions including productivity tools like Microsoft Co-pilot, intelligent document processing, knowledge management and transcription, to help our staff operate effectively and efficiently. However, we currently have no live AI systems in use across our operations and front-line services.
A small number of staff are trialling the use of Microsoft 365 Co-pilot as part of a Ministry of Justice wide pilot, looking to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks.
HMCTS can draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage. For example, the Generative AI Ethics Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of desks were occupied in each of HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s (a) courts and (b) offices in the most recent four weeks for which figures are available; and how many staff attended each (i) court and (ii) office in person in the same period.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The new Government has recently committed to keep to the current guidance on civil service office attendance. Office occupancy data for the period July - September has been published, with further publications to now happen on a quarterly basis. The data is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 9268 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS): Buildings, how many individual desks were occupied in HMCTS’s main office in the most recent four weeks for which figures are available.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
For the purposes of this reply, we have interpreted reference to the Ministry of Justice’s headquarters building and the main office for HMCTS as being 102 Petty France.
The new Government has recently committed to keep to the current guidance on civil service office attendance. Office occupancy data for the period July - September has been published, with further publications to now happen on a quarterly basis. The data is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 9268 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS): Buildings, how many civil servants are assigned to work in HMCTS’s main office; and how many individual desks are available in that office.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
For the purposes of this reply, we have interpreted reference to the Ministry of Justice’s headquarters building and the main office for HMCTS as being 102 Petty France.
The methodology used to calculate occupancy at the headquarters building at 102 Petty France does not take into account individual desk usage over specific time periods.