The Way Forward

ANDREW MCDONALD outlines the steps being taken to develop a programme of reform and modernisation of tribunals across government.

The Tribunals for Users Programme was established in the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) in September 2001 to address tribunal reform, in the light of the Review by Sir Andrew Leggatt. Tribunals have not been systematically examined since the 1950s. Since then, administrative justice has changed out of all recognition. Today, more than 80 tribunals across government consider a million cases as year affecting issues of profound importance to individuals - for example, their liberty, their income and their children's education. There is now a powerful case for substantive change and an opportunity to improve the services offered to users.

The terms of reference for the Programme were to develop and consider options for taking forward tribunal reform, building on the findings of the formal consultation exercise which ended in November; on the basis of that appraisal to recommend to Government Ministers a programme of change; and to put forward a business case in support of that programme.

During our first six months, we made significant progress in developing options for reform. We analysed responses to the formal consultation exercise and consulted with a wide range of stakeholders across the tribunal community, including the senior judiciary, tribunal chairs and members, user groups and representatives from the 10 largest tribunals (1).

In developing the case for change, we assembled and evaluated evidence on the quality of current tribunal services, their costs and the ability of tribunals to respond to the Government's public sector reforms.

All of the findings from this work endorsed the case for substantive change and in particular, the need to:

• Improve services on offer to users.
• Increase tribunals' accessibility.
• Raise standards across tribunals.
• Provide clarity on rights, representation, procedures and decisions.
• Promote greater confidence in the independence of tribunals and their ability to deliver a fair outcome. The responses to the consultation exercise particularly emphasised the need to improve services to users.
• To meet these objectives, the Programme examined and developed three models for tribunal reform. These options for change were discussed with stakeholders at all levels.

They comprised:

• A single Tribunals Service. Over time, this would bring tribunals into a single Tribunals Service answerable to the Lord Chancellor, delivering manifest independence and providing the scope and economies of scale to allow an improved service to be delivered to users. The service would be federal in structure, allowing tribunals to retain and develop their specialisms and build on existing relationships with policy and decisionmaking departments and their user communities, while realising the benefits of an integrated service. All of the findings from this work endorsed the case for substantive change
• A Joined-up Business Administration. This option would leave the administration of tribunals to the individual organisations, with sponsorship by different Government departments, but would join up some or all of their central functions and support services. The focus of this option is business efficiency but it would bring some improvements in access for users.
• Shared User Access. Under this option, no structural change would be made to the way tribunal business is run, but standard processes and quality standards would improve and simplify access for users. The focus of this option is thus on user access improvements.

As we looked to see which option offered the best prospect of delivering substantive change and improving services to users, a number of policy proposals were considered which would further shape the new service, including:

• The creation of a common second tier of tribunals and a consistent appeals route.
• Options for greater flexibility in the deployment of tribunal chairs and members together with the harmonisation of their appointments, and terms and conditions.
• Greater emphasis on training in general tribunals skills for all tribunal members.
• Changes to the role of the Council of Tribunals, enhancing its role in the preparation and issue of best practice guidance and reviews of tribunal performance.
• An approach to tribunal reform in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales consistent with the devolution settlement.

The programme's consultation with stakeholders showed that although there are common underlying business processes, reform will need to take full account of the differences between tribunals and make the most of existing service improvement plans. The differences in the work of party v party tribunals particularly those of the Employment Tribunals Service were especially highlighted.

To limit the risks associated with change, our emerging view is that reform should be implemented over time. Each tribunal should join in the reform programme at the time which is appropriate for it and planning must allow sufficient time and resource for activities such as communication, change management, organisational development and the design, piloting and rollout of new processes. This approach will also take account of individual tribunal modernisation initiatives that are already under way or are planned to start ahead of overarching reform. The way forward is a matter for collective Ministerial agreement. A bid for funding to take forward the programme of change has also been made. Once the way forward is determined, an important initial step may be the establishment of a design board with the authority to ensure that individual tribunal modernisation programmes converge with the long-term goals of tribunal reform.

Agreement on the proposals is expected during the summer and the programme will then draw up plans for the next stage of its work in consultation with all stakeholders. Details of the reform and modernisation programme will be announced later in the year.

ANDREW MCDONALD is the Head of the Tribunals for Users Programme at the Lord Chancellor's Department. He can be contacted on 020 7210 1440.