By John Hyde2020-12-23T08:12:00+00:00
Court security workers are to be balloted by their union over demands from private contractors for improved pay, terms and conditions.
The PCS union will ask members working for outsourcing company OSC on the HM Courts & Tribunals Service security contract over its alleged failure to pay the real living wage.
OCS was handed the contract in April to provide security services covering guarding and alarm monitoring. Justice minister Chris Philp said the new arrangement would modernise and enhance the experience of all court users.
But the PCS says the company has failed to offer any improvement to workers’ terms and conditions and has set out a list of demands which are ‘realistic and achievable’. These include the payment of the real living wage, a leave entitlement of 30 days a year, and payment of a premium for working at weekends and on bank holidays.
By Monidipa Fouzder2020-12-21T07:13:00+00:00
HM Courts & Tribunals Service shelved a digital system for welfare benefit appeals after it emerged that bringing a case through the system would cost significantly more in resources than if the case was heard conventionally, the Gazette can reveal.
The finding appears in an evaluation document for the Continuous Online Resolution (COR) pilot, part of HMCTS s reform programme. The document was provided to Jo Hynes, a research fellow at legal pressure group Public Law Project, under the Freedom of Information Act.
Continuous online resolution software was tested with a small number of Personal Independence Payment appellants between July 2019 and February 2020 to enable them to engage directly with the tribunal online instead of having to travel to attend a hearing.
By John Hyde2020-12-21T09:47:00+00:00
Court bosses today insisted that courts in Tier 4 areas of England will continue to open despite increased restrictions announced over the weekend.
Around 17 million people in London and across large parts of the south east were put into Tier 4 by the prime minister on Saturday after the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service said today that buildings in affected areas continue to operate within Covid-secure guidelines, with no plans to change currently scheduled hearings. Under the restrictions, those involved in keeping the justice system running or fulfilling a legal obligation (including jury service) can continue to attend court and travel when required.
By Monidipa Fouzder2020-12-17T12:42:00+00:00
Covid-19 operating hours will not deliver value for money to the taxpayer or achieve the objective of clearing the significant court backlog, the Law Society has told the government.
Responding to HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s consultation on extending the controversial model to more Crown courts, Chancery Lane said it remained to be convinced that Covid operating hours delivered significant additional capacity.
The Society said: ‘Although more cases have been disposed of during COH, it appears to have been largely due to the fact that shorter, less complex cases are allocated for these times, which means that a greater number of cases can be allocated (including backup and floating cases), and therefore a greater number of those cases crack. It is our view that the vast majority of the benefits observed in the pilots would equally have been delivered had the same mix of cases been allocated to courts operating normal court hour
HM Courts & Tribunals Service is considering rolling out the model from January. A
rapid consultation on the proposals closed yesterday.
The Criminal Bar Association
accused HMCTS of breaching the Equality Act 2010 and warned that it ‘will take action’. Yesterday, the association revealed that it has instructed Mischon de Reya in its fight. The firm has asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission to assess the extent to which HMCTS has complied with its public sector equality duties.
The letter to the commission states that the CBA is concerned that HMCTS is using the pandemic ‘as an excuse to drive through, without meaningful consultation, reforms to court operating hours that have previously been shown to be unworkable and discriminatory’.