THE government has been “cutting corners” in a £1.2 billion “modernisation” of the justice system that it is far behind schedule, a panel of MPs said yesterday.

The accusation comes as Civil Service union PCS warned that further outsourcing was posed to deal “a body blow to the justice system in general.”

A new report from the Commons public accounts committee casts doubt on whether this “hugely ambitious” project – a shake-up of how criminal, family and civil courts and tribunals operate in England and Wales – will be successfully delivered.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) launched the programme in 2016 to boost technology and overhaul working practices.

The committee argued that HMCTS had not adequately considered how the reforms will affect access to justice and the fairness of the system for people using it.

The modernisation programme will see an increase in the use of “virtual hearings” in criminal cases, with judges and magistrates interacting with defendants from a police station or prison via video link.

Defendants will be able to enter pleas online, removing the need for pre-trial hearings, while vulnerable witnesses will be allowed to give pre-recorded evidence rather than appear in court.

And PCS said civilian enforcement officers are being outsourced to a range of private companies, “some with terrible records in delivering public services.”

“Our members believe profit should have no place in public services,” PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said.

“This is doubly important when you consider civilian enforcement officers have arrest powers. Any contracting out would undermine the public service ethos that is vital to the role and administering justice.”

PCS plans to consult its members before the new contracts come into force in February and is not ruling out industrial action.

Labour shadow justice minister Yasmin Qureshi said the committee’s report showed the government risked long-term damage to the justice system.

“Despite the warnings, the government seems to be carrying on regardless, just as it did with the botched privatisation of probation.
 
“The Conservatives have already closed hundreds of courts and axed thousands of vital court staff under the smokescreen of their courts reform programme, with a detrimental impact on victims and witnesses.”

Responding to the report, HMCTS chief executive Susan Acland-Hood said “significant progress” was being made on the “challenging” programme.

Lamiat Sabin is the Morning Star’s Parliamentary Reporter.