By Frontline Civil Servant

23 Jun 2014

A civil servant in our courts service says we must invest money in order to save it


“I am responsible for the operational management of a business area in HM Courts and Tribunals Service, and manage about 100 staff. My role involves ensuring the smooth running of an end-to-end process delivering justice to customers, and includes responsibility for performance management, customer service, stakeholder liaison (including judges and external users), and HR-related matters. I also oversee the implementation of new processes in my area, and my remit includes driving improvement in the service we provide to our users and ensuring we meet our annual targets.

As you’d expect, HMCTS has been affected by budget reductions in a number of business areas. But the tribunals have been very good at fighting their corner: we have managed to have our funding adjusted to our workload. We have been very good at saying: ‘This is how much work we have, therefore our budget needs to reflect that level of work,’ whilst recognising the continuing need to make our services more efficient and cost-effective. This can sometimes mean that budgets go up compared to the previous year, though they can also be reduced.
We are, however, taking hits in other areas, such as internal reform. The government has been highlighting its ‘Digital by Default’ agenda, yet in my business area – and many others – we are still doing everything on paper. We print thousands of files, and post letters. We are by no means a digital service. Attempts to convince the right people of the value of investing in the right kind of technology are generally met with resistance.

With budgets running on a yearly cycle, I understand why departments and agencies prefer to look at the advantages of short-term savings and not the benefits of long-term investments. But I don’t think that’s the best way to approach things. We don’t operate in the most efficient way, and our set-up is certainly not appropriate in the 21st century. What might cost a bit of money now will ultimately save more money in the future. The reluctance amongst senior staff to accept this (or at least to fight for it) and the focus on very short funding cycles only leads to a lack of innovation, which in turn means that a lot of our systems are out-dated and increasingly unusable

In effect, we have enough money to do our day-to-day business, but that is where it ends. This is partly because we aren’t the area that HMCTS puts the most emphasis on – which is crime. Over at crime, they are piloting a paperless service: court listings, case files, everything is digital. I’m sure it will reach my area at some point in the future, but I’ve no idea how many years away that will be.

A large number of staff are keen to look for and make improvements to the services we offer our users. However, there is also a group of people who are set in their ways and not too keen on change. So part of my job is to inspire people to want to change, whether this be staff, judges, senior managers or stakeholders, and not just to oversee its implementation. Judges are, in the main, keen to change and co-operative – but they can sometimes be difficult to get on board, especially if the change suggested involves a loss of control on their part. But inspiring them and making clear that my ideas will help them is part of my job.

Keeping staff morale up is a challenge for any manager. I always try to keep my staff informed and tell them about new developments as soon as I can, rather than waiting for a finalised position – something that may take months to arrive. I also prefer not to spend most of my time in my office. I like to work amongst my staff, so I can pick up on their everyday challenges and show them that I am human, like a bit of banter and am not scary to talk to. I think this approach works well in keeping them engaged and motivated – perhaps more managers in the civil service should try it.

I hope we will soon get some significant investment to improve our internal processes. All we’re trying to do is be the leanest and most efficient civil service organisation we can be – something Francis Maude likes to repeatedly champion in his speeches.”

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