National Taxing Team
Business Plan 2006/7
The NTT is part of Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS).
HMCS is an agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
The Ministry of Justice was created on, and began work on 9th May 2007. The new Ministry will aim to improve the ability of the justice system to serve the public, whether they encounter it as victims or witnesses in a criminal case or whether they use the family courts, the civil courts or the Tribunals service. It will also have complete oversight of civil and family justice as well as key elements of constitutional and rights based policy such as data protection and the Human Rights Act. MoJ will aim to deliver an end-to-end criminal justice system from first appearance in court right through to rehabilitation or release by bringing together in one department, sentencing, criminal law and penal policy. meaning that once a suspect has been charged their journey through the courts, and if necessary prison and probation, can be managed seamlessly.
Lord Falconer when Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice said on the establishment of the new Ministry "The Ministry of Justice gives us the opportunity to accelerate progress, make new relations, better connections and look at alternative solutions".
In Justice - a new approach setting out the initial programme for the Ministry, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State stated: "No matter where people come into contact with the justice system, it is vital that the system inspires con0dence. It is a key priority for the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the public see that the delivery of justice is fair, open, accessible and accountable. These principles apply to the structure, the processes and to the culture of the new department.
"We will improve con0dence in justice by ensuring that the system delivers outcomes for the public and not the professions. We will do this by putting the needs and expectations of the public, especially victims and witnesses, at the heart of everything we do. Con0dence will increase when the experience of justice improves. Central here is making sure that the justice system connects with communities."
It is noted that the current legal aid system "is the best funded in the world, but we must ensure that the system is sustainable for the future and that it continues to provide protection for the most vulnerable. This means reforming the way that legal aid is provided in order that expensive criminal cases do not draw invaluable support away from civil or family aid, where it is often needed most".
"Free legal aid is important, not only for protecting arrested people and defendants, but also because it can assist in resolving cases early, through measures such as 0xed penalty notices and conditional cautions at the police station. For more serious and complex matters where a court case is necessary, high quality publicly-funded defence services are a key part of delivering a speedy, effective Criminal Justice System which commands public con0dence, minimises the burden on victims and witnesses and delivers justice for all."
"To deny access is to deny justice. This is why we will:
• work with the Legal Services Commission on planned reform of the legal aid system, so that it is fair to the vulnerable, fair to taxpayers, fair to defendants, and fair to practitioners".
The remit of HMCS is to deliver justice effectively and efficiently to the public. The goal of HMCS is that: All citizens according to their differing needs are entitled to access to justice, whether as victims of crime, defendants accused of crimes, consumers in debt, children in need of care, or business people in commercial disputes. Our aim is to ensure that access is provided as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost consistent with open justice and that citizens have greater confidence in, and respect for, the system of justice.
In the HMCS Business Stategy, amongst the challenges faced in the Criminal Justice area was the fact that the most expensive 1% of cases by volume in the Crown Court account for 28% of the whole criminal legal aid budget, or 50% of all Crown Court legal aid expenditure. "All citizens according to their differing needs are entitled to access to justice, whether as victims of crime, defendants accused of crimes, consumers in debt, children in need of care, or business people in commercial disputes. Our aim is to ensure that access is provided as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost consistent with open justice and that citizens have greater confidence in, and respect for, the system of justice.”
In the HMCS Business Plan 2007-2008 it is stated that "HMCS will play a key role for the Department as it continues to modernise the delivery of justice, rights and democracy .... the Lord Chancellor, has set out clearly that the driving force behind our future reforms, policies and funding is to demonstrate a clear and unequivocal shift from responding to the needs of service providers to delivering on the priorities of the public we serve."
Vision and Values
Work is currently being undertaken to develop the vision, values and behaviours for the Ministry of Justice. While these are being developed the various agencies which have come together to form the new Ministry will continue with their existing stratiegic aims and objectives.
The 2006-7 Business Plan for the NTT cited the vision and values of the then Department for Constitutional Affairs, of which HMCS was a part:
Vision
- Provide a world class justice services
- Be a place where staff are proud to work
- Be valued by customers and stakeholders
- Inspire public confidence
- Provide value for money
Values
We will value
- Customers
- Achievement
- Leadership and teamwork
- Personal responsibility
- Diversity
The NTT is required to determine the fees of advocates and litigators in criminal cases where their fees are covered by a Representation order, where a defendant's costs order has been made requiring their payment from central funds, or where an order for costs inter partes has been made and the parties cannot agree costs. We require Determining Officers to use their training knowledge and skills in determining claims taking into account all the relevant circumstances, including the nature, importance, complexity or difficulty of the work and the time involved and allow a reasonable amount in respect of all work actually and reasonably done.
From 1 April 2003 the NTT has been party to a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Legal Services Commission (LSC). The NTT remains part of HMCS and is subject to its terms and conditions. However, the LSC has ultimate responsibility for the work and legal aid budget. Standards of service required by the LSC are defined within the SLA together with methods of review and control.
A revised advocates graduated fee scheme was introduced on 30 April 2007. This will ultimately cover all remaining advocates' ex post facto work apart from a small number of categories. The NTT will continue to deal with these and with any claims for special and wasted preparation. The changes will impact on the NTT towards the middle of the current year (07-08) and will remove about 50% of current advocates' legal aid work in the second half of the year. This will reduce claims in 07-08 by around 4,500 or the equivalent of about 3.75 Determining Officers.
The LSC intends the new Litigators scheme to be introduced by December 2007. This will ultimately replace all existing ex post facto litigators' claims. There is unlikely to be any change in litigators' receipts in the 07-08 financial year. Indeed the past five years have seen receipts rise by 3-5% per annum.
The NTT's focus will be to improve service to our customers and to provide support to partners within the courts. We will continue to manage our financial allocation effectively and to focus on meeting the performance targets set out under the SLA.
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Customer Service
We will continue to focus on the customer by listening to the views of customers, partners and staff to continuously improve the service we provide. The NTT as a national team will apply for Charter Mark accreditation in September 2007 as formal recognition of our ongoing commitment to providing excellent customer service in all areas.
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Service to partners within the Courts
The NTT has embarked upon an extensive national training programme for Crown Court staff on the revised Graduated fee scheme. This involves training approximately 450 staff in numerous locations across the country. So far, 44 x 1day training sessions have been completed each involving 2 x NTT trainers/experts.
The NTT has now been recognised by the Learning & Development team as the provider of technical Graduated Fee training to the Courts and will conduct follow up training when required. NTT staff produced the brief, all training materials, powerpoint slides, handouts etc for this area of work, as well as the revised G F guidance and accompanying manuals.
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Financial position
The NTT will focus on meeting its' financial allocation over the next 12 months.
We have a budget of £4,038,000 for the current year.
Figures show an under spend in our allocation for the year.
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Performance
The NTT anticipates receipts of approximately £94k for April 2007-March 2008, when taking into account the changes to the Grad Fee scheme. We will aim to meet our targets under the SLA by continuously monitoring regional performances at regular Management Board meetings. We will take appropriate action to redress any imbalances in the regions by reallocating work across the country, and will seek additional resources if we are unable to maintain performance levels due to the loss of determining officers on retirement.