I won't repeat what you already know about the objectives of Government policy - but sometimes I think that the obvious does need to be re-stated. Really we are all here - and there is no disagreement about the need - to improve the efficiency of the Criminal Justice System, bringing more offenders to justice and narrowing the justice gap - that phrase now forms part of our public service target that we have. And re-balancing the system more in favour of the victim and in favour of the community. This will thereby raise the public confidence that the justice system can actually work for the benefit of the wider public and that it can raise trust in justice through doing a good job.
And these objectives do perhaps seem very general at times but they do require significant change and I for one am certainly very grateful for the co-operation and the contribution that we've had from staff, from AMO and from you in those objectives. We're all, I think, pulling broadly in that right direction. Of course, we need to have close management and close co-operation at all times and I think the one thing that we do need most of all is staff have at the front line absolutely engaged with the agenda and direction of travel that we have. And actually, hopefully helping to generate the ideas that will succeed.
Yes, we've got to measure the performance. Yes, we've got to gather information together. Sometimes that can be quite a big task in an organisation where there is so much attention from the media and from the public and so forth - and information measuring and getting those statistics is all very important.
The worst way of making policy is if, because of public pressure, we as politicians come along and find solutions from thin air. What I propose to do is listen to the good solutions and new ideas that you have found about the way things should be and frustrations that you face on a daily basis and the changes that need to improve and the priorities that we have should be informed by ourselves. That is something that I hope in the short-term Ministers handed with this particular portfolio are trying to do, particularly in areas of fine enforcement and so forth, which I would like to talk a little bit more about later on.
As we've already heard from Rosie, the DCA was created last June and we all came in, I hope, with the message that we wanted even more than before to focus on the outcome for the public. That really is something we are always banging on about. We're not just here for the lawyers or the magistrates or the constitutional thinkers, important people though they are. We're actually here for really a particular purpose. There's an awful lot of work going on and a lot of change taking place, change that was initiated since the new department was created, but also much that came along beforehand. I was at the inception of the Unified Courts Administration (UCA) concept and I do think it's a sensible way forward. Rather than having the Court Service and the fortitude of the magistrates' courts committees (MCCs) effectively at arms length, pooling those resources and making sure that we have a flexible organisation, that's not just used for the public benefit. But also, as Rosie and Julia indicated earlier, it actually does give opportunity for flexibility for people, for staff, to look at new opportunities in the wider organisation and all the benefits that could bring.
There are also worries that can be brought from change and the introduction of change - and I know that there are mixed emotions about a Unified Courts Administration, to say the least. It's quite natural really that people approach this with intrepidation as we move forward into a new environment. I don't want to overlook the interests of the staff and it would be quite wrong if we lose the best bits of the existing system - that would be entirely wrong. But at the same time we have got to make sure that we are pressing ahead with confidence, that we settle things as early as possible and get on with focussing on what's happening with the quality of service delivery, not just the structural delivery.
Of course this single courts agency will allow us to deliver a better service more effectively and again focus on the public. Of course we've also got the new Courts Boards that many of you will have heard of and the recruitment for those is in process now. We hope to make sure they get underway in shadow form from October onwards and they will also play an important part.
Today I wanted to focus on the sort of things that I think are now important for you: terms and conditions of staff, issues to do with pensions that I know have been of concern, and the role of Justices' Clerks and legal advisors also deserves attention. I think tomorrow you are due to get a presentation by Nick Michaels from the DCA Human Resources Directorate who will go into a little bit more detail on some of these issues. I just want to make sure that I pay due attention to them in talking to you today.
Staff terms and conditions
First of all on the issue of terms and conditions of staff. As far as the Magistrates' Courts staff joining a new agency are concerned, we of course want to have the protection in line with the TUPE [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)] arrangements in accordance with Government policy that we have on transfers within the public sector. And that means transfers taking place on existing terms and conditions. We have made it clear that our aim is to harmonise pay and terms and conditions for all staff in the Department for Constitutional Affairs over the 3 years from April 2005. We want to keep discussing this process for handling the transition with the Unions including AMO over the coming months. This is something where I value the good working relationships you've got with your senior executives, who are not afraid to make very forceful points in the meetings that you have with them and they are very effective in doing that, I can tell you. And also I think it's also important that we get down to brass tacks, nuts and bolts for terms and conditions issues as well.
In terms of structures though, frontline staff in the courts will carry on in their current roles at their current locations when the agency is established. Transition of staff in management support roles and in-service functions - that is Finance, IT, HR, Estates and so forth - will take place during the transitional year and we aim to achieve this by mapping as many individuals across as possible. Competition would only be needed because there was more than one eligible candidate currently performing similar roles in the same area, typically in management roles, although we hope that competition can be minimised to as few cases as possible. The selection process will be straightforward and any magistrates' courts staff appointed will be seconded into the post on their existing terms and conditions during that transition. We do need to retain the skills and experience of staff to ensure the smooth transition and to create a platform for improving delivery for service in the future. Therefore, we aim to achieve those moves towards the new structures in a way that avoids the need for redundancy or relocation.
Pensions
Now on the issue of pensions. I know that there is a great deal of concern about the future of staff pensions as individuals move from local and MCC arrangements into the Civil Service. We want to do our very best to make sure the staff do get all the information necessary about the new pension arrangements and the choices that many of you will have. You'll all have seen, I hope, by now my note that was sent out back in January and I see that there have been a number of questions raised following the issue of that note. I hope my officials will be able to answer some of those questions more fully and satisfactorily than I have in the short time available. The first set of questions and answer sheets are due to be sent out in the next week or so and there will be a great deal more information over the coming months to help with the choices that staff will have in the Spring of next year. I must say this is neither the time or the place to go into too much detail into the choices people will have. Not least because I'll leave that to the pensions experts we've got in the Department. They will be discussing all aspects of the pensions transfer with AMO and the other Unions. What I would say, however, is that the Civil Service pension arrangements do remain very secure and very well managed. Incidentally in 2003 the Civil Service pension was awarded be the title of Public Sector Pension Scheme of the Year by the Professional Pensions Magazine. There are good pensions arrangements in the Civil Service and there will be in the new organisation.
Justice's Clerks and legal advisors
I'd like also to say a word about Justices' Clerks and legal advisors. They play a clear and important role in ensuring that a high quality service is delivered and particularly in supporting and inspiring the confidence of the lay magistracy. That clear role that Justices' Clerks and legal advisors have in delivery of legal services will not change with the establishment of the new agency. When MCC's are abolished in 2005, Justices' Clerks and legal advisors like other staff from the magistrates' courts community will become Civil Servants. However their independence when advising on matters of law and procedure is preserved very specifically by Section 29 of the new Courts Act. The requirement of that clause is quite clear and quite explicit. It is “that when exercising such functions justices' clerks should not be subject to the direction of the Lord Chancellor or any other person or body”. I hope that adding that into the Act goes some way to clarify and make absolutely clear what that role is.
I know that the team working to establish the agency is currently developing a vision for the future role of Justices' Clerks and involving AMO in that work. Any changes in respect of their roles won't be implemented at the launch of the new agency in April 2005. This will allow the new agency arrangements to bed down and for the organisation to ensure that the future role of Justices' Clerks is developed in a way which better reflects their needs for their forthcoming career.
Fine enforcement
One of my top priorities as a Minister coming in, not least informed by the Prime Minister who when appointing me was very very clear that he wanted attention given to making sure that we improve the enforcement of the sentences decided by the court. Fine enforcement, as many of you will know, has been quite a problem and has required real attention in the past year in particular. I want to put on record my own personal congratulations and appreciation to all those staff who have really been pulling out all the stops in certain areas to really drive up performance levels and there has been quite a lot of success so far. It has been a challenging time, but I am really impressed with the commitment that has been shown. Indeed when I went knocking on doors myself with a warrant going round with the enforcement staff, I really saw some of the difficulties that they have to contend with and some of the problems that the team really are facing and that are quite intractable in terms of solving. Being dedicated to getting the work done matters a great deal.
Through the collective efforts of the MCC's, the rolling year to date figure at the end of February was 74% collection payment rate and I am quite keen to see the final year to date figure, which I think is still being calculated. That does represent a very significant improvement on which we've got to build. In light of this and taking into account changes to be introduced like the Court's Act pilots, I'm going to be setting a national payment rate target for the coming year at 78%. It is an ambitious target and we will need quite a lot of support to make that a success.
I am pleased to say that the national pilot to deduct fines directly from the offenders pay or benefit starts on 5 April. The scheme is looking at widening the use of automatic mandatory and up-front attachment of earnings and deductions from benefits, unless of course inappropriate to do so because the defaulter is unemployed or on benefits. We also want to introduce a faster and more efficient scheme. For example introducing fixed tables for attachment of earnings orders. We also want better liaison with other Government departments, in particular the Department for Work and Pensions, to make sure that there is the information for staff that they need in order to track those people who are defaulting on their fines. That level of prompt action and attention is making a big difference
The support that we've had for the recent 'Operation Pay-back' which has got quite a bit of publicity, has also yielded great results. I think we got an extra half-million pounds in fines collection through operation pay-back over the last few weeks which has obviously made a useful dent in the back-log that we still have and which we will be working through for quite some time. But also, it does send a forceful message to those people who do manage to play the system one way or another by not paying their fines, namely that we won't tolerate the orders of the court being flouted.
We do want to build on those successes. I know that as UCA comes in and while we've been looking at change and reform, particularly the reform process, some people have been concerned that we might be getting too carried away in moving into areas like outsourcing, privatisation and so forth. I just want to reassure you that there are absolutely no plans to do that. We are taking forward a wide-range of different programmes and activities to increase performance. Certainly immediately and in the longer term I don't have an in-built drive in me that says that private delivery is always invariably a better value package to the way that we do things in the public sector. I believe that we can make sure that the public sector can deliver, can improve its system, can come out as good as any organisation and that is part of the process that I really want to help prove. I want to help prove that the existing system can change this idea that some people have that private is always better, is always more efficient.
Now part of that is something that I know has been a concern for some people. The incentive scheme that we've decided to trial out this year where we have a £500 incentive scheme for staff involved in enforcement. I am pleased that we have now got half the MCC's involved with this and agreeing to do that through the 'netting-off' scheme for funding. Those people we are rewarding from that scheme will play a role in the effective enforcement of fines. I want to be very clear that I will be closely monitoring how we can work effectively to deliver not just on performance rates but also on staff morale and so forth. But it is a management tool that I thought was worth assessing within the boundaries of the public sector and I do think that it is one area where we can improve on our current system.
So fine enforcement is something that I have been very closely involved with and I appreciate the work that has gone into that. I do realise that this is a time of significant change and that the UCA is bound to cause concern and worry and I do hope that by working with the senior managers in my department that we can move away from the worst fears that people have about UCA. It really is about what I said at the outset: not neglecting the obvious things. Those things are what we want to see, where people in this country feel that they can live confidently in a safe, secure environment fortified by the justice system and the courts and making sure that the community is accepting. But also that we have a system where the people have the right to justice, the right to expect a fair trial and access specifically in the way the justice systems works for all people. I think we can continue to improve on the success that we've already built on and as I say, that the justice system that we have can work for the public and can do a very good job.
Thank you very much for listening