Proposals for Court Hearing Centres at Bangor, Larne, Limavady, Magherafelt and Strabane

Report on Consultation Exercise

Janurary 2009

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Foreword

Bridget Prentice MPby Bridget Prentice MP,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Access to justice is a fundamental human right and Government is committed to safeguarding that right for all citizens.

Up until comparatively recently the traditional model for accessing justice was centred on using a courthouse, but this is no longer the only option. Over the past 10 years, the Northern Ireland Court Service has been modernising the way in which it interacts with its customers. New technology has enabled a move away from fragmented local administration, where queries could only be processed at a particular court venue, to a fully integrated service capable of providing a faster response to public need.

Today, you can access court services by telephone, email and via the internet, resulting in a speedier, more convenient and user-friendly experience.

Government places a priority on providing modern, high quality, cost-effective services and I believe that the Hearing Centre proposals outlined in this document offer new ways to help us continue meeting those business goals.

This is a consultation document. No decisions have been taken. The court estate in Northern Ireland is kept under regular review to ensure that the accommodation is meeting the needs of everyone using it. The purpose of this exercise is to encourage everyone with an interest in this important subject to consider the enclosed business improvement options carefully and to submit their views.

Bridget Prentice MP

Bridget Prentice MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice

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Introduction

1.1 This consultation paper seeks views on proposals to establish Hearing Centres at five existing court venues in Northern Ireland by June 2009. The five venues where the Court Service would like to establish Hearing Centres are the courthouses at Bangor, Larne, Limavady, Magherafelt and Strabane. Hearing Centres will only open on days when a court is sitting at the venue and, on those days, they will provide a full range of court office services.

1.2 Over the past ten years, the Northern Ireland Court Service ("the Court Service") has invested significantly to modernise the delivery of services to the public and many of the services which were previously only available at a local court office (e.g. payment of a fine; maintenance payments; lodging court papers etc) can now be accessed by telephone or internet or through centralised customer service centres. These alternative delivery channels are explained in more detail later in this paper. Accordingly, on non-court sitting days, the Hearing Centre venues would be closed. Customers will, however, still be able to access our services in a variety of different ways.

1.3 The number of customers using court office services at each of the proposed Hearing Centre locations is low on non-court sitting days and ranges from two customers per day in Magherafelt to five customers per day in Bangor. This does not represent an efficient use of these facilities. Maintaining court venues as Hearing Centres would mean that current staffing levels are retained. However staff would be relocated on non-court days which would enable resources to be used more efficiently and allow for contingency planning for peak business periods.

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Background

2.1 The Northern Ireland Court Service supports the Lord Chancellor in discharging his statutory responsibility to provide an efficient court system to meet the needs of the Northern Ireland public.

2.2 The current court map in Northern Ireland is organised into "County Court Divisions" and "Petty Sessions Districts". Each Petty Sessions District is made up of one or more local government districts. Each County Court Division is made up of one or more Petty Sessions Districts. The current court map is set out below.

Northern Ireland

2.3 There are currently 22 court buildings in Northern Ireland. The Court Service is committed to ensuring that court users have access to accommodation of the highest quality. Courthouses should adequately meet the needs of all court users and, in particular, witnesses, children and disabled people. However, there are a number of courthouses in Northern Ireland that currently do not meet, and cannot be upgraded at a reasonable cost to meet, the standards which court users have a right to expect.

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The Proposed Hearing Centres

Bangor Court

Bangor Court3.1 Bangor Courthouse is one of three courthouses in the County Court Division of Ards. The two main venues in this Division; Newtownards and Downpatrick, have a total of eight courtrooms and have facilities to deal with Crown Court, county court and magistrates' courts business. Bangor deals with adult magistrates' courts work only.

3.2 Five members of staff (some of whom are part-time) are assigned to Bangor Court Office. Magistrates' court sittings are held at Bangor every Wednesday and Friday. Two surveys carried out in 2008 indicated that, on non-court sitting days, an average of five people per day visited the court office to transact over the counter business.

Larne Court

Larne Court3.3 Larne Courthouse is situated within the County Court Division of Antrim. The County Court Division of Antrim has four courthouses at Coleraine, Ballymena, Antrim and Larne with a total of ten courtrooms. The courthouses at Coleraine, Ballymena and Antrim have facilities to deal with Crown Court, county court and magistrates' courts business. Larne Courthouse deals with magistrates' courts business and is sometimes used to hear Small Claims cases.

3.4 Two members of staff are assigned to Larne Court Office. Magistrates' courts sittings are held at Larne Courthouse every Friday and some Thursdays. In addition, there is one Small Claims Court day each month. Two surveys in 2008 indicated that, on non-court sitting days, an average of three people per day visited the court office to transact over the counter business.

Limavady Court

Limavady Court3.5 Limavady Courthouse is situated within the County Court Division of Londonderry, which has three courthouses at Londonderry, Limavady and Magherafelt with a total of seven courtrooms. The main venue in this Division, Londonderry, has facilities to deal with Crown Court, county court and magistrates' courts business. Magistrates' courts sittings are held at Limavady Courthouse every Wednesday. County Court sittings take place once per month.

3.6 One member of staff is based full time at Limavady Court Office. Two surveys in 2008 indicated that, on non-court sitting days, an average of three people per day visited the court office to transact over the counter business.

Magherafelt Court

3.7 Magherafelt Courthouse is also situated within the County Court Division of Londonderry.

Magherafelt Court3.8 Magherafelt Courthouse is equipped to deal with magistrates' court and county court business. Magistrates' courts sittings are held at Magherafelt Courthouse most Wednesdays and some Mondays and Fridays. In addition, there is at least one further court sitting per month for County Court or Small Claims business.

3.9 One member of staff is assigned to Magherafelt Court Office. Two surveys in 2008 indicated that, on non-court sitting days, an average of two people per day visited the court office to transact over the counter business.

Strabane Court

3.10 Strabane Courthouse is situated within the County Court Division of Fermanagh and Tyrone. The Division has four courthouses at Enniskillen, Omagh, Dungannon and Strabane with a total of thirteen courtrooms. The courthouses at Enniskillen, Omagh and Dungannon have facilities to deal with Crown, county and magistrates' courts business.

3.11 Magistrates' courts sittings are held at Strabane Courthouse every Thursday, most Fridays and some Wednesdays. In addition, county court sittings take place twice per month.

3.12 There are currently three staff assigned to Strabane Court Office. Two surveys in 2008 indicated that, on non-court sitting days, an average of four people per day visited the court office to transact over the counter business.

Provision of services

3.13 Our overall objective is to provide high quality services and facilities that serve the community and the administration of justice. We want to meet the reasonable needs and expectations of the public, the judiciary, the legal profession and other court users. It is also important that we ensure that public funds are not wasted and that services are provided as efficiently as possible.

3.14 Providing increased access to justice by using new technology provides greater choice and a more responsive service to our customers, which reduces the need to go to a courthouse. In planning how we provide services, we need to distinguish more accurately what must be delivered locally and what can be delivered centrally or through alternative IT enabled methods.

3.15 In the following section, we outline how we have modernised service delivery in recent years to provide greater choice and convenience for customers.

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Modernising Service Delivery

4.1 Traditionally, customers who wanted to transact court office business could only do so at the court venue at which the associated proceedings had been, or were to be, dealt with. They could do so in person at the court office or, alternatively, payments and papers could be sent to the court office by post.

4.2 Court records were maintained at each court venue within a number of manual registers. On occasions, when a customer called into a court office, it would not be possible to answer a particular query because the necessary court register was being used elsewhere.

4.3 What we had, in effect, was a fragmented system of local court administration which was not capable of delivering the quality of service which our customers and the public expect from a modern public service.

4.4 The Court Service has now introduced an Integrated Court Operations System (ICOS) to transform the way in which we provide administrative support for the courts and deliver services to customers. ICOS provides a single, integrated court operations system which supports the business operations of the Civil, Family and Criminal Courts.

4.5 The introduction of ICOS has greatly increased the proportion of our work that is managed through ICT. With ICOS in place we have moved from fragmented local court administration to a fully integrated service which is responsive to customer needs. Not only has ICOS improved the way in which services are delivered in the court office, but it has allowed us to modernise service delivery channels and introduce a range of additional and innovative ways in which our customers can engage with us.

Service Centres

4.6 ICOS has allowed us to establish a number of Customer Service Centres which provide centralised services for the whole of Northern Ireland. These include a County Court Civil Processing Centre in Belfast and a Juror Management and Payment Processing Service Centre in Londonderry.

4.7 Court user surveys indicated that of those persons attending the proposed Hearing Centre venues on non-court sitting days almost three-quarters wished to make a payment or transact payment-related business. These customers now have the option of using the Customer Service Centre located at Londonderry Court Office which provides a centralised service for receipt of payments. This Payment Centre accepts credit and debit card payments by telephone as well as the more traditional payment methods of cheques, postal orders and cash.

Web-based services

4.8 We also deliver an increasing range of services online. We have consulted with customers to identify the range of web-based services which they would find beneficial. To date we have delivered the following -

4.9 These initiatives demonstrate the increasingly diverse range of methods through which our customers can engage with us and we are continuing to explore opportunities to extend the range of telephony and online services which we currently offer.

Transacting business in a court office

4.10 We recognise that some customers still wish to be able to conduct business face to face in a court office. Court staff at all courthouses can now process payments, respond to queries and accept papers regardless of where the relevant proceedings take place. It is therefore no longer necessary for customers to attend at a particular courthouse to transact business.

4.11 Under these proposals, Hearing Centres will continue to be open on court sitting days, and on those days they will continue to provide a full range of court office services. Customers who wish to transact business at these particular court offices will still be able to do so on court sitting days.

4.12 Based on the current court sittings, the Hearing Centres would be open as follows -

4.13 Hearing Centres will require the retention of current staffing levels, however the relocation of staff on non-court sitting days will allow us to maximise resources and provide some contingency for business processing peaks.

4.14 While some running costs at the Hearing Centre venues would remain static, there are potential savings in the areas of security, cleaning, waste disposal, heating and electricity.

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Questions for Consultation

5.1 We would welcome responses to the following questions set out in the consultation paper -

Question 1 - Do you consider that the establishment of Hearing Centres strikes an appropriate balance between the provision of quality services and ensuring that public money is used efficiently?

Question 2 - Do you consider that the Hearing Centre proposals make adequate provision for those customers who wish to transact business over the counter at these court offices?

Question 3 - Are there any services currently provided by the court office which could not be accessed through one of the alternative channels or at the court office on court days?

5.2 We would also welcome any comments in relation to the results of the Equality Screening Exercise which was carried out for these proposals and which are set out at Annex A.

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Consultation

6.1 The Court Service will be writing to political parties, relevant local authority organisations and a wide variety of other organisations with an interest in the court system to notify them about this consultation exercise. A copy of this document is also available on the Northern Ireland Court Service website (www.courtsni.gov.uk).

6.2 The Court Service welcomes responses from organisations and individuals. A number of questions are posed throughout the consultation paper and we would be particularly grateful for views on these. The consultation paper also includes the results of the Equality Screening Exercise which was carried out on these proposals at Annex A and we would be grateful for comments on these.

6.3 It is not considered that the proposals to establish Hearing Centres will impose or reduce costs on businesses or the third sector. Nor is it anticipated that the proposals will impose any costs on the public sector . A basic Impact Assessment has been completed and a fuller assessment of costs will be done as more information is received from consultation respondees.

6.4 This consultation is being carried out in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation. This Code of Practice stipulates that the seven consultation criteria must be reproduced with any consultation document. The consultation criteria are:

  1. When to consult - Formal consultations should take place at a stage when there is scope to influence the policy outcome.
  2. Duration of Consultation exercises - Consultations should normally last for at least 12 weeks with consideration given to longer timescales where feasible and sensible.
  3. Clarity of scope and impact - Consultation documents should be clear about the consultation process, what is being proposed, the scope to influence and the expected costs and benefits of the proposals.
  4. Accessibilty of consultation exercises - Consultation exercises should be designed to be accessible to, and clearly targeted at, those people the exercise is intended to reach.
  5. The burden of consultation - Keeping the burden of consultation to a minimum is essential if consultations are to be effective and if consultees' buy-in to the process is to be obtained.
  6. Responsiveness of consultation exercises - Consultation responses should be analysed carefully and clear feedback should be provided to participants following the consultation.
  7. Capacity to consult - Officials running consultations should seek guidance in how to run an effective consultation exercise and share what they have learned from the experience.

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How to respond

7.1 The last date for responses to this consultation is 3 April 2009.

7.2 Consultation responses should be sent to:

E-mail: communicationsgroup@courtsni.gov.uk
Post: Colin Ross
Consultation Co-ordinator
Hearing Centres Consultation
Communications Group
Northern Ireland Court Service
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LA
Fax: 028 9072 8942

7.3 When responding, please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation. If responding on behalf of an organisation, please make it clear who the organisation represents and, where applicable, how the views of members were assembled.

7.4 This consultation document is available at www.courtsni.gov.uk

7.5 A list of consultees who have been notified about this consultation is presented at Annex B.

Confidentiality

7.6 In line with the Northern Ireland Court Service's policy of openness, at the end of the consultation period copies of the responses we receive may be made publicly available. The information they contain may also be published in a summary of responses. If such a summary is published it will be made available on the Northern Ireland Court Service website. If you do not want all or part of your response or name made public, please state this clearly in your response. Any confidentiality disclaimer that may be generated by you/your organisation's IT system or included as a general statement in your fax cover sheet will be taken to apply only to information in your response for which confidentiality has been specifically requested.

7.7 We will handle any personal data you provide in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

7.8 You should also be aware that there may be circumstances in which the Northern Ireland Court Service will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

7.9 Please contact the Northern Ireland Court Service Consultation Co-ordinator at the address above to request copies of consultation responses. An administrative charge may be made to cover photocopying of the responses and postage costs.

Comments

7.10 If you have any comments about the way this consultation has been conducted, these should be sent to the Head of Division, Communications Group at:

E-mail: communicationsgroup@courtsni.gov.uk
Post: David Thompson
Head of Division
Communications Group
Northern Ireland Court Service
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LA
Telephone: 028 9032 8594
Fax: 028 9072 8942
Textphone: 028 9041 2920

Additional Copies

7.11 You may make copies of this document without seeking permission. If you require further printed copies of the consultation document, we would invite you to access the document through our website and make the copies yourself. If you do not have access to the internet and require us to provide you with further copies, please contact the Consultation Co-ordinator with your specific request.

7.12 This document is available in alternative formats on request. Please contact the Communications Group at the address at 7.10 above with your request.

What happens next?

7.13 We will aim to publish a summary of the views expressed by consultees and the Department's response on the Northern Ireland Court Service website within three months of the end of the consultation period. Plans for making the results public

7.14 In accordance with criterion 6 of the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on written consultation, responses will be carefully analysed and feedback will be provided. Decisions taken in the light of the consultation shall be made public promptly with a summary of the views expressed (subject to respondents' requests for confidentiality).

7.15 The information you send us may need to be passed to colleagues within the Northern Ireland Court Service and/or published in a summary of responses to this consultation. We will assume that you are content for us to do this, and that if you are replying by email, your consent overrides any confidentiality disclaimer that is generated by your organisation's IT system unless you specifically include a request to the contrary in the main text of your submission to us.

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Annex A

1. General guidance on screening of policies

Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 places new duties on Public Authorities to promote equality of opportunity and good relations. The statutory duty makes equality central to the whole range of public policy decision making and should:

The Northern Ireland Court Service arrangements for complying with this requirement are set out in our Equality Scheme. Section 3.3 of the Scheme outlines our commitment in line with the Equality Commission's guidance to screen all our policies to identify those with equal opportunity implications.

It is important that when considering the impact of policies on the promotion of equality of opportunity, due regard is given to the need to promote equality of opportunity for all categories of persons specified in Section 75 (The Nine Categories).

These are:

The relevant categories of persons between whom good relations are to be promoted are:

Each policy will be considered against the following criteria:

Section 5 is a Screening Form that should facilitate your considerations.

2. Summary of Policy

This is a proposal to create five hearing centres in the courthouse estate in Bangor, Larne, Limavady, Magherafelt and Strabane by June 2009. These venues would be open only on court sitting days to facilitate sittings and provide access to counter services.

3. Summary of available information

Customer surveys were carried out in January and October 2008 at the five court offices on non-court days.

4. Guidance on completing questionnaire

Before completing the questionnaire you should ensure that you have a clear understanding of the aim of the policy in question.

Questions 1-4 deal specifically with the criteria set out at section 2. Before answering these questions you should have considered fully any information available which may have impacted on the development of the policy.

Having considered the available information you should again think through the policy and it's purpose to identify whether there is anything expressed within it which is likely to have an adverse differential impact on anyone belonging to any group within the nine categories (Question 5), or alternatively any action omitted, the addition of which would promote equality of opportunity (Question 6).

If the answer to one or more of these questions is Yes you are asked to make a determination as to whether or not the policy should be subject to a full equality impact assessment (Question 7).

It should be borne in mind that a Yes answer does not automatically trigger an equality impact assessment. Unfortunately there is no guidance available on what constitutes adverse differential impact, although it should be noted that differential impact could exist between groups but not necessarily be adverse.

If the answer to all the questions is No there is then clearly no requirement to subject the policy to a full equality impact assessment.

If however the answer to Question 7 is Yes, a full equality impact assessment is required, a view must then be reached on the priority issues for equality impact assessment (Question 8).

Priorities will be based on the following factors:

Finally, remember that the purpose of this screening is to identify any equality implications within the policy; it is not to carry out a full impact assessment. Use your knowledge of the policy together with the additional available information to help you provide an informed indication of whether a full equality impact assessment is or is not necessary.

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Screening Form

Question 1
Is there any evidence of higher or lower participation or uptake by different groups within any of the nine categories? Please tick relevant box

NO

Please go to next question

YES

Please complete below

If Yes please give details:

 

 

Customers:

According to the two surveys the court offices had more male callers than female (70%).

Staff:

Of the 13 staff in these offices, only one was male. There are more married (nine staff or 69%) than unmarried (four staff) and there are more with dependants (nine staff or 69%) than without dependants (four staff). There is an even religious balance - 7 from a Protestant background and 6 from a Roman Catholic background. Only one person has a disability and this does not affect their mobility.

Question 2
Is there any evidence that different groups have different needs, experiences, issues and priorities in relation to the particular policy? Please tick relevant box

NO

Please go to next question

YES

Please complete below

If Yes please give details:

 

 

Staff:

Three staff in Bangor work part-time as does one person in Larne and one person in Strabane.

Question 3
Is there an opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity or better community relations by altering the policy or working with others in government or in the larger community? Please tick relevant box

NO

Please go to next question

YES

Please complete below

If Yes please give details:

 

 

Question 4
Have consultations with relevant groups, organisations or individuals indicated that particular policies create problems which are specific to them? Please tick relevant box

NO *

Please go to next question

YES

Please complete below

If Yes please give details:

 

 

*Not known - no consultations have yet taken place. However due to the fact that the offices will be open on court days, none of the nine groups will be disadvantaged based on the surveys that were carried out.

Question 5
Is there anything expressed within the policy that is likely to have an adverse differential impact on anyone belonging to any group within the nine categories? Please tick relevant box

NO *

Please go to next question

YES

Please complete below

If Yes please give details of the impact and the affected group:

 

 

*The panel examined whether there could be an adverse impact for those staff working flexibly/with dependants and that as they were able to clarify the details of the proposed staff relocation (and the modest amount of extra travel involved) they were satisfied that the impact would not be adverse.

Question 6
Is there any action omitted from the policy, the addition of which would promote equality of opportunity for anyone belonging to any group within the nine categories? Please tick relevant box

NO

Please go to next question

YES

Please complete below

If Yes please give details of the amendment and the beneficial impact:

 

 

Question 7
If the answer to any of the preceding questions is Yes, please indicate whether the policy should be submitted to a full equality impact assessment Please tick relevant box

NO

 

YES

 

Question 8
If the answer to Question 7 is Yes please consider the priority for equality impact assessment Please tick relevant box

Significant Impact - Must be addressed
 

Moderate Impact - Readily addressed
 

Low Impact - Not readily addressed
 

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Annex B - List of Consultees

Age Concern Northern Ireland
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Antrim & Ballymena Solicitors' Association
Children's Law Centre
Citizens Advice Bureau
Committee on the Administration of Justice
Cookstown Solicitors' Association
Council of District Judges (Magistrates' Courts) in Northern Ireland
Criminal Bar Association
Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
Democratic Unionist Party
Disability Action
District Judges' Association
Down and District Solicitors' Association
Eastern Health and Social Services Board
Equality Commission for Northern Ireland
Family Bar Association
Foyle Solicitors' Association
The General Bar Council of Northern Ireland
General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland
Green Party
Help The Aged
Her Majesty's Council of County Court Judges
High Court Judges
Include Youth
Justices of the Peace
Larne Borough Council
Larne Harbour Police
Law Centre (Northern Ireland)
Law Society of Northern Ireland
Limavady Borough Council
Limavady Solicitors' Association
Lord Chief Justice
Lord Justices of Appeal
Magherafelt District Council
Magherafelt Solicitors' Association
Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly
North Down Borough Council
North Down Solicitors' Association
Northern Health and Social Care Trust
Northern Health and Social Services Board
Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People
Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
Northern Ireland Court Service
Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
Northern Ireland Lay Magistrates' Association
Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission
Northern Ireland Members of Parliament
Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Peers
Northern Ireland Policing Board
Northern Ireland Prison Service
Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance
NSPCC
Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
Police Federation
Police Service of Northern Ireland
Prison Officers Association
Probation Board for Northern Ireland
Progressive Unionist Party
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Public Prosecution Service
Resource
Royal National Institute for Deaf People (Northern Ireland)
Royal National Institute for the Blind (Northern Ireland)
Sinn Féin
Social Democratic and Labour Party
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
Strabane District Council
Strabane Ethnic Community Association
Strabane Solicitors' Association
The Rainbow Project
Traveller Movement (Northern Ireland)
Ulster Unionist Party
Victim Support
Western Health and Social Care Trust
Western Health and Social Services Board
Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland
Youth Council for Northern Ireland
Youth Justice Agency

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For further information on the work of the Northern Ireland Court Service please contact

Northern Ireland Court Service
Communications Group
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast BT1 3LA
Telephone 028 9032 8594
Facsimile 028 9072 8942
Textphone 028 9041 2920
Email communicationsgroup@courtsni.gov.uk
www.courtsni.gov.uk

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