News story: Third Courts and Tribunals Service Centre announced

Courts & Tribunals Service Centres are a key part of the transformation of courts and tribunals. They will bring together expertise under one roof and improve and modernise processes to give users of the justice system a better, seamless service. The service centres will enable users to access the support they need more quickly and easily in one place.

Loughborough has now been chosen to house the third of these centres. This follows on from those already planned to open in Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham from January 2019.

The Loughborough service centre will hold around 200 employees, bringing the total to around 1000 across all three sites. The service centre is expected to be fully operational by May 2020 but justice services may start moving there by the end of 2019. They will deal with all aspects of handling cases including new applications, managing queries from the public and professional users; and supporting the judiciary in progressing cases and listing hearings.

Nicky Morgan, Member of Parliament for Loughborough, said:

Access to justice is extremely important, so I am delighted that the latest Courts & Tribunal Service Centre will be based in Loughborough. This is also good news for local employment, confirming that our town is a great place for many different employers to be based.

Half of our workforce will continue to be based in courts and tribunals and will work hand in hand with the new service centres.

Existing HMCTS employees who are affected by the changes will be given priority to apply for roles in service centres and will be supported through the process.

The announcement of this service centre is part of the £1bn being invested in transforming courts and tribunals, making the justice system simpler to access, convenient to use and more efficient to run; utilising technology to bring the processes of justice into the 21st century.

Susan Acland-Hood, HMCTS CEO, said:

Our service centres will transform the services we offer to all HMCTS users, making it easier, quicker and more efficient to access support. For HMCTS colleagues, the new service centres will offer the opportunity to work in modern, well designed spaces with support available to develop their skills and expertise in the justice system.