News story: HMCTS public event – 6 November 2018

We hosted our second public event today (6 November 2018), inviting those who represent public court users to see first-hand the progress public user organisations have helped us to make over the last year.

The event itinerary was influenced by what attendees told us last year, offering longer activity sessions for guests to immerse themselves in our latest project developments. With both market stalls and hands on activity sessions available, over 160 participants were given the opportunity to engage with 27 project teams, attending across all jurisdictions.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said:

I was delighted to welcome so many stakeholders today and thank them for their invaluable contribution to our reform programme so far.

Their expertise and insight is vital as we continue to build a modern, world class justice system fit for the 21st century, and this was an opportunity for them to see the difference their time and commitment has made – even interacting with some of the products they have helped design.

Some of the attendee quotes included:

It’s amazing how HMCTS projects have progressed compared to last year.

There was lots of good discussion around vulnerable defendants. I’ve gained a wider understanding of their access to services and how they access online plea.

Everyone that came to the Crime room really embraced the challenge questions that the projects were posing. There were some really great suggestions which the projects will take back and feed into their services.

So many active discussions going on – people were so engrossed that they were forgetting to move round to see other projects!