A new approach to certificated family work is being rolled out across England and Wales from 19 April 2019 following a successful pilot with providers.

The change is an example of partnership working between providers and our caseworkers. It means that legal aid certificates will in future be granted with a wider limitation on costs for most family proceedings.

Providers will be able to free up administrative time currently spent collating and submitting evidence before they can carry out their work.

What does this mean for my work?

Starting on 19 April 2019 applications for a set number of proceedings will be granted with a cost limitation of £25,000. These are all listed in the appropriate guidance. This change will reduce the need to submit a cost amendment in the future.

The evidence we currently ask to see upfront from providers for certificate amendments can be submitted when proceedings are concluded.

Why are you doing this?

This was a change suggested by providers at our process efficiency team (PET) working group. This group brings together caseworkers and providers to look at how we can work together more efficiently.

The change means we can:

• reduce the paper burden for providers
• give providers more time to act quickly for clients
• reduce the need for providers to contact us for further information

It also means that our caseworkers will have more time to spend on complex applications and providing a quality service.

What about existing cases?

Certificates with existing limitations will be amended in line with the new arrangements. This will apply for providers seeking amendments from 19 April 2019.

Further information

New guidance will be available on the CCMS training website from 23 April 2019

Digital.Assist@justice.gov.uk – to email enquiries about CCMS training

The purpose of the event is to showcase the developments made by suppliers in Phase 1 and encourage the forging of new relationships and collaborations with the possibility of maturing these innovative technologies during Phase 2 and beyond. This event will bring together the current suppliers from Phase 1 with experts and potential collaborators in people management, recruitment, retention and other development areas associated with the challenge. As part of this event, suppliers funded under Phase 1 will deliver a short presentation on the work they are undertaking.

To attend the event

To participate in this collaboration event please register by going to the Eventbrite page. Please note that places for this event are limited and if the event is oversubscribed, we reserve the right to limit attendance if needed.

In Spring 2018, DASA launched Phase 1 of the Defence People Innovation Challenge. Phase 1 was focused on the following 5 themes which are considered to offer the greatest scope for innovation and direct benefit to the management of people in the MOD:

• Challenge 1 – recruitment

• Challenge 2 – skills and training

• Challenge 3 – retention

• Challenge 4 – motivating the workforce

• Challenge 5 – rehabilitation within the workforce

Overall 7 bids were successful in Phase 1 with total funding of over 1 million awarded. Phase 2 of the competition will be launched at this event and will be open to existing suppliers and any new collaborators working with them.

If you have any queries, please do contact us at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk.

What do 40 double decker buses, 55 African elephants and 300 cars have in common?

Remarkably, the weight of each group – almost 500,000 kilograms – reflects the amount of paper saved in last four years by a new digital system designed to improve court efficiency.

Used in all Crown Courts across England and Wales, the Digital Case System allows case material to be accessed, prepared and presented digitally by the judge, clerk, defence, prosecution and probation. Court users working digitally are then able to access, navigate and annotate identical pages of the same document. The system recently reached the milestone of 100 million sheets of paper saved. This has improved efficiency and collaboration while saving the criminal justice system and legal professionals valuable time and money in the process.

If every piece of paper saved by the Digital Case System was placed on top of one another it would reach a height of 33,500 feet – almost 5,000 feet higher than Mt. Everest. Placed next to one another, the paper trail would stretch from Land’s End to John O’Groats and back again 10 times.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said:

The Digital Case System is a great example of the benefit technology is bringing to our courts and tribunals. Not only has it saved a staggering amount of paper but it is making a real difference to legal professionals up and down the country every single day.

We will continue to use technology and digital ways of working to ensure our world-renowned justice system remains fit for the 21st century.

Before the Digital Case System was launched, court staff were printing thousands of pieces of paper every day, which would then have to be filed and distributed across the building before being taken to and from court.

Lord Chief Justice, the Right Honourable Lord Burnett of Maldon said:

The judges in our Crown Courts have been enthusiastic supporters of the use of Digital Case System. It has transformed the way in which criminal cases are conducted and improved immeasurably the administration of justice.

The Digital Case System is just one example of how technology and modern ways of working are making a difference to people across the country and improving the way we administer justice.

More than 35,000 applications for divorce have been made online since the system was launched in May 2018 with errors in applications cut from 40% to less than 1%. HMCTS’ online civil money claims service has had almost 60,000 applications in the past year and claims now take, on average, 10 minutes to issue down from 15 days using the old, paper based service.

Notes to editors

1. A nightly report is generated within the Digital Case System to keep track of the number of pages saved each day.

• New register of UK space companies will promote services abroad
• List includes more than 50 solutions for global challenges, such as natural disasters and food production
• Governments and Non-Governmental Organisations can work together with UK space companies to benefit communities and save lives.

The new register of specialist products and services, from companies and universities, and funded by UK aid, has been organised by the UK space industry and offers ways to use cutting edge space technologies to solve some of the world’s global challenges in agriculture, health and energy.

It provides international governments, donors, Non-Governmental Organisations and companies, with information on cost-effective ways to help development goals.

Science Minister Chris Skidmore said:

We can be proud that many of the companies at the cutting edge of the latest space technologies are based right here in the UK, providing high skilled, well paid jobs right across the country.

Today’s new directory showcases what the UK space industry has to offer, giving details of what is already being achieved as far afield as Asia, Africa and South America, and offering a single place to tap into this expertise and these services.

The huge growth opportunity for the UK space sector is supported through our modern Industrial Strategy, promoting both here and abroad the best that British businesses can offer, helping deliver thousands of highly skilled jobs and boosting our economy.

There has been significant growth in the UK space sector in recent years which provides £14.8 billion in total income, 37% of which is generated by international trade. Satellite services, such as Earth observation and communications, support a wealth of other sectors worth an estimated £300 billion of UK GDP.

Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said:

The UK space sector generates billions of pounds for our economy and 42,000 jobs, and it also makes a real impact on the lives of people all over the world.

For the first time this directory provides a global platform to showcase UK expertise in using space to support sustainable development. This ‘one-stop shop’ offers innovative and cost-effective solutions to some of the major problems faced by developing countries and emerging economies.

The services in the catalogue are drawn from the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme, the largest of its kind in the world, which is already working in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia and South America.

The £152 million programme uses UK expertise to benefit communities in developing and emerging economies, while building effective partnerships that can lead to growth and opportunities for the UK’s thriving space sector. It is an example of how UK development spending can tackle serious global challenges and advance common interests.

Potential users can search through categories that best describe their requirements and learn about the solutions the UK space sector offers.

Andrew Carrel, Chief Technology Officer at Rezatec, said:

Rezatec is delighted to be a part of the UKSA IPP programme, which is a great opportunity to demonstrate our geospatial data analytics services to a global audience through the COMPASS project. This deployment to improve crop yields and incomes for farmers in Mexico is a demonstration of our capability in agriculture. This complements our data services for the commodities, forestry, infrastructure and water sectors, which are used by businesses and government agencies around the world.

Andy Wells, EASOS Business Head at Satellite Applications Catapult Limited, said:

This is a huge step forward as it will build understanding of the potential of space to meet global issues and challenges. We create some superb capability in the UK and this catalogue will generate opportunity for both our academic and commercial space sector.

Additional information:

The UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP) is a five-year, £152 million programme designed to partner UK space expertise with overseas governments and organisations. It is funded with UK aid through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) a £1.5 billion fund. All projects are match-funded by consortium members and international partners to ensure maximum value for money.

Legislation is needed to address both the vulnerability of the industry to the loss of one of the Big 4, and the current inadequate choice and competition.

The CMA is recommending the separation of audit from consulting services, mandatory ‘joint audit’ to enable firms outside the Big 4 to develop the capacity needed to review the UK’s biggest companies, and the introduction of statutory regulatory powers to increase accountability of companies’ audit committees.

The CMA’s recommendations follow extensive discussions with audit firms, investors and major UK companies on its update paper – published in December. They also take account of the recommendations of a major report from the Business Select Committee, and the inquiry into regulation led by Sir John Kingman.

The recommendations are:

Operational split

Auditors should focus exclusively on producing the most challenging and objective audits, rather than being influenced by their much larger consultancy businesses. Given the difficulties with an immediate global structural split, the CMA is – at this stage – recommending an operational split of the Big 4’s UK audit work. This will require separate management, accounts and remuneration: a separate CEO and board for the audit arm; separate financial statements for the audit practice; an end to profit-sharing between audit and consultancy, and promotions and bonuses based on the quality of the audits.

More choice to increase resilience: mandatory joint audit

More choice and competition for the audits of big businesses can and should drive up their quality, but the barriers to entry for ‘challenger’ audit firms are currently large. The CMA recommends mandatory joint audit, to increase the capacity of challengers, to increase choice in the market and thereby drive up audit quality. Challenger firms should work alongside the Big 4 in these joint audits and should be jointly liable for the results. There should be initial limited exceptions to the requirement, based on criteria set by the regulator, focused on the largest and most complex companies. In addition, any company choosing a sole ‘challenger’ auditor should be exempt. Audits of exempt companies may be subject to rigorous, real-time peer reviews commissioned by and reporting to the regulator. The joint audit requirement should remain in place until the regulator determines that choice and competition have improved enough to address the vulnerability of the market to the loss of one of the Big 4.

Regulation of UK companies’ audit committees

It is essential that audit committees choose auditors by seeking those likely to provide the most robust and constructive challenge to the accounting practices of their companies. The CMA recommends that the regulator should hold audit committees more vigorously to account. This may include ensuring that committees report their decisions as they hire and supervise auditors, and that the regulator issues public reprimands to companies whose committees fall short of adequate scrutiny of their auditors.

A 5 year review of progress by the regulator

The regulator should review the effects of these changes periodically, in the first instance five years from full implementation. This should consider in particular: the merits of moving to independent appointment for auditors; whether to go beyond the operational split already proposed; and how to fine-tune the joint audit remedy to adapt to market developments.

CMA Chairman Andrew Tyrie said:

People’s livelihoods, savings and pensions all depend on the auditors’ job being done to a high standard. But too many fall short – more than a quarter of big company audits are considered sub-standard by the regulator. This cannot be allowed to continue.

The Government now has three reports to hand. In large part, they come to similar conclusions. Conflicts of interest cannot be allowed to persist; nor can the UK afford to rely on only four firms to audit Britain’s biggest companies any longer. Early action will require legislation – hence the CMA’s proposals.

CMA’s Chief Executive, Andrea Coscelli, also commented:

The UK is recognised as having a strong history in the fields of corporate governance and accounting.

Our recommendations, along with improvements to regulation and clarifying the purpose and scope of audits, will ensure the UK strengthens its position.

We look forward to supporting the Government as it considers how best to take forward these changes through legislation, alongside Sir John Kingman’s recommendations on regulation and the results from Sir Donald Brydon’s review on the quality and effectiveness of audit.

Notes to editors:

1. Market studies are carried out using powers under Part Four of the Enterprise Act 2002. Market Studies can result in a range of outcomes including recommendations to government, enforcement action and referral for market investigation.
2. The CMA’s work has taken account of the Secretary of State’s request that it ‘be ambitious in its thinking and move swiftly on this issue’ (Letter from the Rt Hon Greg Clark to Lord Tyrie, 9 October 2018).
3. The Government has committed to responding to CMA market study recommendations within 90 days. The CMA normally publishes such responses on its website.
4. The Big Four audit firms in the UK are Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
5. The CMA has taken account of the other reviews of the audit market, including Sir John Kingman’s report on the sector regulator, the Government’s consultation on his work and Sir Donald Brydon’s review of the quality and effectiveness of audit. It has also taken into account the recommendations made by the BEIS Select Committee in its review of the audit market.
6. Media queries should be directed to: press@cma.gov.uk or 020 3738 6460.