Need to Know: issue 51

• Intranet homepage changes

• Going through your business continuity plan

• SOC reminders
• Refreshed media guidance
• Travel subsistence costs payable for qualified legal representatives

• Crown Court clerk intranet guidance restructure

• Updated confidential address policy
• Family Public Law readiness and expert checklist pilot

• Special Tribunals room and clerking bookings

Intranet homepage changes

Over the coming weeks, we are making some small structural changes to the intranet to make it easier for you to find content and guidance. The My work link at the top of the homepage will move to one of the tabs just beneath, it will replace the guidance and forms tab. The My work section covers all operational guidance such as SOPs and job cards. All information currently under the ‘Guidance and forms’ tab can either be found from our new A-Z page or the About Us tab.

Please send all feedback on this change to: hmcts.communications@justice.gov.uk

Going through your business continuity plan

We have created a business continuity and resilience TIB-it on how to go through your business continuity plan. This will allow you to consider your approach to different scenarios/incidents and find gaps in your plan which might need addressing.

Standard Operating Control (SOC) reminders

The quarter 3 SOC deadline is Friday 29 December 2023. HEO managers should prepare to finalise their SOC reports to submit to SEO managers for final review if not already completed. Can you also take into consideration annual leave and bank holidays over the holiday period to ensure your SOC reports are submitted on time.  

Refreshed media guidance training

We’re encouraging staff who deal with the media as part of their role to complete the refreshed media guidance training which is now available on MyLearning (login required).

The training covers a range of topics from authentication of a journalist and media access to courtrooms to managing enquiries from accredited journalists and reporting restriction orders.

The training is in addition to the comprehensive guidance on the intranet which includes links to supporting materials, operational processes and desktop guides to support media access to courts and tribunals and the principle of open justice.

Travel and subsistence costs for qualified legal representatives

The amended Prohibition of Cross-Examination in Person (Fees of Court-Appointed Qualified Legal Representatives) policy will come into force on Tuesday 2 January 2024 and will allow qualified legal representatives to claim travel expenses.

Part 4 of this confirms that:

• Travelling expenses are only payable where a qualified legal representative travelled to a court at least 10 miles from their office or chambers.
• Overnight accommodation and overnight subsistence allowance are only payable where a qualified legal representative travelled to a court:
  • at least 100 miles from their office or chambers to attend a preliminary or cross-examination hearing which was listed for one day or
  • at least 50 miles from their office or chambers to attend a preliminary or cross-examination hearing which was listed for more than one day.

The Legal Aid Agency will continue to administer claims by qualified legal representatives for any fees and for travel and subsistence costs.

Crown Court clerk intranet guidance restructure

We have restructured the My work Crown Court clerks section as part of wider improvements to the intranet. Please ensure personal intranet bookmarks are updated and you familiarise yourself with the new page layout.

Updated: confidential address policy

We have amended the confidential address policy as the checking requirements have changed.

If you are only placing documents on the court file, you do not need to check the documents on receipt to ensure that they don't reveal confidential contact details.

However, if you’re serving a document on a party, you must check every page to ensure that confidential contact details aren’t revealed. This will also apply if it’s necessary to provide a party with a copy of a document in the courtroom or at the counter.

On the rare occasion that a party asks to inspect a file, it will be necessary to check the file thoroughly and remove any documents containing confidential contact details.

Family Public Law readiness and expert checklist pilot

The Public Law readiness and expert checklist pilot begins on the Tuesday 2 January 2024.

The checklists will be completed by those who attend the advocates' meeting (local authority and Cafcass lawyers and unrepresented parents), prior to the case management hearing and updated ahead of the issues resolution hearing.

They will be uploaded to the portal by the local authority lawyer. The checklist should be saved as ‘readiness checklist’ or ‘expert checklist’ and uploaded in a section titled ‘case summary’.

Judges are then able to review the documents and use this as a trigger point for early case management decisions to get a case back on track.

The pilot areas:

• readiness checklist: Truro, Manchester, Milton Keynes, and Kingston-Upon-Hull Combined Court
• expert checklist: West London Family Court and Newcastle Family Court
• readiness and expert checklist: Liverpool, Swansea and Nottingham (Nottingham will be changing to readiness only once the practice direction is amended)

Special Tribunals room and clerking bookings

The clerk and venue booking guidance has been updated, please make you familiarise yourself with the new process.

The main updates are:

• clear steps all stakeholders should take.
• clear escalation route, if required.
• up-to-date job cards for all Special Tribunals 

Issue 51: 20 December 2023