20. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has kept up its track record of over-ambitious timetabling and poor project management at a significant cost to the taxpayer. During our recent inquiry on the progress of the transforming rehabilitation programme, the MoJ acknowledged mistakes it had made with this project, telling us that the programme "has not delivered for the taxpayer all the outcomes that the public would expect".25 The department's greater willingness to acknowledge past errors is welcome but provides little comfort until we see evidence that the lessons of those errors have been learned.
21. Our report into HM Courts & Tribunals Service's (HMCTS) £1.2 billion modernisation programme challenged the scale and pace of reforms. Whilst elements of such reforms had been introduced abroad, no other country attempted to change its entire court system within a similar timeframe. The additional cost-saving pressures meant HMCTS failed to either meaningfully consult with stakeholders or adequately test and review the impact of its reforms. This has risked HMCTS presiding over a system which offers poorer access to justice for vulnerable users.26
22. I also remain to be convinced that HMCTS' purported savings of £265 million per year are genuine and not just another illustration of cost shunting. Changes banked as 'efficiency savings', for instance the increased use of video hearings, can simply create costs for other taxpayer-funded organisations. In this case, the police and prison service who are compelled to purchase the necessary technology and ensure the additional staffing required to supervise defendants. The consequences of cost-shunting within the MoJ needs to be better considered and understood given that we know that so many parts of the system are under significant financial strain. I am concerned that the department has not applied enough of a long-term view to the overall financial impact of its reforms. However, I welcome the MoJ accepting our recommendation that it work with HM Treasury to quantify the reforms' financial implications on the wider justice system. The committee will keep a close eye on this.
23. Similarly, a silo approach to managing taxpayer money permeates the MoJ's 'Transforming Rehabilitation' programme. Introduced to the public as a 'rehabilitation revolution' it has instead shown itself to be a contracting catastrophe.27 The failure was a textbook case of inadequate piloting, poor modelling, and a 'black box approach' in which the Government divested itself of responsibility to understand how financial savings could be achieved safely and sustainably whilst simultaneously driving up standards. The resulting underfunded and fragile probation market has a track record of provider failure: two out of the original eight private sector suppliers managing Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) have since entered administration (Working Links and Interserve). Cutting their losses, the Government decided to terminate the contracts fourteen months early. The entire package of reforms has let down offenders, let down the hardworking staff in the justice sector, and let down the taxpayer to the tune of at least £467 million.28
24. Through the Gate (TTG) services, set up to provide employment and housing support for ex-offenders to reduce reoffending provides another example of performance failure which ultimately resulted in costs moving elsewhere in the system. Poor staff training, insufficient understanding of offering tailored support, and a culture prioritising targets above addressing specific needs, meant the costs of failure were ultimately picked up by the taxpayer elsewhere. Furthermore, the true impact of TTG's failures on both communities and ex-offenders is difficult to quantify and both have been badly let down.
25. I welcome the MoJ's commitment to learning lessons from previous projects and the senior team appear thoughtful, however, they have inherited a series of very challenging issues. Not only this, but we have just seen another reshuffle at the department and the loss of the prisons minister: there remains a big task ahead.
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25 Committee of Public Accounts, Oral evidence: Transforming rehabilitation: progress review, HC 1747, 13 March 2019, Qq 6, 17, 28
26 Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming courts and tribunals, Fifty-Sixth Report of Session 2017-19, HC 976, 20 July 2018
27 Chair's comments on the publication of the Committee of Public Accounts report on Community Rehabilitation Contracts
28 Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming rehabilitation: progress review, Ninety-Fourth Report of Session 2017-19, HC 1747, 3 May 2019