1. Using insight to support tribunals
HMCTS Customer insight

2. The Customer Insight team has been set up to improve the customer experience by delivering usable insights on our customers
The Customer Insight Team leads on what we know about our customers. The team will gather and communicate data, research and insight about customers in a way which helps colleagues to make decisions about how we develop and deliver our services. The team takes a multi-disciplinary approach and has a wide range of expertise including in research methods, market research, behavioural science, and data analysis.
Business Priority in 16-17
Success Factor(s)
Improve the customer experience
Improvements in service with positive feedback from customers
Begin to deliver usable insight on our customers and users
Insight function established and delivering usable insight
Gain access to insights from outside the organisation including from sector experts
External insights driving service improvements
Deliver regular products distilling key insights about our customers which underpins improvements to the customer experience
User/customer experience improvements, change programme benefits & minimised user/business costs
Ensure we have access to a small amount of expert insight resource (e.g. data and behavioural science) that can be deployed on priority projects
Resource in place and successfully influencing projects
Ensure our insight function jointly supports with others the creation of an effective data strategy for HMCTS
Data strategy agreed with partners

3. Making sense of the existing evidence base is one of our wider team priorities and a review of the data on Tribunals is already underway
We will create a series of products that will take into account the existing research and an analysis of internal data (e.g. complaints/call volumes). The images below are illustrative.
Understanding our
customers: SSCS Tribunals
HMCTS Customer insight
Understanding our
customers: Employment Tribunals
HMCTS Customer insight

4. Changes in Tribunal volumes have been driven by policy interventions
Example CI pack slide
Overview of the Tribunal System
Changes in Tribunal volumes have been driven by policy interventions
Key insight: Policy changes implemented by HMCTS, MoJ and other government departments have been the driving force behind the significant changes to tribunal volumes between 2013 and 2016
Implication for HMCTS: The Tribunal services teams need to be horizon scanning internally and across government departments for forthcoming policy changes as well as externally for trends that could impact the policy landscape (e.g. Brexit) if they want to understand future service demand.
Changes to legal aid- MoJ
Immigration Act- Home Office
DWP Changes Appeals Process
Changes to Employment Tribunal- HMCTS
Changes to Fee Structures -HMCTS
Fig. 1: All Tribunals Receipts and Disposals, MoJ Published Statistics
Findings
Disposals declined 43% between 2009 and 2016
Receipts declined 49% between 2009 and 2016
Receipts and Disposals have remained relatively consistent since 2015/16
Receipt and Disposal declines appear related to policy activity
Evidence Gaps
A comprehensive view of forthcoming policy development across government that could impact Tribunals

5. The research to understand the Customer Experience will cover Employment and SSCS tribunals
Internal scoping and sign off
Project inception and design
Qualitative research
Quantitative research
Analysis and reporting
Six key research questions
A combination of 48 depth interviews, 6-8 post hearing interviews and 8 reconvened triads to explore and understand different customer journeys in detail moving beyond what is already known and linking customer experience to specific aspects of their journey
1.What are the fundamental factors that drive customer experience?
2. How do these core factors manifest themselves and/or vary across different circumstances, journeys, stages, and customer types?
3. Which of these factors most influences customers’ levels of trust and confidence in the way the justice system is administered?
4. For those customers whose journeys involved a court or tribunal hearing, what influenced the decisions that took them that far?
5. What are the needs and expectations of customers who use courts and tribunal services and settings?
6. Which aspects of their experience do customers value most highly, across all jurisdictions, customer types, etc.?
Oct 24th
tbc Dec 5th
A face to face survey of 1000 court and tribunal users to explore experiences, expectations and preferences throughout their journey. This will be used to unpick what matters most to customers and the relative importance of these aspects
early Jan
end Feb
Bringing together the insights from the qualitative stage and the survey. Key driver analysis to understand drivers of experience.
end March
April/May

6. The Customer Insight team are delivering or scoping 8 projects to support Tribunals
Description
Benefits
1.Tribunals Customer Insight
Bringing together, summarising and synthesising all the research available on Tribunal customers split by tribunal chamber. Including published research, OGD research and data, academic evidence, international evidence, internal systems data, complaints and contact data.
An initial resource for HMCTS staff to better understand the Tribunals landscape and the evidence gaps, e.g. would ensure future digital design is more efficient.
2. Primary Research on Customer Experience
Two objectives: 1) Understand the current customer experience and how a customers circumstances impact on that experience. 2) Understand the needs and expectations of current customers, i.e. what matters to customers.
Prioritise our resources to improve our services where it matters most for customers. Identify where customers require better support to access our systems, e.g. to ensure processes are clear and effective and the system is available to all customers.
3. Drawing insight from international experience
Review what leading nations are doing in the Tribunals space related to customer service and draw out insights and implications for HMCTS
An opportunity to ensure that we're learning from the best international comparators.
4. Data from OGDs
Extract data from OGDs about the Tribunals customer base, e.g. what does analysis of DWP data tell us about the customers appealing PIP decisions.
Identify opportunities for service improvements and validate assumptions about future design.
5. Understand more about customer demographics
Bring together what we know about customer demographics for each tribunal chamber, especially useful for SSCS?
Fundamental intelligence to understand the customer base, especially useful for development of digital services.
6. ACAS analysis
What does ACAS data tell us about the 17% of cases that can't be mediated and make their way to an employment tribunal?
We'd know more about the customers in that part of the "funnel". Specifically why their issue couldn't be mediated. This would make service redesign more informed and built round user need.
7. Mental health tribunals workflow
The volume of mental health appeals has increased 50% over the last 8 years, it would be useful to understand why and whether or not it's a customer related issue.
Better forecasting of service demand.
8. User choice for paper vs. oral hearings
What drives the user choice between paper and oral hearings, where currently in SSCS 16% choose paper and 84% oral and what are the implications for digital design.
Improve digital design for customers.