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Small Claims (Courts)

: The small claims track is one of the cornerstones of civil justice, providing access to justice for both consumers and business that is simple and quick to use, and where liability for costs is limited. I thank the Constitutional Affairs Committee for selecting its report on small claims for debate. This is the second time a report of the Committee has been debated in this Chamber and, yet again, the discussion has been excellent and the attendance high, considering that this is the last day before a recess. The Members who have spoken have different areas of expertise, but we all know—from constituents' visits to our surgeries, for example—that this is an important issue above all for people seeking access to justice. Members have made many insightful and important points, and I will try to respond to them. Litigation should be used only as a last resort, but if somebody cannot get redress by other means, they must be able to make a claim. The vast majority of claims made end in a default judgment—the defendant has not acknowledged service of the claim or provided a defence—and then enforcement proceedings can begin. However, a relatively low-value defended claim will be allocated to the small claims track. I thank the Chairman of the Committee, the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) for his recognition, which was echoed by other Members—possibly with the exception of the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly)—that the small claims track is well regarded, and I thank everyone who makes that the success that it is, including the district judges, the court staff and the advice sector. Although the small claims track is well received, we are not complacent about it. For some, the courts will always be intimidating, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) rightly said. They will find filling forms a problem, the procedure daunting and knowing where to seek advice or assistance far from straightforward. We recognise the problems and are continuing to look at ways of addressing them. We are not being complacent; we want to improve the existing provisions and to introduce new ones. The community legal service has worked with the Department to ensure that court staff can correctly identify sources of advice and refer people to them. We already provide information through leaflets at courts and via Her Majesty's Courts Service website for litigants, and provide assistance to litigants at courts. The hon. Member for Hornchurch (James Brokenshire) referred to that. However, we can do more. We continually review the leaflets to see if they can be improved and we are looking at how we can change our website to make it more user-friendly. The small claims support service pilot in Reading will provide practical assistance to litigants in person in bringing or defending their claim. Our money claim online service has been a major initiative. It allows people to bring and defend claims online for up to £100,000. We know attending court can be difficult, time-consuming and costly, which is why we are expanding the types of hearing that can be dealt with by telephone. Those who do not know what to expect can contact their local court, not only for information and assistance, but also to see what is involved. Those with special needs can contact the court for help. This all indicates the thought and effort that is being put into the civil justice system to ensure that it continues to be highly regarded by the people who need to use it. The Chairman of the Committee, the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, asked us to consider four points: IT enforcement, the level of payments for personal injury, housing and Europe. I will address them in the order in which he raised them. On IT, we recognise the need to invest in technology and modernisation to support effective delivery of justice, including in the small claims court. We have provided an additional £75 million for IT projects in the civil and family courts over the last three years. We have ring-fenced a further £25 million in funding for each year of the current spending round specifically for modernising IT in the civil and family courts. Through the courts and tribunal modernisation programme, we have delivered a range of IT projects, including money claim online, an award-winning online claims service; the LINK project, which installed new IT infrastructure in larger county courts and the royal courts of justice; a new generation of laptop computers for all judges, including district judges and those sitting in the small claims courts; a pilot of an electronic appointments diary in the civil and family courts; and the online forms project, which makes 20 of the most popular civil court forms available for completion online. Also, a wide range of other IT projects are under consideration. All that is not enough; we have done quite a bit, but there is much further to go. My hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) asked a question about consultants. The Department is doing a great amount on IT in the criminal courts, but we acknowledge that we need to do more in the civil courts, beyond the criminal justice system. One of the biggest issues is money. If anyone has any ideas about what else we could cut in order to put more into IT, or about ways in which we could do better with our IT, cheaply, we will definitely be interested to hear it.