HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has announced a one-year extension of its court reform programme.

The extension takes into account our concerns about the risk that the fast pace of this ambitious reform programme would not allow sufficient time for proper testing, evaluation, and evidence that technology works.

The extra time will allow HMCTS more time to develop some of the shared systems that sit behind their next set of online services, and to accommodate changes to the crime programme.