Modernising justice

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. It’s in the midst of a 10-year Reform Programme to increase capacity and deliver more accessible, efficient and effective justice for the public. One element of the programme involved modernising the case management system for the Residential Property Tribunal, which helps resolve disputes related to residential properties. 

Challenge 

The Residential Property Tribunal’s case management system was comprised of 5 different legacy on-premises solutions – and relied on outdated and unsupported technology. HMCTS wanted to modernise it by developing a new solution called ResCase to capture the details of cases before the first-tier Residential Property Chamber tribunal.

The aims were to: 

• Reduce technological and operational risks
• Deliver new capabilities to eliminate inefficiencies caused by manual, cumbersome and error-prone processes
• Make it easier for staff to manage their workloads and collaborate across the tribunal’s 5 offices

But there was a significant challenge. The first iteration of ResCase needed to launch in just 12 weeks to comply with a stringent legislative deadline.

Why Kainos 

Kainos is a key HMCTS delivery partner for large-scale digital transformation projects. For 8 years, we have helped them migrate legacy systems and applications, increase efficiencies and modernise justice service delivery.  

Approach

Low-code approach for fast delivery 

We had an immovable 12-week timeline to deliver the first phase of ResCase. We met that deadline by using agile and low-code methodologies. 

• Agile, user-centric approach – Working as a blended team with Kainos’ Microsoft experts, HMCTS staff and other suppliers, we focused on understanding user needs and current processes. This provided the underpinning for an MVP within the first few weeks. We then focused on continuous improvement by engaging with frequent stakeholder feedback and releasing functionality quickly.

• Low-code development – We reimagined the 20-year-old legacy case management applications as a web-based, Microsoft Model-driven Power App running in the cloud and utilising the latest Power Platform features. As part of this, we consolidated the 5 separate databases into a single Dataverse instance to facilitate data sharing across offices. The low-code development facilitated faster time to market by enabling rapid prototyping and customisable solutions that met diverse tribunal needs. 

Using this approach, we not only met the compliance deadline, we went live 2 weeks early (and under budget). 

Scaling up and enhancing functionality 

Following the successful initial launch in December 2023, we enhanced ResCase in phases. In Phase 2, we expanded it to include over 50 new jurisdictions and additional third-party integrations, such as postcode lookup. We met the ambitious deadline of 30 April 2024 under budget, improving the core solution and delivering essential functionality. 

Phase 3 involved full data migration of the legacy case management system, alongside data retention and archiving functionality. This went live in August 2024 – again, on time and under budget. 

Results 

Modern, user-friendly software in 10 weeks 

By combining low code with agile ways of working, we set a new HMCTS benchmark for quickly developing high-quality, user-centred software.  

ResCase is now an effective, web-based solution. It has helped HMCTS improve a vital service that had been constrained by legacy technology and ways of working. Tribunal staff can now log in with single sign-on, self-serve on essential tasks, automate tedious manual and error-prone processes, and collaborate with colleagues in other offices to improve justice services. 

900+ hours saved – with dramatically enhanced justice services 

ResCase is successfully streamlining processes and compliance, helping HMCTS provide more effective justice services. Key benefits include: 

• Streamlined document management – Document management is a critical aspect of ResCase. With the old system, users had to create case documents by copying data into an old Microsoft Word template. Caseworkers had to do this many times a day, which added up to hours wasted and meant human error was inevitable. ResCase automatically generates required documentation, saving time while improving accuracy. A task that previously took several minutes now takes seconds. 

• More efficient workload management – The legacy application didn’t allow data sharing for work to be allocated across the 5 offices. This meant there were often situations where one office was overloaded but others with capacity couldn’t help. Because ResCase provides a unified view of data, work can be allocated across offices as needed.  

Thanks to this improved productivity and collaboration, HMCTS is saving 900+ working hours of staff time per year. 

£700k of cost savings 

HMCTS is on track to save £700,000 in operational costs from the increased efficiency ResCase enables. 

It’s enjoying additional long-term savings because ResCase significantly outperforms the legacy system in terms of hosting, licence and support costs. Not only can ResCase be supported internally, but it has also reduced ticket volumes, helping HMCTS’ IT function operate more cost-effectively. 

A new paradigm for developing digital services 

This project became an exemplar for low code in HMCTS. It changed the organisation’s perception of Power Platform as a tool for temporary solutions, showing how it delivers enterprise-grade solutions fast. Thanks to its new low-code capabilities, HMCTS has reduced development time by 87.5%. 

This has already benefited additional HMCTS projects. For example, leveraging reusable components and lessons from ResCase, we delivered a new case management system for the Court of Protection in under 6 months – allowing HMCTS to minimise operational risks. 

These achievements will be instrumental in helping HMCTS manage the forecasted exponential growth in case numbers as it continues its Reform Programme.