JUSTICE North, founded last year as a division of national charity JUSTICE, found a ‘siloed’ and ‘piecemeal’ approach to decision-making on justice issues despite the government’s pre-election pledge to transfer power from Westminster to regional leaders. Its inaugural report, ‘Closer to home: principles for a justice system shaped by communities’, launched last week at Broudie Jackson Canter’s Liverpool offices, found progress hampered by funding gaps and weak consultation.
Fiona Rutherford, chief executive of JUSTICE, said: ‘While there is no “one size fits all” model, locally led initiatives can and do work well.
‘They include Liverpool Crown Court which, through initiatives like encouraging plea bargains and inverting the common practice of placing less serious cases as the lowest priority, has reduced the average wait from charge to trial to 206 days. This is more than 100 days faster than the national average.’
The report also cites the Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Leeds, which is funded by the third sector, as an example of the value of locally coordinated commissioning arrangements. It saved more than £935,000 in the financial year 2023–24 as well as seeing a reduction in contested hearings and fewer children being placed into care.
Esther Leach, managing director, Broudie Jackson Canter, said: ‘Justice is the bedrock on which our society is built, yet it has remained peripheral to the devolution agenda for far too long.’
The thinktank sets out eight principles for reform in the report, including ‘meaningful local consultation’ where changes are developed with communities rather than announced and imposed, long-term funding rather than competitive bidding cycles and short-term grants, and more accessible information so cross-area comparisons can be made.
