[English] - [Cymraeg]
Every year, we help thousands of people using the court and tribunals service. Some people need support to navigate the justice system whilst others need broader support for issues relating to issues such as debt, mental health or housing.
Our role is to provide court and tribunal users with advice on court procedures, information about their case and to make sure safeguarding requirements are met. But we’re aware some court users have additional needs that we cannot meet, and that’s backed up by research by Revolving Doors: Identifying, understanding, and responding to the multiple complex needs of court service users.
To help people navigate the system, we’ve created a signposting strategy. Our ambition is to direct people to the help and advice they need, when they need it. The strategy has 4 strands:
- To provide a minimum and consistent standard for signposting. That means our staff understand the extent, boundaries and expectations of their role in helping court users access support.
- To make sure our staff are confident and can signpost court users effectively.
- To create a culture that supports signposting. That means our staff feel empowered to signpost people to the support they need.
- To keep improving how we direct people to support, making sure we embed best practice and adapt as we better understand the needs of our users.
The aim is to support all court and tribunal users by providing a service that’s accessible and puts them at the heart of what we do.
Helping our staff signpost court users effectively
Every day our staff speak to many different people who use our services, whether it’s visitors to our courts and tribunals or people calling our Service Centres.
Our research tells us that there’s great work being done every day to direct people to the help and support they need, but staff also tell us that people may be experiencing several issues at once and need more rounded support.
Our staff want to be able to help people in a way that’s appropriate and gives everyone a consistent experience. To help our staff, we’ll provide training on identifying people’s needs and signposting them to support effectively. This will give them greater confidence to let people know about the support that’s available earlier in their conversations with us so that they have plenty of opportunities to seek help.
We’re also giving staff and members of the public reassurance by creating a list of verified support providers. These organisations have been through basic check process and have national coverage so they can help wherever the person lives.
An example of this is our work with Support Through Court who help people that may have to attend court alone. Karen Sng-Sugden, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Support Through Court explains:
Support Through Court values the work HMCTS is doing through its signposting strategy. Our volunteer–led service helps people facing court without legal representation, empowering them to navigate the legal system with more confidence. With HMCTS staff signposting to support providers like us, we can reach more people, and improve their chances of accessing justice.
Looking to the future
Once we’ve trained staff in our Service Centres, we’ll focus on frontline staff in courts and tribunals. We know there’s more complexity in a face-to-face setting and there’s greater variation in local advice and support provision, so we want to take time to get this right.
We’ll update GOV.UK to embed links to support services for court users at important points of online and paper applications. We hope that people will see opportunities to seek support as and when they need it rather than when they reach crisis point.
We’ll evaluate our performance regularly. We’ll be able to see how often people visit support sites (whilst individuals remain anonymous) to help us understand how useful the embedded guidance is.
We’ll also analyse data to identify new support needs as they arise, making sure that services we signpost to remain relevant and are developed in line with the needs of people who rely on us.
We’re publishing a follow-up guest blog post from Support Through Court to show how the organisations we work with support people using the justice system. You can sign up for email updates to be notified when it's published.
[English] - [Cymraeg]
Helpu pobl i ddefnyddio’r system gyfiawnder a chael mynediad at y gefnogaeth maent ei hangen
Bob blwyddyn rydym yn helpu miloedd o bobl i ddefnyddio Gwasanaeth Llysoedd a Thribiwnlysoedd EF.
Mae rhai pobl angen cefnogaeth i ddefnyddio’r system gyfiawnder tra bod eraill angen cefnogaeth ehangach i ddelio â materion megis dyled, iechyd meddwl neu faterion tai.
Ein rôl yw rhoi gwybodaeth i ddefnyddwyr y llysoedd a’r tribiwnlysoedd ar brosesau’r llys, gwybodaeth am eu hachos a sicrhau bod unrhyw ofynion diogelu’n cael eu bodloni. Fodd bynnag, rydym yn ymwybodol bod gan rai defnyddwyr llys anghenion ychwanegol na allwn eu diwallu, a chaiff hynny ei gadarnhau mewn adroddiad ymchwil gyda Revolving Doors “Identifying, understanding, and responding to the multiple complex needs of court service users.”
I helpu pobl yn hyn o beth, rydym wedi llunio strategaeth gyfeirio. Ein uchelgais yw cyfeirio pobl at y cymorth a’r cyngor maent ei angen, pan fyddant ei angen. Mae yna 4 rhan i’r strategaeth:
- Darparu safon ofynnol a chyson o gyfeirio. Golyga hyn bod ein staff yn deall ehangder, ffiniau a disgwyliadau eu rôl o safbwynt helpu defnyddwyr y llys i gael mynediad at gefnogaeth.
- Sicrhau bod ein staff yn hyderus ac yn gallu cyfeirio defnyddwyr llys yn effeithiol.
- Creu diwylliant sy’n cefnogi cyfeirio. Golyga hyn bod ein staff yn teimlo’n hyderus i gyfeirio pobl at y cymorth maent ei angen.
- Parhau i wella sut rydym yn cyfeirio pobl at gefnogaeth, a sicrhau ein bod yn sefydlu arferion da ac yn addasu wrth i ni ddod i ddeall anghenion ein defnyddwyr yn well.
Y nod yw cefnogi holl ddefnyddwyr llys a thribiwnlys drwy ddarparu gwasanaeth sy’n hygyrch ac sy’n eu rhoi nhw wrth wraidd yr hyn rydym yn ei wneud.
Helpu ein staff i gyfeirio defnyddwyr llys yn effeithiol
Bob dydd mae ein staff yn siarad â nifer o bobl gwahanol sy’n defnyddio ein gwasanaethau, boed hynny’n ymwelwyr i’n llysoedd a’n tribiwnlysoedd neu’n bobl sy’n ffonio’n Canolfannau Gwasanaethau.
Mae ein gwaith ymchwil yn dangos bod gwaith gwych yn cael ei wneud bob dydd i gyfeirio pobl at y cymorth maent ei angen, ond mae’r staff hefyd yn dweud wrthym bod y bobl hyn efallai yn wynebu sawl her ar yr un pryd a’u bod angen cefnogaeth sy’n cymryd popeth i ystyriaeth.
Mae ei staff eisiau gallu helpu pobl mewn ffordd sy’n briodol ac sy’n rhoi profiad cyffelyb i bawb. I helpu’r staff, byddwn yn darparu hyfforddiant ar adnabod anghenion pobl a’u cyfeirio at gefnogaeth yn effeithiol. Bydd hyn yn rhoi mwy o hyder iddynt hysbysu pobl am y gefnogaeth sydd ar gael yn gynt yn eu sgyrsiau fel bod ganddynt ddigon o gyfleoedd i gael cymorth.
Rydym hefyd am dawelu meddyliau’r staff ac aelodau’r cyhoedd drwy lunio rhestr o ddarparwyr cymorth sydd wedi’u dilysu. Mae’r sefydliadau hyn wedi bod drwy broses wirio sylfaenol ac maent yn darparu gwasanaethau’n genedlaethol felly gallant helpu ble bynnag y mae’r unigolyn yn byw.
Enghraifft o hyn yw ein gwaith gyda ‘Support Through Court’ sy’n helpu pobl a fydd efallai yn wynebu gorfod mynychu’r llys ar eu pen eu hunain. Meddai Karen Sng-Sugden, Prif Swyddog Gweithredol (COO) Support Through Court:
Mae Support Through Court yn gwerthfawrogi’r gwaith y mae GLlTEF yn ei wneud drwy ei strategaeth gyfeirio. Mae ein gwirfoddolwyr yn y gwasanaeth yn helpu pobl sy’n wynebu mynychu’r llys heb gynrychiolaeth, gan roi’r pŵer iddynt ddefnyddio’r system gyfreithiol yn fwy hyderus. Drwy i staff GLlTEF gyfeirio unigolion at ddarparwyr cefnogaeth fel ni, gallwn gyrraedd mwy o bobl a gwella eu siawns o gael mynediad at gyfiawnder.
Edrych i’r dyfodol
Unwaith y byddwn wedi hyfforddi’r staff yn y Canolfannau Gwasanaethau, byddwn yn canolbwyntio ar hyfforddi staff rheng flaen yn ein llysoedd a’n tribiwnlysoedd. Gwyddom fod mwy o gymhlethdod mewn sefyllfa wyneb yn wyneb a bod mwy o amrywiaeth yn y ddarpariaeth cyngor a chymorth lleol, felly rydym eisiau cymryd amser i gael hyn yn iawn. Byddwn hefyd yn diweddaru GOV.UK i gynnwys dolenni i wasanaethau cymorth ar gyfer defnyddwyr llys ar adegau pwysig yn y broses o wneud ceisiadau ar-lein neu ar bapur. Rydym yn gobeithio y bydd pobl yn gweld cyfleoedd i geisio cymorth fel y maent ei angen yn hytrach na phan fyddant wedi cyrraedd y pen.
Byddwn yn gwerthuso ein perfformiad yn rheolaidd. Byddwn yn gallu gweld pa mor aml fydd pobl yn ymweld â gwefannau cymorth (er ni fyddwn yn gallu adnabod unigolion) i’n helpu ni i ddeall pa mor ddefnyddiol yw’r dolenni hyn.
Byddwn hefyd yn dadansoddi data i adnabod anghenion cefnogaeth newydd wrth iddynt ddod i’r amlwg, sicrhau bod y gwasanaethau rydym yn cyfeirio unigolion atynt yn parhau i fod yn berthnasol a’u bod wedi’u datblygu gan ystyried anghenion pobl sy’n dibynnu arnom.
Byddwn yn cyhoeddi blog dilynol gan westai o Support Through Court i ddangos sut mae sefydliadau rydyn ni’n gweithio â nhw yn cefnogi pobl sy’n defnyddio’r system gyfiawnder. Cofrestrwch i gael diweddariadau drwy e-bost i gael gwybod pryd fydd y blog hwn ar gael.
2 comments
Comment by cally starforth hill posted on
Organisations like Support Through Court do not give legal advice, nor do the Citizens Advice Bureau and yet countless time I have been directed to those organisations, by your HMCTS courts, as being the go to agencies for free legal advice. The courts of all agencies should not be passing incorrect information and wrongly directing litigants in person to agencies which cannot help them with such matters.
In truth there is vitually no free legal advice and therefore for most ordinary people the court system is inaccessible.
Comment by HMCTS posted on
Thanks for your comment. It’s important that users are signposted to the right place depending on their needs. Your feedback will help us to evaluate our performance and identify gaps in signposting support.
Legal advice is one user need, but we’ve found there are many more. We provide a description of the service, which is read out to users, so they are clear on what that organisation can offer.
We do not direct our users to Support Through Court for legal advice - we provide the following description when referring: “A charity which provides free independent help for people without legal representation in England and Wales. They provide practical, procedural and emotional support in Family and Civil law. They do not provide legal advice or legal representation. Support can be remote, or in-person through one of their local services, or via their free national helpline.”
Organisations providing free legal advice are included in our signposting directory. Users would need to meet with the organisations specific criteria or pass an assessment process to be eligible.