IT could replace day in court, says Clarke

In a speech to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies on 30 June 2010, Clarke said the coalition government "may well be able to find ways of using technology so people don't always have to go to court and disputes are resolved quickly and effectively. "This is why we published a consultation last week on how we can best use the courts to meet the modern needs of local communities." Clarke did not give any detailed plans for IT. Nor do the consultation documents on geographic areas, published on 23 June 2010, which only mention the prison, witness and custody suite video links already in place. Associated Impact Assessments for each area say that plans for IT, including existing IT systems "have not been assessed at this stage, but will be addressed at the implementation stage Impact Assessment". Clarke added: "Don't get me wrong; I don't propose to go down the path of all singing, all dancing IT schemes. "The history of the public sector is positively littered with grand, imaginative government IT projects that have failed to deliver and led to appalling waste." The consultation documents, covering England and Wales, invite views on the possible closure of 103 magistrates' and 54 county courts in England and Wales, out of a total 530 courts. The Ministry of Justice claims the cuts would provide annual savings of £15.3m on running and £21.5m on maintenance costs. A spokesperson for the PCS union, which represents many court staff, said: "While Clarke's speech is short on detail, we would question the ability of replacing public services run by public servants to any substantial degree with the use of technology." He added: "We have serious concerns about the potential affect of these proposals on the administration of justice in local communities."