Heidi Alexander will have a brief covering ongoing reform of the courts system while, at the DWP, Andrew Western has been given a ministerial remit covering digitisation and workplace transformation

One of the new ministers appointed at the Ministry of Justice will have a mandate to oversee the reform of the courts system, including increasing the use of artificial intelligence and other digital technologies.

Following Labour’s victory in the general election, Swindon South MP Heidi Alexander was named as a minister of state at the MoJ. Her remit has now been confirmed, with courts reform high up the list of her responsibilities.

This includes “artificial intelligence, modernisation, and digital reform”, according to her updated biography on GOV.UK.

Since 2016, HM Courts and Tribunals Service has been engaged in a major long-term project to deliver reform and digitisation of the courts system. The programme has faced difficulties over the years and, last year, the Public Accounts Committee criticised HMCTS after finding that less than 10% of the modernisation scheme’s £1.3bn budget remains – with work still only half completed.

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Also on Alexander’s ministerial brief are areas including recovery of the criminal courts system, the civil justice system, miscarriages of justice, probate, press and communications, and irregular migration, as well as the operations of HMCTS, the Legal Aid Agency, and the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Office for the Public Guardian.

Meanwhile, in the Department for Work and Pensions, duties have also been confirmed for the organisation’s dedicated minister for transformation: Andrew Western, the MP for Stretford and Urmston.

Western will oversee digital, AI and service modernisation, workplace transformation and customer experience, as well as the DWP’s work to tackle fraud, error and debt. Also in his mandate are: devolution; international services and oversight of arm’s-length bodies including the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council and the Office for Nuclear Regulation.