Training, appraisal and mentoring in tribunals
(April 2006)
The Judicial Studies Board (JSB) completed its survey into the training, appraisal and mentoring arrangements in tribunals at the end of March. Tony Massally from the JSB outlines the initial findings.
The results of the survey represent a significant update to the information gathered by the JSB, in tandem with the Council, back in 2002. The latest survey exercise commenced in June 2005 and canvassed a total of 34 jurisdictions in two distinct phases. Phase 1 looked at 20 tribunals either currently within or soon to transfer to the DCA, while Phase 2 focussed on 14 non-DCA tribunals. The findings reveal the considerable progress that has been made in tribunals over the last four years, particularly in the area of appraisal.
The survey found that, although the amount and nature of induction training varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it was in direct correlation to the size of the tribunal. This in itself will not come as much of a surprise, but there is increased commonality on the core topics covered during induction and the training compares favourably with other streams of the judiciary. The same variation is evident in the continuation training offered, which ranges from the comprehensive rolling programmes found in the larger tribunals to the annual training events provided in the smaller sized jurisdictions.
It is particularly encouraging to note that a lot of work has been done to establish appraisal within tribunals. It is, perhaps, the biggest growth area over the past four years. Nearly all tribunals of a reasonable size have introduced schemes to appraise their part-time members, some relatively recently, while others have plans to do so in the near future. It is pleasing to see that appraisal is not just the province of the large tribunal, but its implementation does pose difficulties to the smallest jurisdictions. There can be little doubt, however, that the tribunals judiciary are closer to a widely employed system of appraisal than judges in the HMCS.
The same theme emerged in relation to mentoring, which poses similar difficulties for the smaller tribunal. Mentoring was found, in the main, to be a mixture of the informal and the formal. Understandably, mentoring activity is dependent on an intake of new members.
A lot of innovative work has been taking place in tribunals, particularly in piloting mediation schemes and providing training in management skills and IT, which will be of benefit to the new Tribunals Service. The JSB would like to record its thanks to all the jurisdictions that took part in this exercise during a particularly busy period.
The survey is, however, only the starting point in the JSB's programme of Evaluation. The Evaluation Framework, which was piloted in December 2005, and endorsed recently by the Senior President, will be launched formally next month. The Programme will go beyond quantitative data, to explore the overall consistency of approach in relation to training, appraisal and mentoring in tribunals. It should also provide more detailed information on the resources devoted to support each of these activities and will seek to complement the work currently being conducted by the Tribunals Service to review the levels of judicial support and the role of non-legal panel members in tribunals.
Copies of the Training Survey and the Evaluation Framework will be distributed to Tribunal Presidents and Training Heads in May.