Preface
Almost before the ink was dry on our last Annual Report, the Government published its White Paper on "Transforming Public Services: Complaints, Redress and Tribunals".The White Paper confirmed plans, long supported by the Council, to take forward a programme of tribunal reform, creating a new Tribunals Service within the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
No less importantly, it set this programme firmly in the context of administrative justice more broadly. It gave new emphasis to improved decision-making; and, where disputes nevertheless arise, to resolving them fairly in the most effective and proportionate way.
For us at the Council, it proposed a wider remit reflecting this wider perspective, extending our interest beyond tribunals to the administrative justice landscape as a whole.
The Council warmly welcomed all this, and vigorously set about building on earlier developments in our work to equip us to fulfil this intended new role.
Participation in our 2004 Conference, addressed by Lord Falconer as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State, was further widened to include many from the advice and voluntary sectors, and from the academic world.
Early in 2005, we launched a new electronic magazine, entitled 'Adjust', to serve both as a newsletter and channel for information and, we hope, as a medium for sharing ideas and good practice across the tribunals and administrative justice world.
Since then we have held user workshops in London and Manchester, and our Scottish Committee another in Livingston all of them helping to give us new insights into the user needs we see as an increasingly important focus. We have also held our first-ever Conference in Wales, attended by the First Minister, Rhodri Morgan.
Alongside our flourishing partnership with the Judicial Studies Board, we have strengthened our relationship with the British and Irish Ombudsman Association, developed strong links with the Senior President designate of Tribunals, and extended our knowledge of mediation and other alternative forms of dispute resolution.
All in all, a year which was both significant and stretching. But one which has left us looking forward to the further challenges ahead.
The Rt Hon the Lord Newton of Braintree OBE, DL
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