Consultation on ‘COVID operating hours’ in Crown Courts

As part of HMCTS’ Crime Recovery Plan, one of the four pillars to recovery is to further maximise the use of our existing estate through opening our buildings for longer during coronavirus (COVID-19). The pandemic and its necessary countermeasures are an unprecedented challenge to the courts and tribunals which merits an unprecedented response.

COVID operating hours (COH) were piloted in seven Crown Court centres to test whether we could do more in the limited space we have to support recovery. The pilots were unrelated to previous pilots which have tested extended and flexible operating hours in the civil and family courts. They were purposefully designed to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, and to be a temporary response to increase capacity.

Following the pilots of COH at Crown Court locations around the country, assessment data was collected from each site to assess the impacts of COH and how effectively the pilots met the aim of increasing capacity to reduce backlogs. HMCTS then undertook a short, targeted consultation with the legal professions on the key findings from the assessment of the pilot sites and a proposal to widen the use of COH across more Crown court centres.

Presentation with question and answer session 7 December 2020