Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which trade unions have been included on the Evaluation Advisory Group for the flexible operating hours pilots at (a) Brentford County Court, and (b) Manchester Civil Justice Centre.

As part of the Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Reform Programme, the Flexible Operating Hours (FOH) project was set up to look at options to maximise the use of our court rooms by using them at different times of the day, outside of the traditional hours of 10am – 4pm. On 16 November 2018, it was announced that HMCTS will be proceeding with two pilots in the Civil and Family Courts in Brentford County Court and Manchester Civil Justice Centre and a revised Pilots Prospectus was published. Local Implementation Teams in Brentford and Manchester will finalise the pilot designs and start dates, which are likely to be in Spring 2019.

A key objective of the FOH pilots is to understand the impacts of FOH for all court users, including HMCTS staff. An Evaluation Advisory Group has been established to ensure a balanced and comprehensive assessment of pilot activity by independent assessors. Consultation with trade unions will take place under separate arrangements in recognition of the need to consider FOH in the context of wider organisational changes affecting HMCTS staff.

In Manchester Civil Justice Centre, the total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff is 205 with 29.5 FTE at Band A to D, 146 FTE at Band E and 29.5 FTE at Band F. In Brentford County Court, the total number of FTE staff is 15.5 with 1 FTE at Band C, 2 FTE at Band D, 11 FTE at Band E and 1.5 FTE at Band F. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.5. We are committed to ensuring that courts and tribunals have adequate staff to meet operational demands. Staffing requirements for the FOH pilots will be considered by the Local Implementation Teams.