Crown Court: Recruitment

Question

Recruitment commenced from June 2020, to bring in an additional 1600 people to support the work of the courts in tackling backlogs and to increase capacity in our courts including Crown Courts.

Recruitment for these posts have been undertaken through various sources, to increase the number of candidates. These have included running national recruitment campaigns, accepting staff referrals, contacting retired staff members to ask them to return, and increasing our agency workforce.

Of the 1600 people required, 1227 are already in post, and a further 354 individuals are undergoing clearances, and expected to join in the next few weeks.

In addition, more court clerks and court administrative staff are being recruited to support the running of Nightingale courts and existing courts to increase sitting day capacity.