Asked by: Suzanne Webb (Conservative - Stourbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many covid-19 positive test results there have been amongst HM Courts and Tribunals Service staff from 25 February 2021 to the most recent date for which figures are available.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Between 25 February and 12 March 15 HMCTS staff (including agency) reported a positive test result for COVID-19 to HMCTS.
The table below shows the days the positive results were reported to HMCTS:
| 25 Feb | 26 Feb | 27 Feb | 28 Feb | 1 Mar | 2 Mar | 3 Mar | 4 Mar | 5 Mar | 6 Mar | 7 Mar | 8 Mar | 9 Mar | 10 Mar | 11 Mar | 12 Mar |
HMCTS Staff positive cases (daily) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Due to the time taken for individuals to take a test, receive test results, and then communicate this to HMCTS, further cases may be added after the time of publishing.
All HMCTS buildings continue to meet or exceed all Public Health safety standards. We follow all Public Health and Government COVID-secure guidelines and have put measures in place to keep all court and tribunal users safe. When Government or Public Health guidance changes our measures are updated, an approach which is endorsed by Public Health England and Public Health Wales. HMCTS employs around 19,800 staff (payroll and non-payroll).
HMCTS staff engagement is maintained through regular internal updates on COVID-secure measures and feedback (from staff and users) is encouraged through various reporting methods.
HMCTS numbers have tracked the national averages – sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower. Overall, the HMCTS staff positive incident rate is broadly similar to national averages over time and recently prevalence rates amongst staff have been trending below the national average. For example, at the end of the period set out above, the rolling 7-day per 100,000 rate among HMCTS staff was at 10.0, compared with a national rate of 59.6.
HMCTS’ investigations (and those of public health authorities) have indicated that transmission on the estate is rare (i.e. that, in most cases, transmission outside of the workplace is more likely).