Ms Marie-Claire Maney:

We were closed for five months prior to my coming in. My first task on joining an empty office on 1 July was to get the office reopened and get information technology facilities. That is why we joined the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer to get Polycom and all the IT equipment. I am delighted to say we opened on 4 August 2020 and started remote hearings. We have no backlog to do with Covid. All the hearings that had been postponed for those five months were then heard. We have been through all that.

Covid-19 had the normal effect in the sense that when there is a closure there is a backlog, but I am delighted to say that we put in place the anchor team in August and teams that come in on a rota. We have been through level 5, level 4 and level 4 plus. I do not even know what level we are at currently. The rota changed with those levels. We have had all the vagaries that a pandemic brings to any organisation but I am delighted to say it did not stop us or stop me. We have made great progress in spite of the pandemic. There is no backlog of post and there is no backlog of cases being heard. We are full steam ahead. In 2020, Covid had an impact but not currently.