Employment Tribunal Statistics

The statistics for tribunals for the period April to June 2017 have been published by the Ministry of Justice.

Compared to the same quarter last year, during this quarter the number of single claims increased by 2%, however cases closed decreased by 6% which meant that the case load of the tribunal increased by 11%.

The number of fee remission applications also increased by 85%. Given that tribunal fees were not ruled unlawful until after this quarter, the effect on the statistics of this decision is yet to be seen. It is anticipated that the statistics for the next quarter will show a substantial increase in claims received by the Tribunal.

The recent decision of the Tribunal on fees is already having an impact on cases. In a recent case at the Sheffield Tribunal, a judge declined to order that the Respondent should pay the successful Claimant’s fees on the basis that they would soon be able to recover them from the Government.  It is also clear that Tribunals are reinstating cases which were previously struck out where fees were not paid.

A clearer picture of the impact of the decision on fees is likely to be clearer when the next quarterly statistics are published, however it is already clear that the change will greatly impact the Tribunals and will create an increase in workload.