According to statistics published this month by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the number of single tribunal claims have increased by 165 per cent in the quarter from April to June 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.
The quarterly statistics also show that, while the number of single claim receipts increased in the period from April to June 2018 to 10,996, they remained relatively stable (around 4,300 per quarter) during the period when tribunal fees were in operation from June 2013 to July 2017.
The report points out that, as the number of receipts have been increasing steadily since fees were abolished, the current increase can “most likely” be attributed to that factor. It is no coincidence, therefore, that single claim receipts were higher for the first time this quarter than the level in July to September 2013, when fees were first introduced.
The increase in multiple claims was even more marked. These were up by 344 per cent due to a large multiple airline case. The multiple claims received this quarter related to 716 multiple claim cases (an average of 60 claims per multiple case) – up from 317 cases (an average of 30 claims per case) in the same period a year ago.
The Employment Tribunal disposed of 10,891 claims during April to June 2018, up 13 per cent on the same period in 2017. This was driven by a 56 per cent increase in single claims disposals, offsetting a 13 per cent decrease in multiple claim disposals.
Following the abolition of fees, the government introduced a fee refund scheme in November 2017 (weekly LELR 548) open to anyone who had paid a fee to bring a case at a tribunal or Employment Appeal Tribunal during the period that the scheme was in operation. According to figures from the MoJ, a total of 14,525 applications for refunds have now been received and 12,432 payments have made, with a total value of £10,615,044 as at 30 June 2018.
In the quarter from April to June 2018, 4,682 refund payments were made by the MoJ, with a total monetary value of £4,018,265. Of these, 79 per cent (3,700 refunds) related to England; 18 per cent (851 refunds) to Scotland; and the remaining 3 per cent (131 refunds) related to Wales. Nearly all the refunds – 96 per cent - related to single claims.
Jo Seery of Thompsons Solicitors, commented: A tripling in the number of tribunal claims shows once again the devastating impact fees had on workers access to justice. As tribunals face a 37% increase in the outstanding caseload, it will be important to ensure that any review of the ACAS early conciliation scheme is not used to try and limit the number of claims workers can bring. Instead resources should be put back into the tribunal system to ensure access to justice is not compromised.
The report in full can be found on the Ministry of Justice website.