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62984

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will initiate an independent audit of his Department's employment tribunal statistics.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	201467
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly official statistics on the tribunals which come under it, including Employment Tribunals. These are produced by statisticians in the Analytical Services Division using data produced by HM Courts and Tribunals Service. There are no plans for a review of the statistics at this time.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 24/06/2014 11:34:44 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

170013

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what amount his Department has paid to Jadu Ltd for (a) establishing and (b) maintaining IT systems to support the processing of employment tribunal fees and remissions to date.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	218521
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p /> <p>I will answer these questions together as they are seeking information on the costs and benefits of running the employment tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>Jadu Ltd was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Justice to establish, and support, a digital exemplar service including an online form and a payment system for employment tribunals in February 2013. That contract was for £1.2m including VAT and provided delivery of the system and support for two years. Jadu Ltd has received £800k including VAT since July 2013 for additional changes due to legislation and for further non-contracted improvements to the system.</p><p> </p><p>For the period from 1 April 2014 to 31 December 2014 HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has received a gross total of £9.0m in employment tribunal fees of which £2.4m has been forgone in fee remission, leaving £6.6m in net fees.</p><p> </p><p>The number of fee remission awards made each month is available from financial information relating to fees and remissions in the employment tribunals system published by HMCTS in its Annual Report and Accounts. The answer by the Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid given on 15 October 2014 which can be viewed at</p><p>http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-15/206019/ records the number of fee remission awards in each month from July 2013 to June 2014. The number awarded each month from July 2014 to December 2014 is shown below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><p><strong>Employment Tribunal Fee Remission Awards</strong><strong><sup>1</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Jul-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Aug-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sep-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Oct-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Nov-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Individual Claims (Single Claims)</p></td><td><p>532</p></td><td><p>510</p></td><td><p>521</p></td><td><p>864</p></td><td><p>533</p></td><td><p>499</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Multiple Claims</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong><sup>1</sup></strong>Timing differences exist between data uploaded to the finance system and data entered at source within employment tribunals fees systems. The monthly profile shown here reflects the date remissions were recorded on the finance system. This may not reflect the date on which remission applications were received or processed.</p><p> </p><p>My Department expects to be in a position to publish more detailed data on the number of remission applications made, and awards made, for the employment tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics quarterly bulletin by the end of this financial year.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to separate out reductions in variable operational costs resulting from changes in employment tribunals claims from decreases in costs for other reasons. Excluding allocated overheads, the cost of operating the employment tribunals for the year 2013 /14 was £69m. The most recent forecast of cost in 2014/15 is £65m, a reduction of £4m in nominal terms. Fee income for 2014/15 is forecast to be £9m, so the costs to the taxpayer are forecast to reduce by £13m.</p><p> </p><p>Hardworking taxpayers should not be picking up the bill for employment disputes in tribunals and it is reasonable to expect people to contribute towards the bill for the service. Moreover, it is important to remember that the Government has taken measures to ensure that those who have limited means have fee waivers and are therefore not excluded from seeking redress in tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting the figures published by Acas show that over 37,000 people used the new early conciliation scheme in its first six months. This is a promising start to the scheme and shows that there are alternative ways of resolving disputes rather than always through tribunals.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 218522 218523 218524 218525 question first answered 26/01/2015 17:15:15 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

48627

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days were taken to process and grant each of the applications for remissions of employment tribunal fees that have been (a) granted and (b) partially granted.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	196795
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The guidance document published by HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) explains that remission applications will be processed within five working days of the date that they are received, and that appeals will be determined within 10 days. The latest available information collated by HMCTS staff indicates that the applications received in respect of employment tribunal matters are currently determined within three working days. Appeals in respect of employment tribunal remissions decisions are currently determined within nine days.</p><p> </p><p>However, data on the time taken for each one of the remission applications determined so far is not readily available. To obtain that data would require significant work to interrogate the relevant HMCTS case management database. This work, if undertaken for the purposes of answering this question, would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 30/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara previous answer version 8000 answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

47657

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to increase or lower the level of fees in the employment tribunal system.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	195746
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Lord Chancellor is committed to reviewing the impact of the introduction of fees in the employment tribunals system. The Ministry of Justice is currently finalising arrangements for the timing and scope of this review, to enable the impacts to be properly assessed, and we will be making an announcement in due course.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 196187 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

48104

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to carry out a review on its policy on fees in the employment tribunal system.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	196187
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Lord Chancellor is committed to reviewing the impact of the introduction of fees in the employment tribunals system. The Ministry of Justice is currently finalising arrangements for the timing and scope of this review, to enable the impacts to be properly assessed, and we will be making an announcement in due course.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 195746 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

169006

	registered interest
	date	09/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department will begin a review of employment tribunal fees and the effect of such fees on the employment tribunal system.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	217814
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>Fees were introduced in Employment Tribunals to reduce the burden on the taxpayer of paying for Employment Tribunals and to encourage parties to seek alternative ways of resolving their disputes. It is only fair that those who can afford to do so should make some contribution to the cost of the service.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has committed to carry out a comprehensive review of the introduction of Employment Tribunal fees. An announcement on the scope and timing of the review will be made in due course.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 15/12/2014 15:23:04 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

170009

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2014 to Question 206019, how many awards of remission of fees for employment tribunal proceedings were made in each month between 1 July 2014 and 30 September 2014; and how many such awards were to (i) single claimants, (ii) claimants in multiple claimant cases and (iii) applicants to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	218524
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>I will answer these questions together as they are seeking information on the costs and benefits of running the employment tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>Jadu Ltd was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Justice to establish, and support, a digital exemplar service including an online form and a payment system for employment tribunals in February 2013. That contract was for £1.2m including VAT and provided delivery of the system and support for two years. Jadu Ltd has received £800k including VAT since July 2013 for additional changes due to legislation and for further non-contracted improvements to the system.</p><p> </p><p>For the period from 1 April 2014 to 31 December 2014 HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has received a gross total of £9.0m in employment tribunal fees of which £2.4m has been forgone in fee remission, leaving £6.6m in net fees.</p><p> </p><p>The number of fee remission awards made each month is available from financial information relating to fees and remissions in the employment tribunals system published by HMCTS in its Annual Report and Accounts. The answer by the Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid given on 15 October 2014 which can be viewed at</p><p>http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-15/206019/ records the number of fee remission awards in each month from July 2013 to June 2014. The number awarded each month from July 2014 to December 2014 is shown below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><p><strong>Employment Tribunal Fee Remission Awards</strong><strong><sup>1</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Jul-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Aug-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sep-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Oct-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Nov-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Individual Claims (Single Claims)</p></td><td><p>532</p></td><td><p>510</p></td><td><p>521</p></td><td><p>864</p></td><td><p>533</p></td><td><p>499</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Multiple Claims</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong><sup>1</sup></strong>Timing differences exist between data uploaded to the finance system and data entered at source within employment tribunals fees systems. The monthly profile shown here reflects the date remissions were recorded on the finance system. This may not reflect the date on which remission applications were received or processed.</p><p> </p><p>My Department expects to be in a position to publish more detailed data on the number of remission applications made, and awards made, for the employment tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics quarterly bulletin by the end of this financial year.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to separate out reductions in variable operational costs resulting from changes in employment tribunals claims from decreases in costs for other reasons. Excluding allocated overheads, the cost of operating the employment tribunals for the year 2013 /14 was £69m. The most recent forecast of cost in 2014/15 is £65m, a reduction of £4m in nominal terms. Fee income for 2014/15 is forecast to be £9m, so the costs to the taxpayer are forecast to reduce by £13m.</p><p> </p><p>Hardworking taxpayers should not be picking up the bill for employment disputes in tribunals and it is reasonable to expect people to contribute towards the bill for the service. Moreover, it is important to remember that the Government has taken measures to ensure that those who have limited means have fee waivers and are therefore not excluded from seeking redress in tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting the figures published by Acas show that over 37,000 people used the new early conciliation scheme in its first six months. This is a promising start to the scheme and shows that there are alternative ways of resolving disputes rather than always through tribunals.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 218521 218522 218523 218525 question first answered 26/01/2015 17:15:16 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

170010

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will estimate savings in variable operational costs to HM Courts and Tribunals Service resulting from the reduction in the number of employment tribunal claims since 29 July 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	218525
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>I will answer these questions together as they are seeking information on the costs and benefits of running the employment tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>Jadu Ltd was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Justice to establish, and support, a digital exemplar service including an online form and a payment system for employment tribunals in February 2013. That contract was for £1.2m including VAT and provided delivery of the system and support for two years. Jadu Ltd has received £800k including VAT since July 2013 for additional changes due to legislation and for further non-contracted improvements to the system.</p><p> </p><p>For the period from 1 April 2014 to 31 December 2014 HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has received a gross total of £9.0m in employment tribunal fees of which £2.4m has been forgone in fee remission, leaving £6.6m in net fees.</p><p> </p><p>The number of fee remission awards made each month is available from financial information relating to fees and remissions in the employment tribunals system published by HMCTS in its Annual Report and Accounts. The answer by the Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid given on 15 October 2014 which can be viewed at</p><p>http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-15/206019/ records the number of fee remission awards in each month from July 2013 to June 2014. The number awarded each month from July 2014 to December 2014 is shown below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><p><strong>Employment Tribunal Fee Remission Awards</strong><strong><sup>1</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Jul-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Aug-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sep-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Oct-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Nov-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Individual Claims (Single Claims)</p></td><td><p>532</p></td><td><p>510</p></td><td><p>521</p></td><td><p>864</p></td><td><p>533</p></td><td><p>499</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Multiple Claims</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong><sup>1</sup></strong>Timing differences exist between data uploaded to the finance system and data entered at source within employment tribunals fees systems. The monthly profile shown here reflects the date remissions were recorded on the finance system. This may not reflect the date on which remission applications were received or processed.</p><p> </p><p>My Department expects to be in a position to publish more detailed data on the number of remission applications made, and awards made, for the employment tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics quarterly bulletin by the end of this financial year.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to separate out reductions in variable operational costs resulting from changes in employment tribunals claims from decreases in costs for other reasons. Excluding allocated overheads, the cost of operating the employment tribunals for the year 2013 /14 was £69m. The most recent forecast of cost in 2014/15 is £65m, a reduction of £4m in nominal terms. Fee income for 2014/15 is forecast to be £9m, so the costs to the taxpayer are forecast to reduce by £13m.</p><p> </p><p>Hardworking taxpayers should not be picking up the bill for employment disputes in tribunals and it is reasonable to expect people to contribute towards the bill for the service. Moreover, it is important to remember that the Government has taken measures to ensure that those who have limited means have fee waivers and are therefore not excluded from seeking redress in tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting the figures published by Acas show that over 37,000 people used the new early conciliation scheme in its first six months. This is a promising start to the scheme and shows that there are alternative ways of resolving disputes rather than always through tribunals.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 218521 218522 218523 218524 question first answered 26/01/2015 17:15:16 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

170011

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2014 to Question 206019, when he expects to be in a position to provide data on the number of employment tribunal fee remission applications made in each month since 29 July 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	218523
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>I will answer these questions together as they are seeking information on the costs and benefits of running the employment tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>Jadu Ltd was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Justice to establish, and support, a digital exemplar service including an online form and a payment system for employment tribunals in February 2013. That contract was for £1.2m including VAT and provided delivery of the system and support for two years. Jadu Ltd has received £800k including VAT since July 2013 for additional changes due to legislation and for further non-contracted improvements to the system.</p><p> </p><p>For the period from 1 April 2014 to 31 December 2014 HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has received a gross total of £9.0m in employment tribunal fees of which £2.4m has been forgone in fee remission, leaving £6.6m in net fees.</p><p> </p><p>The number of fee remission awards made each month is available from financial information relating to fees and remissions in the employment tribunals system published by HMCTS in its Annual Report and Accounts. The answer by the Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid given on 15 October 2014 which can be viewed at</p><p>http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-15/206019/ records the number of fee remission awards in each month from July 2013 to June 2014. The number awarded each month from July 2014 to December 2014 is shown below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><p><strong>Employment Tribunal Fee Remission Awards</strong><strong><sup>1</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Jul-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Aug-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sep-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Oct-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Nov-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Individual Claims (Single Claims)</p></td><td><p>532</p></td><td><p>510</p></td><td><p>521</p></td><td><p>864</p></td><td><p>533</p></td><td><p>499</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Multiple Claims</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong><sup>1</sup></strong>Timing differences exist between data uploaded to the finance system and data entered at source within employment tribunals fees systems. The monthly profile shown here reflects the date remissions were recorded on the finance system. This may not reflect the date on which remission applications were received or processed.</p><p> </p><p>My Department expects to be in a position to publish more detailed data on the number of remission applications made, and awards made, for the employment tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics quarterly bulletin by the end of this financial year.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to separate out reductions in variable operational costs resulting from changes in employment tribunals claims from decreases in costs for other reasons. Excluding allocated overheads, the cost of operating the employment tribunals for the year 2013 /14 was £69m. The most recent forecast of cost in 2014/15 is £65m, a reduction of £4m in nominal terms. Fee income for 2014/15 is forecast to be £9m, so the costs to the taxpayer are forecast to reduce by £13m.</p><p> </p><p>Hardworking taxpayers should not be picking up the bill for employment disputes in tribunals and it is reasonable to expect people to contribute towards the bill for the service. Moreover, it is important to remember that the Government has taken measures to ensure that those who have limited means have fee waivers and are therefore not excluded from seeking redress in tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting the figures published by Acas show that over 37,000 people used the new early conciliation scheme in its first six months. This is a promising start to the scheme and shows that there are alternative ways of resolving disputes rather than always through tribunals.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 218521 218522 218524 218525 question first answered 26/01/2015 17:15:16 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

170012

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been received by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in payment of employment tribunal fees since 1 April 2014; and how much of that sum was foregone in fee remission.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	218522
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2015 answer text <p>I will answer these questions together as they are seeking information on the costs and benefits of running the employment tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>Jadu Ltd was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Justice to establish, and support, a digital exemplar service including an online form and a payment system for employment tribunals in February 2013. That contract was for £1.2m including VAT and provided delivery of the system and support for two years. Jadu Ltd has received £800k including VAT since July 2013 for additional changes due to legislation and for further non-contracted improvements to the system.</p><p> </p><p>For the period from 1 April 2014 to 31 December 2014 HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has received a gross total of £9.0m in employment tribunal fees of which £2.4m has been forgone in fee remission, leaving £6.6m in net fees.</p><p> </p><p>The number of fee remission awards made each month is available from financial information relating to fees and remissions in the employment tribunals system published by HMCTS in its Annual Report and Accounts. The answer by the Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid given on 15 October 2014 which can be viewed at</p><p>http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-15/206019/ records the number of fee remission awards in each month from July 2013 to June 2014. The number awarded each month from July 2014 to December 2014 is shown below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><p><strong>Employment Tribunal Fee Remission Awards</strong><strong><sup>1</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Jul-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Aug-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sep-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Oct-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Nov-14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Dec-14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Individual Claims (Single Claims)</p></td><td><p>532</p></td><td><p>510</p></td><td><p>521</p></td><td><p>864</p></td><td><p>533</p></td><td><p>499</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Multiple Claims</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>51</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong><sup>1</sup></strong>Timing differences exist between data uploaded to the finance system and data entered at source within employment tribunals fees systems. The monthly profile shown here reflects the date remissions were recorded on the finance system. This may not reflect the date on which remission applications were received or processed.</p><p> </p><p>My Department expects to be in a position to publish more detailed data on the number of remission applications made, and awards made, for the employment tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics quarterly bulletin by the end of this financial year.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to separate out reductions in variable operational costs resulting from changes in employment tribunals claims from decreases in costs for other reasons. Excluding allocated overheads, the cost of operating the employment tribunals for the year 2013 /14 was £69m. The most recent forecast of cost in 2014/15 is £65m, a reduction of £4m in nominal terms. Fee income for 2014/15 is forecast to be £9m, so the costs to the taxpayer are forecast to reduce by £13m.</p><p> </p><p>Hardworking taxpayers should not be picking up the bill for employment disputes in tribunals and it is reasonable to expect people to contribute towards the bill for the service. Moreover, it is important to remember that the Government has taken measures to ensure that those who have limited means have fee waivers and are therefore not excluded from seeking redress in tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting the figures published by Acas show that over 37,000 people used the new early conciliation scheme in its first six months. This is a promising start to the scheme and shows that there are alternative ways of resolving disputes rather than always through tribunals.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 218521 218523 218524 218525 question first answered 26/01/2015 17:15:16 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray