Oral Answers to Questions

Seema Malhotra Excerpts

Tuesday 18th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of court cases.

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

What plans he has to tackle the backlog of court and tribunal cases.

[John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)]

What plans he has to tackle the backlog of court and tribunal cases.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Philp]

My hon. Friend has been a tireless advocate for a Nightingale court in Kent. My colleague Lord Wolfson is working very actively on that question and I strongly hope we will be in a position to make a positive announcement in the very near future.

[Seema Malhotra]

The employment tribunal backlog stands at a staggering 51,000, which is 45% higher than pre-pandemic levels. The Minister will blame that on covid, but he knows the system was broken before, with cuts made by his Department. Now, as we see multiple employment claims shooting up and some employers using covid as a cover for fire and rehire or cutting people’s employment rights, we have a tribunal system that is unable to cope. Labour warned about this and called for a package of urgent measures. When will the Minister finally step up and take responsibility for the backlog of cases?

[Chris Philp]

In common with so many other areas of the justice system employment tribunals were profoundly affected by coronavirus, but we have taken decisive action. The number of employment tribunal sitting days is being increased dramatically, and the tribunal is benefiting from the 1,600 extra staff hired across Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and from the enormous investment in technology, which is enabling across the court system, including the tribunal, 20,000 remote hearings a week. Those are the actions we are taking to address the issue the hon. Lady raises.