Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Hepburn and Oliver Heald

Tuesday 25th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow) (Lab)]

T10. Under this Government, poor people have had their legal aid cut by 40% and thousands upon thousands of people have been denied an employment tribunal because they cannot afford it. Are the Government proud to be on the side of the rich, the powerful and the bad bosses?

[Sir Oliver Heald]

It is, of course, a union campaign to talk about employment tribunal fees. Let us be clear that the number of people taking up cases about the workplace has increased, not gone down—it is up to 92,000. Those people are being helped by a free service from ACAS, which the Labour party used to support. Fewer cases are going to tribunal because of the work of ACAS.