Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the cost to the public purse of employment tribunal cases brought in relation to the failure of companies to follow redundancy consultancy procedures required by law in each of the last three years.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Costs directly attributable to each claim / case type are not separately identifiable as current financial systems do not allow us to link costs to claims / cases.

Employment tribunal cases can vary in nature and complexity and some can last over more than one year, particularly where collective disputes are involved. Claims in employment tribunals can be classified into either single or multiple claims. Multiple claims being where two or more people bring proceedings arising out of the same facts, usually against a common employer. Where claims are grouped as multiples, they are processed administratively and managed judicially together. Claims can be disposed of in a variety of ways, including being rejected either because they are out of time, or have no reasonable chance of success. A minority of cases are disposed of at a full hearing. There are therefore many ways an employment tribunal case can be interpreted.

As a result, it is not possible to provide costs for each of the last three years for employment tribunal cases brought in relation to the failure of companies to follow redundancy consultancy procedures required by law.