Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of employment tribunals; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of delays on claimants aged over 50 seeking redress for unfair dismissal.

We recognise that there are significant demand pressures on the Employment Tribunals and are working with the judiciary, HMCTS and Department for Business and Trade on actions to alleviate pressures. For example, we are investing in tribunal productivity through the development of modern case management systems, encouraging the uptake of mediation, and the continued use of remote hearing technology, as well as the recruitment of additional judges and deployment of legal officers.

In 2024, we had 21 more salaried judges in the Employment Tribunals than in 2023, and further recruitment for up to 36 salaried Employment Judges commenced in March 2025. 50 fee paid employment judges were appointed in 2024 and recruitment will commence for another 50 in early 2026. As a result, the previous Lord Chancellor was able to announce on 5 March a sitting day allocation for the Employment Tribunals of 33,900 in 2025/26, the maximum allocation they are able to sit.

Of the complaints brought to the ET involving unfair dismissal, a small proportion are successful at hearing. The majority of ET complaints involving unfair dismissal are settled, withdrawn, dismissed or decided in favour of the respondent (usually the employer) at hearing. In addition, not all unfair dismissal cases are brought to the Employment Tribunal, with some cases being resolved through Acas. The latest data on the number of early conciliation notifications that are received by Acas for unfair dismissal is published annually, and can be found at: https://www.acas.org.uk/about-us/annual-report.

The Ministry of Justice does not have a breakdown of Employment Tribunal statistics by age, however there is published data available on unfair dismissal, as well as age discrimination claims here: Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2024 - GOV.UK.