§ Mr. Batisteasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to review the working of the procedure for pre-hearing assessments by industrial tribunals; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GummerMy right hon. Friend keeps the working of the industrial tribunals, including the pre-hearing assessment procedure, under constant review.
§ Mr. Batisteasked the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of applications to industrial tribunals during the past 12 months have been the subject of a pre-hearing assessment; in how many of such cases a warning as to costs was issued; and following such warning how many applications were withdrawn.
§ Mr. GummerFor the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available (year ending 27 May 1983) 5.3 per cent. of all registered applications (2337) were the subject of a pre-hearing assessment. Of these, 1,244 resulted in the issue of a costs warning and 896 cases were subsequently withdrawn.
§ Mr. Batisteasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many awards of costs have been made by industrial tribunals during the past 12 months and how they have been divided between awards against applicants and awards against respondents; and of all such awards how many did not follow a warning as to costs in a pre-hearing assessment.
§ Mr. GummerIn 1981, the most recent year for which figures are available, 235 awards of costs were made by the industrial tribunals in unfair dismissal cases. (No figures are available for other jurisdictions). Two hundred and twenty nine awards were against applicants and six320W against respondents. Approximately 20 per cent. of awards followed a pre-hearing assessment and of these 25 per cent. did not follow a warning as to costs.