HC Deb 13 January 2003 vol 397 cc439-40W
Fiona Mactaggart

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, on how many occasions in each of the last three years an employment tribunal has used its powers under Rule 14 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure (SI 2001/1171) to make an order for costs against a respondent who has acted vexatiously, abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably in conducting the proceedings; and how many of these orders have been for failure to disclose to an applicant documents as previously directed by the tribunal. [89810]

Alan Johnson

In the previous three financial years, the number of occasions where an employment tribunal has used its powers to make an order for costs against a respondent is recorded in the following table:

Year Number of cost awards
2001–02 169
2000–01 80
1999–2000 61

Source:

Employment Tribunals Service

The database of the Employment Tribunals Service does not distinguish between an award made against the respondent company/individual or their representative, nor does it record the reason for the award of costs being made