HC Deb 11 February 1980 vol 978 cc450-2W
Mr. McNamara

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of appeals made to industrial tribunals in Hull, Stoke and the United Kingdom as a whole for the past five years; what were the causes of complaint; and in how many the appeals were upheld.

Mr. Mayhew

I can give information only for Great Britain, as I am not responsible for the industrial tribunals in Northern Ireland. Figures are not available for application registered in particular towns and districts, but the

Jurisdiction 1975* 1976 1977 1978 1979
Unfair dismissal … … … 34,194 35,293 36,201 35,605 33,540
Redundancy payments … … 4,449 3,868 2,812 2,358
Joint unfair dismissal/redundancy payments … … … … 2,683 2,105 1,782 1,713
Contracts of employment … … 577 598 417 360
Equal pay … … … … — 2,376 1,377 398 207
Sex discrimination … … — 368 357 277 270
Other provisions of the employment protection legislation† … — 301 2,034 1,171 1,901
Race discrimination … … — — 208 520 604
Compensation appeals‡ … … 1,572 1,586 37 93 61
Health and safety§ … … 77 99 119 131 169
Appeals against Industrial Training Board levy … … … 43 49 39 63 54
Docks and harbours legislation and appeals against selective employment payments … … 11 23 18 52 7
Totals … … … 35,897 47,804 46,961 43,321 41,244
Source: Central Offices of the Industrial Tribunals for England and Wales, and Scotland.
* Figures were not collected separately for applications concerning unfair dismissal, redundancy payments and contracts of employment.
†Items such as written statements of conditions and reasons for dismissal, itemised pay statements, maternity pay and time off for public duties.
‡These cases concern awards of compensation for loss of office and related matters under various statutes.
§These cases concern improvement or prohibition notices issued under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and, since October 1978, time off for safety representatives to perform their duties.
Information on the outcomes of these applications is not available for the total number of cases but is collected by the Department of Employment only for completed cases concerning unfair dismissal, sex and racial discrimination and equal pay. Many of these cases do not reach a hearing because they are withdrawn or conciliated. The numbers of cases upheld and mismissed at a tribunal hearing in the jurisdictions mentioned are as follows: —
UNFAIR DISMISSAL
Upheld Dismissed
1975 … … … … 3,350 5,377
1976 … … … … 4,838 8,562
1977 … … … … 3,954 8,888
1978 … … … … 3,277 8,511
1979 … … … … Not yet available
EQUAL PAY ACT 1970
Upheld Dismissed
1976 … … … … 213 496
1977 … … … … 91 272
1978 … … … … 24 56
1979 … … … … Not yet available
SEX DISCRIMATION ACT 1975
Upheld Dismissed
1976 … … … … 24 95
1977 … … … … 17 60
1978 … … … … 14 53
1979 … … … … Not yet available
RACE RELATIONS ACT 1976
Upheld Dismissed
13 June 1977–30 June 1978 … … 5 61
1 July 1978–30 June 1979 … … 58 130

number of applications registered in Great Britain in the last five years under each jurisdiction are as follows: