HC Deb 04 July 1985 vol 82 cc243-4W
Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many employers were prosecuted for discrimination under the Race Relations Act (a) between 1976 and 1979 and (b) between 1979 and 1984;

(2) how many employers were prosecuted under the Sex Discrimination Act (a) between 1975 and 1979 and (b) between 1979 and 1985.

Mr. Mellor

[pursuant to his reply, 1 July 1985, c. 12]: Under both the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976 complaints alleging unlawful discrimination in employment are dealt with under the civil law by applications to industrial tribunals. The available information about such applications is as follows:

Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (Source: Ninth Annual Report of the Equal Opportunities Commission 1984)
Applications made to Industrial Tribunals Cases heard
1 January 1976 to 31 December 1979 821 322
1 January 1980 to 30 December 1984 1,067 419
Race Relations Act 1976 (Source: Department of Employment Gazette)
13 June 1977† to 30 June 1979 510 254
July 1979 to 30 June 1981 *758 340
1 January 1981 to 31 December 1984 *936 425

Mr. Waddington

[pursuant to the reply, 25 June 1985, c. 344–45]: The information requested is given in the following table:

* From 1981, statistics have been collected in calendar years and there is therefore some double counting of the figures for the first half of that year.

† Date on which Act came into force.

The figures do not separately identify a small number of applications to tribunals in which the respondent is not an employer, (but is, for example, an employment agency, a vocational training body or a trade union).