HC Deb 25 May 2000 vol 350 cc604-5W
Mr. Ruane

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many applications have been made to industrial tribunals under the Equal Pay Act 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975; and what percentage of such applications were successful through being settled with an award(a) before a hearing and (b) following a hearing. [123466]

Ms Hodge

[holding answer 23 May 2000]: The following tables show employment tribunal statistics for sex discrimination and equal pay cases since 1976. The percentage of cases each year which were settled through arbitration is given. Information is not available on whether cases were settled before or after a hearing. The percentage of those cases heard at a tribunal each year which were successful is also given.

Employment tribunal statistics in equal pay cases
ACAS arbitration settled Heard at tribunal Successful at tribunal
Year Total number of applications Number settled Percentage settled Number heard Number successful Percentage of cases heard
1976 1,742 106 6 709 213 30
1977 751 56 7 363 91 25
1978 343 33 10 80 24 30
1979 263 29 11 78 13 17
1980 91 10 11 26 4 15
1981 54 9 17 27 6 22
1982 39 8 21 13 2 15
1983 35 5 14 15 9 60
1984 70 15 21 24 11 46
1985 302 84 28 64 37 58
19861 517 71 14 161 44 27
1987 1,043 89 9 24 7 29
1988 813 95 12 63 14 22
1989 397 64 16 55 33 60
1990 508 64 13 35 10 29
1991 227 45 20 81 5 6
1992 240 102 43 55 21 38
1993 780 50 6 43 19 44
1994 418 98 23 25 8 32
1995 694 128 18 82 36 44
1996 2 2 2 2 2 2
1997 1,483 253 17 91 18 20
1998 1,530 517 34 316 7 2
1From the end of 1985 the figures were calculated by financial year rather than by calendar year
2Because of changes to the tribunal handling system in 1996, comparable information for 1996–97 is not available

Source:

Collated from Labour Market Trends