Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many additional judges and caseworks have been appointed to support employment tribunals in addressing the backlog of cases since July 2024.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are maintaining investment in the annual recruitment of about 1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions. Annual recruitment requirements are determined by business need and judicial departures.
Since July 2024, 50 fee-paid Employment Judges (EJs) have been appointed, whilst 19 salaried EJs were appointed throughout 2024. Recruitment for up to 36 salaried EJs commenced in March 2025 and recruitment for 50 fee-paid EJs will commence in early 2026. As reported in the 2025 Judicial Diversity Statistics, there were 165 salaried and 143 fee-paid EJs in post in England and Wales as of 1 April 2025.
Since July 2024, we have also appointed an additional 6 caseworkers (legal officers) to support Employment Tribunals. There are currently just over 32 FTE legal officers in post.