Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to review the operation of employment tribunals.

The Senior President of Tribunals has published a consultation seeking views on proposals for the composition of panels in the Employment Tribunals. This will help inform his decisions on the future arrangements for panel composition in the Employment Tribunals, when he becomes responsible for them when the provisions of the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 are brought into effect. This will bring the arrangements for Employment Tribunals into line with those that apply to the tribunals in the Unified Tribunal Structure.

The Ministry of Justice publishes annual statistics on the diversity of the judiciary. The most recent statistics, published in July 2022, can be found at the following link and includes comprehensive data on the age, ethnicity, gender of judges and non-legal members of tribunals.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/diversity-of-the-judiciary-2022-statistics

The Ministry of Justice, as a member of the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF), works closely with the judiciary, the Judicial Appointments Commission, the Legal Services Board and the legal professions to take actions to increase judicial diversity.

The Ministry of Justice keeps the operation and performance of the Employment Tribunals under regular review. We are working closely with the Department for Business and Trade on measures to increase capacity, reduce demand and improve the efficiency of the employment dispute system.