Tribunals and gender recognition certificate statistics quarterly: April to June 2017
Source: data.gov.uk (2018-05-25)

Tribunals and Gender Recognition Statistics. The bulletin presents the latest statistics on type and volume of tribunal cases received, disposed of and outstanding and the number of Gender Recognition Certificates applied for and granted.  

The bulletin focuses on information on receipts (i.e. cases received by HMCTS), the outcome of cases by category (e.g. cases disposed of at hearing) and the caseload outstanding (snapshot of live cases at a specific point in time) for the three largest tribunals: Employment, Immigration and Asylum, and Social Security and Child Support. Additional data are available on timeliness, jurisdiction, Employment Tribunal fees, smaller tribunals, Employment Appeal Tribunal and regional receipts for the Employment Tribunal (management information). 

Annual data are published as follows:
* Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal annual statistics are published in September; these include information on representation of claimants, compensation and costs awarded in the Employment Tribunal for the financial year.
* Data from the Special Educational Needs and Disability tribunals covering the academic year are published in December. Further breakdowns include information on the number of appeals registered by type and nature of special education need, and outcomes.
* The number of adjournments and postponements by jurisdiction are published annually in June, along with the number of judicial salaried and fee-paid sittings by jurisdiction.

In addition to monitoring tribunal workloads and timeliness, they are used to assist in the development, monitoring and evaluation of tribunal related policy in collaboration with other Government departments, e.g. DWP, BEIS and Home Office.

Published 14 September 2017 
Tribunals and Gender Recognition Statistics 
Quarterly, April to June 2017 (Provisional)  
including annual (2016/17) Employment and Employment Appeal 
Tribunal Statistics 
Main points 
Increase in overall 
volumes of receipts, 
disposals and caseload 
outstanding 
 
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) 
recorded an increase in receipts, disposals and 
caseload outstanding this quarter compared to the same 
quarter in 2016, up 3%, 5% and 17% respectively. Driven 
by the SSCS tribunal. 
ESA and PIP continue to 
drive SSCS appeal 
increases 
Caseload outstanding for Social Security and Child 
Support (SSCS) appeals continues to increase (up 88%, 
to 103,800 at the end of June 2017). Receipts and 
disposals were also up 29% and 19% respectively, when 
compared to April to June 2016. 
FTTIAC receipts 
continue to fall while 
disposals rise, leading to 
a fall in caseload 
outstanding 
 
In April to June 2017, First-tier Tribunal Immigration and 
Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC) receipts more than halved (to 
7,800) compared to the same period in 2016 while 
disposals increased by a fifth (to 17,600) leading to a fall 
in caseload outstanding.  
Employment Tribunal 
issue fees requested 
down 1% when compared 
to April to June 2016 
 
There were 5,100 Employment Tribunal (ET) issue fees 
requested in April to June 2017. Of these, 3,200 (64%) 
cases had the full issue fee paid outright and 1,400 (28%) 
cases were awarded either a full or partial remission, the 
same proportions as in April to June 2016.  
Overall receipts and 
disposals decreased for 
Employment Tribunals, 
and caseload outstanding 
increased 
 
Single cases – this quarter receipts increased 2%, 
disposals decreased 6% and caseload outstanding 
increased by 11% 
Multiple cases – receipts and disposals decreased by 
19% and 43% respectively, and caseload outstanding 
increased by 17% 
This publication gives tribunals and gender recognition certificate statistics for the latest 
quarter (April to June 2017), compared to the same quarter the previous year. Additional 
annual chapters on Employment and Employment Appeal Tribunals are included this 
quarter. For technical detail about data sources, quality, policy changes and terminology, 
please refer to the accompanying guide to tribunal statistics. 
  

2 
1. Overview of Tribunals  
104,500 receipts and 103,800 disposals recorded by HMCTS 
 
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) recorded an increase in receipts, 
disposals and caseload outstanding in this quarter when compared to the same 
quarter in 2016, up 3%, 5% and 17% respectively. Driven by the SSCS tribunal. 
 
This summary bulletin focuses mainly on the three largest tribunals as they make up the 
majority (78%) of tribunal receipts in April to June 2017. These are;   
 
Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) - 58% of receipts  
 
Employment Tribunal (ET) – 13% of receipts. 
 
First Tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber  (FTTIAC) – 8% of receipts 
Figure 1: Receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding1 for all tribunals (Source: 
Table S.2-4) 
 -
 20,000
 40,000
 60,000
 80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/17 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Receipts
 -
 20,000
 40,000
 60,000
 80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/17 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Disposals
 -
 50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
500,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/17 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Caseload Outstanding
 
 
Figure 1 shows trends in receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding over the last 3 years 
for the main tribunals and overall. In April to June 2017, SSCS drove the increase in overall 
receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding. Tribunal receipts increased by 3% as a result 
of a 29% increase in SSCS receipts. FTTIAC receipts on the other hand fell by 51% while 
ET receipts decreased by 13%. Overall, tribunals disposed of 5% more cases this quarter, 
compared to April to June 2016. This was driven by a 19% and 20% increase in SSCS and 
FTTIAC disposals respectively.  
Of the remaining 32 tribunal jurisdictions, mental health is the largest (accounting for 8% of 
all tribunal receipts), with 8,315 receipts and 8,250 disposals in April to June 2017 (up 1% 
and down 4% respectively when compared to April to June 2016).  
Overall caseload outstanding increased by 17%, from 404,105 (as at 30 June 2016) to 
471,620 (as at 30 June 2017), again driven by SSCS cases outstanding which increased 
88% to 103,758.  
                                               
1 Outstanding caseload is based on a snapshot in time based on the last day of each quarter. 

3 
2. Social Security and Child Support 
ESA and PIP continue to drive SSCS appeal increases 
 
Caseload outstanding for Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) appeals 
continues to increase (up 88%, to 103,800 at the end of June 2017). Receipts and 
disposals were also up 29% and 19% respectively, when compared to April to June 
2016 
85% of disposals were cleared at hearing with a 63% overturn rate  
 
Of the 54,300 disposals in April to June 2017, 85% were cleared at a hearing and 
of these, 63% had the initial decision revised in favour of the claimant (up from 
58% in the same period in 2016).  
Figure 2.1: Social Security and Child Support receipts, disposals and caseload 
outstanding, Q1 2015/16 to Q1 2017/18 (Source: Table SSCS.1 and SSCS.2) 
 -
 10,000
 20,000
 30,000
 40,000
 50,000
 60,000
 70,000
 80,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/17 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Receipts
 -
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/17 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Disposals
 -
 20,000
 40,000
 60,000
 80,000
100,000
120,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/17 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Caseload Outstanding
 
 
In April to June 2017, there were 60,142 SSCS tribunal receipts, up 29% compared with the 
same period in 2016. This increase was mainly driven by increases seen in Employment 
Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals which 
accounted for 85% of all SSCS appeals in this quarter. This proportion has been gradually 
increasing since 2015/16 Q1, when ESA and PIP accounted for 73% of all SSCS receipts. 
ESA and PIP also make up the majority of SSCS disposals, with 38% and 46% of total 
disposals respectively. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is gradually being replaced by PIP 
and comprised 3% of total disposals this quarter, down from 5% in the same quarter of 
2016.  
The number of disposals has gradually increased alongside receipts. In April to June 2017, 
54,274 cases were disposed, up 19% when compared with the same period in 2016. Of 
these disposals, 46,058 (85%) were cleared at hearing and of these 63% were found in 
favour of the customer. This overturn rate varied by benefit type, with ESA having 68% in 
favour of the customer, PIP - 65%, DLA - 55% and Job Seekers Allowance - 49%.  
There were 103,758 SSCS cases outstanding at the end of June 2017, up 88% compared 
to the same period in 2016. This was driven by a larger increase in appeal receipts than 
disposals. Of those cases disposed of by SSCS in April to June 2017, the mean age of a 
case at disposal was 20 weeks, 3 week more than the same period in 2016. 

4 
3. Immigration and Asylum 
First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC)  
 
In April to June 2017, FTTIAC receipts more than halved (to 7,800) compared to the 
same period in 2016 continuing the decline seen following the introduction of the 
Immigration Act 2014.  
 
In the same period, disposals increased from 14,600 to 17,600, up 20%. This 
decrease in receipts and increase in disposals led to a drop in caseload 
outstanding (down by a third to 43,400), continuing the decline seen since the 
peak in April to June 2016. 
 
Figure 3.1: First-tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber receipts, disposals 
and caseload outstanding, Q1 2015/16 to Q1 2017/18 (Source: Tables FIA.1 and FIA.2) 
 -
10,000
20,000
30,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/16 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Receipts
 -
 10,000
 20,000
 30,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/16 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Disposals
 -
 20,000
 40,000
 60,000
 80,000
2015/16 Q1
2016/16 Q1
2017/18 Q1
Caseload Outstanding
 
 
 
 
The Immigration Act 2014 (IA 2014) tribunal categories of Human Rights, EEA Free 
Movement (EEA) and Asylum/Protection (AP) continue to make up the majority (97%) of the 
FTTIAC new receipts (26%, 32% and 39% respectively).  
Human Rights receipts continue to decline, dropping 72% to 2,057 in April to June 2017, 
compared to the same period in 2016. This proportionally represents 26% of all FTTIAC 
receipts (down from 46% a year ago). EEA receipts also decreased by 39% (from 4,052 to 
2,475), but proportionally increased from 25% to 32% of all FTTIAC receipts. 
Asylum/Protection receipts decreased by 21%, but increased from 24% to 39% of all 
FTTIAC receipts.  
The FTTIAC disposed of 17,584 appeals, up 20% on April to June 2016. 11% of First-tier 
disposals are comprised of pre-Immigration Act categories, of which Managed Migration 
accounts for 8% of all disposals.   
Of the disposals made in the FTTIAC, 81% were determined i.e. a decision was made by a 
judge at a hearing or on the papers; 14% were withdrawn; 4% were invalid or out of time, 
and 1% were struck-out for non-payment of the appeal fee. Of the 14,170 determined, 47% 
were allowed/granted, although this varied across the IA 2014 categories (from 38% for 
Asylum/Protection to 55% for Human Rights). 
 
Total average overall timeliness across all categories has increased by 7 weeks to 51 
weeks. Asylum/Protection had the lowest average time to clearance with 29 weeks, having 
decreased from 38 weeks in April-June 2016, while most of the other appeal categories took 
over 52 weeks to be cleared. 
 

5 
For the UTIAC, receipts increased 19% (to 1,781) and disposals are down 28% (to 1,652).  
In April to June 2017, Asylum/Protection accounted for the majority of UTIAC receipts (43%) 
and disposals (40%). Managed Migration, one of the phased out categories, accounted for 
the second largest proportion of UTIAC receipts and disposals (with 26% of receipts and 
32% of disposals). However Managed Migration receipts and disposals were down 35% and 
53% respectively on April to June 2016, demonstrating the gradual phasing out of this case 
type. 
 
UTIAC Immigration and Asylum Judicial Reviews  
 
In April to June 2017, there were 2,600 Immigration and Asylum Judicial Review 
receipts and 3,200 disposed of at the UTIAC, down 30% and 10% respectively 
on April to June 2016. 
 
Of the 3,182 Immigration and Asylum Judicial Reviews disposed of in the UTIAC in April to 
June 2017, 76% were determined and 2% were transferred to the Administrative Court. The 
remaining 21% were in an ‘other category’, which included cases where no fee was paid, 
were withdrawn or not served (see table UIA.2).  
During April to June 2017, 2,387 Judicial Review applications were determined by paper 
hearing, of which 7% were allowed to continue to the substantive hearing stage. A further 
705 were reconsidered at an oral renewal, of which 28% were allowed to continue to the 
substantive hearing stage. There were 78 substantive hearings which were determined in 
April to June 2017, of which 38% were granted in favour of the appellant (see table UIA.3). 

6 
4. Employment Tribunals 
Employment Tribunal Fees 
 
Employment Tribunal issue fees requested down 1% when compared to April to June 
2016. 
 
There were 5,100 Employment Tribunal (ET) issue fees requested in April to June 2017. 
Of these, 3,200 (64%) cases had the full issue fee paid outright and 1,400 (28%) cases 
were awarded either a full or partial remission, the same proportions as in April to June 
2016. 
 
Between 29 July 2013 (when ET fees were first introduced) and 30 June 2017, 85,741 ET 
issue fees and 47,846 hearing fees were requested. Over the same period, 67% of the 
issue fees and 35% of the hearing fees were paid. Additionally 19,272 issue fee remissions 
and 9,204 hearing fee remissions were awarded (representing 22% and 19% of all fees 
requested respectively). 
 
Figure 4.1: Fees Issued, remissions applied for and remissions awarded for single 
cases (Source: Table ETF.1) 
 
Figure 4.2: Fees Issued, remissions applied for and remissions awarded for multiple 
cases (Source: Table ETF.1)              
 
For hearing fees in the most recent quarter (April to June 2017), 3,154 were requested and 
472 of these requests (15%) had the full hearing fee paid outright, taking on average 75 

7 
days for payment to be made from the date the fee was requested. There were 553 hearing 
remission applications, of which 468 (85%) were awarded either a full or partial remission.  
 
Employment tribunal single cases 
 
In April to June 2017, receipts increased 2% and disposals decreased by 6%, 
which drove an 11% increase in single case caseload outstanding. Mean age at 
disposal decreased by 1 week to 28 weeks, compared to the same period in 2016. 
Employment tribunal multiple cases 
 
Receipts decreased by 19%, disposals decreased 43%, and mean age at 
disposal increased to 318 weeks (an increase of 97 weeks) over the same period. 
 
Figure 4.3: Index of Employment Tribunals single & multiple claim receipts, disposals 
& claims outstanding, Q4 2009/10-Q1 2017/18 (Source: Table S.2-4) 
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
2009/10
2013/14
2017/18 Q1
Receipts
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
2009/10
2013/14
2017/18 Q1
Disposals2
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
2009/10
2013/14
2017/18 Q1
Claims outstanding
 
Baseline 2009/10 Q1 
 
There were 4,241 single claims received in April to June 2017, up 2% on the same period of 
2016. Since Q2 2014/15 single claim receipts have remained relatively stable, with around 
4,200 claims per quarter. 
There were 9,518 multiple claims received this quarter, a decrease of 19% on the same 
period last year. Multiple claims tend to be more volatile as they can contain a high number 
of claims against a single employer. The multiple claims related to 254 multiple claim cases 
(an average of 37 claims per multiple case) - down 24% from 333 cases with an average of 
35 claims per case). 
The Employment Tribunal disposed of 9,538 claims during April to June 2017, down 34% on 
the same period in 2016.  This was driven by a 43% decrease in multiple claims disposals, 
which make up almost two-thirds of all disposals. The multiple claims relate to 187 multiple 
claim cases, down 35% on April to June 2016. Single claim disposals also decreased over 
the same period (down 6%).  In April to June 2017, 18% of jurisdictional complaints 
disposed were Acas conciliated settlements, 9% were withdrawn, and 16% were successful 
at hearing. The most common jurisdictional complaint disposed of was ‘Unauthorised 
deductions (formerly Wages Act)’. 
The total caseload outstanding for Employment Tribunals at the end of June 2017 was 
274,468, the majority (96%) relating to multiple claims. 
 

8 
5. Gender Recognition Certificate 
98 GRP applications were received and 80 were disposed of between April and June 
2017, 141 applications were pending by the end of June 2017 
 
Of the 80 applications disposed of, a full Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) was 
granted in 88% of cases, down from 94% in the same period in 2016.  
Since April 2005/06, two thirds of interim certificates (129 of the 195) were converted 
into full GRC, 57% of which were within 30 weeks. 
 
Over the long-term the number of receipts and disposals has been gradually increasing, 
although the increases seen in receipts have been greater than disposals, and in the most 
recent two years this has reflected an increase in applications pending. 
Figure 5.1: Applications for Gender Recognition Certificates received, disposed of 
and pending, 2008/09 to 2016/17 (Source: Table GRP.1 and GRP.2) 
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
 
 
In April to June 2017, 70 full certificates were granted, of which 5 were for married 
applicants and 65 for single applicants. 38 (54%) of the individuals with full certificates 
granted were registered male at birth and 32 (46%) were registered female at birth. The age 
breakdown of individuals with full certificates granted over time is given below, by the year 
of birth. 
Figure 5.2: Full Gender Recognition Certificates granted by year of birth, 2008/09 to 
2016/17 (Source: Table GRP.4) 
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17
1990
onwards
1980-1989
1970-1979
1960-1969
1950-1959
Up to 1949
 

6. Employment tribunal and Employment Appeal tribunal, 
2016/17 
Employment tribunal Representation 
 
The majority of claimants were represented by a lawyer2 in 2016/17 at 86%, two 
percentage points higher than in 2015/16. In contrast, 9% of claimants in 2016/17 had 
no representation3, the same proportion as 2015/16. 
 
Costs and Compensation 
 
In 2016/17 the maximum compensation awarded was for Unfair Dismissal, where £1.7 
million was awarded, followed by Race Discrimination with a maximum compensation of 
£0.5 million.  
 
Claimant representation is recorded at the time of application and may change as case 
progresses. The proportion of claimants represented by a lawyer in 2016/17 was 86%, 
up two percentage points higher than in 2015/16.  
 
Figure 6.1: Representation of claimants at Employment Tribunals, 2006/07 to 2016/17 
 
 
There are only centrally collated cost and compensation data for Unfair Dismissal and 
discrimination cases. In 2016/17, there were 587 claims that received compensation for 
Unfair Dismissal, where the maximum award was £1.7 million and the average (mean) 
award was £16,543. 
There were 158 discrimination cases where compensation was awarded, the maximum 
amount awarded (£456,464) was in the Race Discrimination jurisdiction.  
 
                                               
2Includes: represented by solicitors, Law Centres and Trade Associations.  
3 For those individuals representing themselves, there is no need to provide information on representatives. 
Therefore all cases where the representative information was left blank are included here. 

10 
Employment Appeal Tribunals (EAT) 
 
In 2016/17, the Employment Appeal Tribunal received 889 appeals (down 8% on 
2015/16) and disposed of 903 appeals (down 14% on 2015/16).  
 
In 2016/17, 41% of appeals dealt with at a preliminary hearing were dismissed. This 
proportion is higher for appeals brought by employees, where 47% appeals were dismissed 
compared to 29% appeals brought by employers which were dismissed. 
Of those appeals that reached an EAT final hearing, 42% were disposed of at full hearing. 
For appeals brought by employees 41% were dismissed compared to 46% of appeals 
brought by employers. 
 
Figure 6.2: Outcome of EAT Disposals, 2009/10 to 2016/17 
 -
 500
 1,000
 1,500
 2,000
 2,500
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
Number of EAT disposals
Dismissed at preliminary or disposed at full hearing
Struck out
Withdrawn
Rejected
 

11 
Further information 
Provisional data and revisions 
As part of an annual data reconciliation exercise, final revised data for January to March 
2017 has been refreshed and figures revised accordingly. If revisions are needed in the 
subsequent year, these will be clearly annotated in the tables. 
 
Rounding convention 
Within the ‘Key Findings’ sections, figures greater than 1,000 are rounded to the nearest 
100. 
 
Accompanying files 
As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release: 
 
A supporting document providing further information on how the data is collected 
and processed, as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant 
to trends and background on the functioning of the tribunal system. 
 
A set of overview tables, covering each section of this bulletin, an annual set of 
tables covering further breakdown of Employment tribunal and Employment Appeal 
tribunal statistics for 2016/17 and two additional sets of tables on Employment 
Tribunals (for ET Fees and ET Management information – Annex C). 
 
A set of CSV files including data on each of the three large tribunals (SSCS, 
Employment and Immigration and Asylum) and an overall receipts and disposals 
CSV, covering all tribunal types. 
 
Two additional statistical notices are being published alongside this quarter’s 
statistical release covering a further breakdown of Non-Suspensive Appeals heard 
by the FTTIAC in 2017, and information relating to Detained Immigration Appeals 
and immigration appeals of Foreign National Offenders who are either held in 
immigration removal centres or HM prisons. 
 
Contact 
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice or HMCTS press office: 
Andrew Hamilton (MOJ) - email: xxx@xxx.xx   
Alice Booth (HMCTS) - email: xxx@xxx.xx 
Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Justice Statistics Analytical 
Services division of the Ministry of Justice: 
Bridgette Miles - email: xxx@xxx.xx 
 
Next update: 14 December 2017 
URL: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics 
 
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