Official Statistics

Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2022

Published 8 September 2022

1. Main Points

This publication presents tribunals statistics for the latest quarter (April to June, Q1 2022/23), compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

This publication does not include receipt, disposal and caseload outstanding figures for the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (UTIAC) or Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The total of the remaining tribunals is referred to in this publication and accompanying tables as the ‘Interim Total’ and has been provided to allow comparisons over time. The data will be made available as soon as possible, and once the data is quality assured.

Interim Total receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding increased[footnote 2]	In April to June 2022, receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding interim[footnote 1] totals increased by 44%, 25% and 6% respectively when compared to the same quarter in 2020/21[footnote 2]. Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) recorded an interim[footnote 1] total of 87,000 receipts. Disposals interim[footnote 1] total this quarter was 66,000 and caseload outstanding interim[footnote 1] total stood at 637,000.
SSCS receipts and caseload outstanding increased, and disposals decreased	Compared to the same period in 2021, Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), receipts and caseload outstanding increased by 81% and 63% respectively. Disposals decreased by 16%. The increase in receipts was driven by increases in Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit (by 111% and 76% respectively). The decrease in disposals was mostly driven by a decrease in Personal Independence Payment (which fell by 21%).
FTTIAC disposals increased, and receipts and caseload outstanding decreased	FTTIAC receipts and caseload outstanding decreased by 55% and 21% respectively in April to June 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. Disposals increased by 33% over the same period.
Employment Tribunal Claim receipts decreased and disposals increased[footnote 2]	This quarter there were 19,000 Employment Tribunal receipts, 15,000 disposals, and 487,000 cases outstanding at the end of June 2022. Compared to Q1 2020/21, overall ET receipts decreased by 10%, disposals increased by 114% and caseload outstanding decreased by 2%.

For feedback related to the content of this publication, please contact us at CAJS@justice.gov.uk

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2. Statistician’s Comment

All tribunal activities have continued their upward trajectory this quarter albeit are still not at pre-Covid19 levels.

Contrary to expectations, there has been no substantial increase in demand with the end of various government policy schemes that were implemented during Covid. Receipts for many tribunals including the 3 largest; Employment Tribunals (ET), Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) and First-tier Immigration and Asylum (FTIAC), remain below pre-Covid 19 levels.

The exception to this is the First-tier Tax Chamber and the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) tribunals. In the First-tier Tax Chamber, receipts have spiked due to HMRC action against umbrella companies employing potentially fraudulent VAT schemes.

The SEND Tribunal registered the highest number of receipts this quarter at 3,500, 55% above the same period last year. This was mainly due to increases in appeals relating to a decision for secondary or further education transfer for the new academic year.

Slower rates of disposals in relation to receipts in most tribunals particularly SSCS, SEND and the First-tier Tax Chamber have led to a 5% increase in caseload outstanding when compared to the same period last year. FTIAC bucks this trend: outstanding cases have continued to reduce as the disposal rate has been running above the pre-covid level.

Gender Recognition Panel receipts have continued to receive large numbers of applications with 214 received this quarter, the second highest recorded. Of the 205 disposals this quarter, 97% were granted a full Gender Recognition Certificate.

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3. Overview of Tribunals

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87,000 interim^{[footnote 1]} total receipts and 66,000 interim^{[footnote 1]} total disposals recorded

In April to June 2022, HMCTS recorded a 44% increase in the interim^{[footnote 1]} total for receipts, and a 25% increase in the interim^{[footnote 1]} totals for disposals, when compared to the same quarter in 2020^{[footnote 1]}. Caseload outstanding interim^{[footnote 1]} total increased by 6%, to 637,000, over the same period.

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This publication does not include Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) data since Q2 of 2021/22, Employment Tribunals data for Q1 2021/22 and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) data since Q1 of 2021/22. This is due to database migration as stated above. The total of the remaining jurisdictions is referred to in this publication and accompanying tables as the ‘Interim Total’ and has been provided to allow comparisons over time. The Q1 2022/23 interim^{[footnote 1]} total makes up 85% of receipts caseload and 72% of disposals when compared to the average of the same quarter over the previous 5 financial years.

This summary bulletin focuses mainly on the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal, the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC), and the Employment Tribunal as they made up the majority (69%) of tribunal interim^{[footnote 1]} receipts in April to June 2022:

• Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) - 40% of receipts

• Employment Tribunal (ET) - 22% of receipts

• First-tier tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC) - 7% of receipts

Figure 3.1: Receipts interim totals, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_2)

Figure 3.2: Disposals interim totals, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_3)

Figure 3.3: Caseload outstanding^{[footnote 3]} interim totals, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_4)

The charts above show the trends in receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding over the last five years for SSCS, FTTIAC, ET, and all tribunals overall (using the Interim^{[footnote 1]} Total measure).

In April to June 2022, there were 87,000 overall interim^{[footnote 1]} receipts. This is an increase of 44% compared to Q1 2020/21. However, compared to last quarter (Q4 2021/22), receipts increased by 15%, mostly driven by increases in First-tier Tax Chamber and SSCS receipts (by 259% and 12% respectively).

Overall interim^{[footnote 1]} disposals increased by 25% in April to June 2022 (to 66,000) when compared to Q1 2020/21^{[footnote 2]}. This was mostly driven by an increase in FTTIAC and ET disposals (by 235% and 114% respectively). Compared to last quarter (Q4 2021/22) disposals decreased by 6%.

Overall interim^{[footnote 1]} caseload outstanding stood at 637,000 at the end of June 2022. This is an increase of 6% compared to Q1 2020/21^{[footnote 2]} and an increase of 5% compared to Q1 2021/22. The increase in caseload outstanding compared to Q1 2021/22 was mostly driven by a 63% increase in SSCS caseload outstanding.

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4. Social Security and Child Support

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SSCS receipts and caseload outstanding increased, and disposals decreased

Compared to the same period in 2021, Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), receipts and caseload outstanding increased by 81% and 63% respectively. Disposals decreased by 16%.

In April to June 2022, 66% of disposals were cleared at hearing with a 63% overturn rate

Of the 23,000 disposals in Q1 2022/23, 66% were cleared at a hearing and of these, 63% had the initial decision revised in favour of the claimant (down from 64% and 62% in the same period in 2021/22 respectively).

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Figure 4.1: Social Security and Child Support receipts, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables SSCS_1)

Figure 4.2: Social Security and Child Support disposals, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables SSCS_2)

Figure 4.3: Social Security and Child Support caseload outstanding, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_4)

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in the number of people on Universal Credit^{[footnote 4]} as the employment rate decreased and economic inactivity increased. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) changes to benefit processes in response to the pandemic, such as the temporary suspension of face-to-face assessments for health and disability-related benefits, contributed to the general downward trend in receipts seen during the pandemic. However, as the policies put in place due to COVID-19 come to an end and restrictions are eased, we are now seeing SSCS receipts gradually return to pre-Covid19 levels.

SSCS receipts increased by 81% this quarter, to 35,000 appeals, compared to April to June 2021. This was driven by increases in Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit (by 111% and 76% respectively). PIP and UC appeals accounted for 71% and 14% respectively of all SSCS receipts in April to June 2022. Universal Credit is available to people who are in work and on a low income, as well as to those who are out of work.

In April to June 2022, SSCS disposals decreased by 16% when compared to the same period in 2021 (from 28,000 in Q1 2021/22 to 23,000 in Q1 2022/23). PIP made up over half of SSCS disposals (60%).

Of the disposals made by the SSCS tribunal, 15,000 (66%) were cleared at hearing, and of these, 63% were overturned in favour of the customer (up from 64% and up from 62% on the same period in 2021 respectively). This overturn rate varied by benefit type, with PIP at 71%, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 66%, Employment Support Allowance (ESA) 58%, and UC 55%. The PIP, DLA and ESA overturn rates mostly remained stable compared with April to June 2021. The UC overturn rate increased by 9 percentage points over the same period.

There were 59,000 SSCS cases outstanding at the end of June 2022, an increase of 63% compared to the same period in 2021. Since Q4 2017/18, caseload outstanding had been gradually decreasing (from a peak of 125,000), only rising in Q3 2019/20. However, SSCS caseload outstanding has started to rise again, increasing in each of the last three quarters (Q3 and Q4 2021/22, and Q1 2022/23).

Of those cases disposed of by the SSCS tribunal in April to June 2022, the mean age of a case at disposal was 25 weeks, 14 weeks less than for the same period in 2021 (see table T_2) and five weeks less than the same period in 2019.

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5. Immigration and Asylum

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First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC)

In April to June 2022, FTTIAC receipts decreased by 55% to 6,000, compared to Q1 2021/22. Disposals increased by 33% (to 11,000), over the same period.

In the same period, caseload outstanding decreased by 21% (to 25,000).

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Figure 5.1: First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber receipts, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables FIA_1)

Figure 5.2: First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber disposals, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables FIA_2)

Figure 5.3: First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber caseload outstanding, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_4)

Following on from a steep fall in 2020/21 due to the impact of the pandemic, FTTIAC receipts started to return to pre-Covid19 levels over the course of 2021/22. In 2021/22, FTTIAC receipts increased by 52% (to 40,000) compared to 2020/21. However, receipts have started to decrease again since the backlogs have been cleared. This quarter receipts decreased by 55% (to 6,000) compared to the same period last year.

The First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber received 71 Deprivation of Citizenship receipts this quarter, a decrease of 40% compared to the same quarter last year. Deprivation of Citizenship disposals increased by 204% compared to the same quarter last year (to 140).

The deadline for most people to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) was 30 June 2021. Consequently, EEA Free Movement receipts had been steadily increasing until that point (Q1 2021/22) where they made up over half of all FTTIAC receipts (56%). Since the EUSS route closed, receipts have started to decline, with EEA now making up 41% of all FTTIAC receipts. In April to June 2022, there were 2,500 EEA/EUSS receipts, a decrease of 67% compared to the same period last year.

Compared to Q1 2021/22, Human Rights (HR) receipts decreased by 41% to 2,100. Asylum/Protection (AP) receipts decreased by 38% compared to the same period in 2021 (to 1,300). HR and AP proportionally represented 35% and 22% of all FTTIAC receipts respectively (up 8 and up 6 percentage points respectively from a year ago).

In Q1 2022/23, FTTIAC disposals increased by 33% to 11,000. The rise in receipts in 2021/22 created a backlog of cases which subsequently led to this increase in disposals. This rise in disposals was driven by an increase in EEA Free Movement disposals (by 94%). EEA appeals made up the largest proportion (49%) of all FTTIAC disposals in April to June 2022, up from 33% a year ago.

Of the disposals made in the FTTIAC this quarter, 72% were determined i.e. a decision was made by a judge at a hearing or on the papers (compared to 68% in Q1 2021/22); 16% were withdrawn (compared to 17% in Q1 2021/22); 4% were struck out for non-payment of the appeal fee (compared to 6% in Q1 2021/22), and 2% were invalid or out of time (compared to 3% in Q1 2021/22). Over half (54%) of the 7,600 cases determined at a hearing or on the papers were allowed/granted, although this varied by case type (52% of Asylum/Protection, 54% of Human Rights and 55% of EEA Free Movement appeals were allowed/granted).

In the FTTIAC, the mean time taken to clear appeals across all categories is at 40 weeks this quarter, which is 4 weeks less than compared to the same period a year ago. Asylum/Protection, Human Rights and EEA Free Movement had mean times taken of 53 weeks, 45 weeks and 36 weeks respectively.

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Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (UTIAC)

In Q1 2022/23 UTIAC Judicial Review receipts increased by 4%, to 530, compared to the same period a year ago. Disposals decreased by 9% to 460 whilst caseload outstanding increased by 84%, to 1,300, compared to April to June 2021.

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UTIAC Immigration and Asylum Judicial Reviews

In April to June 2022, there were 530 Immigration and Asylum Judicial Review receipts and 460 disposals, an increase of 4% and a decrease of 9% respectively compared to April to June 2021.

Of the 460 Immigration and Asylum Judicial Reviews disposed of 49% were determined and 2% were transferred to the Administrative Court. The remaining 48% were in the ‘Other’ category, which includes cases that were withdrawn or not served.

During April to June 2022, 330 UTIAC Judicial Review applications were determined by paper hearing, of which 23% were allowed to continue to the substantive hearing stage. A further 26 were reconsidered at an oral renewal, of which 54% were allowed to continue to the substantive hearing stage. There were 9 substantive hearings which were determined in April to June 2022 of which 33% were granted in favour of the appellant (see table UIA_3).

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6. Employment Tribunals

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Employment tribunal single cases

In Q1 2022/23, the Employment Tribunal received 7,700 single claim receipts and disposed of 6,500 single claim cases. There were 43,000 single claim cases outstanding at the end of June.

Employment tribunal multiple cases

This quarter there were 12,000 multiple claim receipts, 8,200 disposals and caseload outstanding stood at 443,000 at the end of June.

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For the Employment Tribunal (ET), only overall receipts, disposals, and caseload outstanding figures are available.

Employment Tribunals transitioned to a new database (Employment Case Management) during March to May 2021. It has not been possible to provide full results from both databases during this migration period on a consistent basis. Therefore, Employment Tribunal (ET) data is not available for Q1 2021/22, and as a result we are unable to present data for the full financial year of 2021/22. The data is still subject to checks and as such is marked as provisional, but there is increasing confidence in the numbers for receipts, disposals and caseloads outstanding which we present in this report. Jurisdictional breakdowns, timeliness and outcome data are still undergoing more rigorous checks and will not be presented until the checks are complete. In addition, because of the operational differences between ECM and the previous database, caution should be exercised when making comparisons in the statistical results before and after migration.

This quarter, Employment Tribunal figures for Q3 2021/22 were also revised. This is due to a large spike in multiple claims disposals. A dismissal judgment was issued in December 2021 for 48,000 British Airways claims covering 71,000 jurisdictions. These claims had been withdrawn over a number of years but given the volume and restrictions with the old case management system these had not been formally closed until now, hence the spike. This figure is expected to be revised again as there is still closure action to take place on some of the claims.

Figure 6.1: Index of Employment Tribunals single and multiple claim receipts, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_2)

* Baseline 2018/19 Q1

Figure 6.2: Index of Employment Tribunals single and multiple claim disposals, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_3)

* Baseline 2018/19 Q1

Figure 6.3: Index of Employment Tribunals single and multiple claims outstanding, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_4)

* Baseline 2018/19 Q1

For the Employment Tribunal (ET) data, comparisons to Q1 2020/21 have been used as the Q1 2021/22 data for the ET is unavailable^{[footnote 5]}. However, due to the operational differences between ECM and the previous database (ETHOS), caution should be exercised when using these comparisons before and after migration.

In Q1 2022/23, there were 19,000 ET receipts, 39% (7,700) of which were single claims receipts, and the remaining 61% (12,000) were multiple claims receipts. Compared to 2020/21, overall ET receipts decreased by 10%. The ET disposed of 15,000 cases this quarter, an increase of 114% compared to Q1 2020/21. Of the 15,000 disposals 44% (6,500) were single claim disposals, and the remaining 56% (8,200) were multiple claim disposals. At the end of June 2022, 487,000 cases were outstanding (43,000 single claims, and 443,000 multiple claims).

Compared to Q1 2020/21, single claim receipts decreased by 20% to 7,700. Single claims disposals increased by 39%, to 6,500 when compared to Q1 2020/21. Single claim caseload outstanding (at 43,000) continues to rise having passed the peak levels seen in 2009/10 (when it was 36,000 in Q2 of that year), driven by disposals being continuously lower than receipts.

There were 12,000 multiple claims received this quarter, a decrease of 2% compared to Q1 2020/21. Disposals increased by 267% over the same period, to 8,200 disposals. At the end of June 2022, multiple claims caseload outstanding stood at 443,000. Multiple claims tend to be more volatile as they can be skewed by a high number of claims against a single employer.

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7. Gender Recognition Certificates

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214 Gender Recognition Panel (GRP) applications were received and 205 disposed of between April to June 2022; 431 applications were pending by the end of June 2022

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The GRP received 214 applications this quarter, an increase of 2 compared to April to June 2021. Of the 205 applications disposed of, a full Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) was granted in 97% of cases (198 full GRCs), up 4 percentage points compared to the same period in 2021 (where 120 full GRCs were granted out of 129 disposals).

GRP receipts have increased annually since 2017/18 and we expect this trend to continue following a reduction in the application fee in May 2021 from £140 to £5, and the move to an online application process. This has subsequently caused an increase in both the caseload outstanding and refusals. Caseload outstanding reached a high of 431 cases in Q1 2022/23, while 1% of all disposals (2 cases) have been refused. Applications can be refused if they do not meet the required criteria. More information on the criteria can be found at the following link: Apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Since April 2005/06, when the Gender Recognition Act 2004 came into effect, 70% of interim certificates (171 of the 243 interim GRCs granted) have been converted to a full GRC, 52% of which were converted within 30 weeks. No interim certificates were converted to a full GRC between April to June 2022. Of the 198 full certificates granted in April to June 2022, 18 were for married applicants and 178 for single applicants. 108 (55%) of the individuals granted full certificates were registered male at birth while 90 (45%) were registered female at birth.

Figure 7.1: Applications for Gender Recognition Certificates received, disposed of and pending, Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables GRP_1 and GRP_2)

Figure 7.2: Full Gender Recognition Certificates granted by year of birth, 2017/18 to 2021/22 (Source: Table GRP_4)

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8. Other Tribunals

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Increase in First-tier tax Chamber receipts by 738% compared to the same quarter last year

The First-tier Tax Chamber recorded 10,000 receipts this quarter, an increase of 738% compared to the same quarter last year. In the same period, 1,300 appeals were disposed of and caseload outstanding increased by 84% (to 46,000).

Mental Health receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding all decreased compared to 2021/22

Mental Health receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding all decreased when compared to April to June 2021/22, down by 6%, 5% and 4% respectively.

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First-tier Tax Chamber

First-tier Tax Chamber receipts increased this quarter by 738%, to 10,000, compared to the same quarter last year. This is the second highest number of receipts seen in any one quarter since 2009. Disposals decreased by 14% (to 1,300) and caseload outstanding increased by 84% (to 46,000). This trend started in Q2 2021/22 and is likely to continue as Treasury and HMRC increase action against umbrella companies employing potentially fraudulent VAT schemes.

Figure 8.1: First-tier Tax Chamber receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding Q1 2018/19 to Q1 2022/23 (Source: Tables S_2, S_3, and S_4)

Mental Health

Mental health figures have all decreased this quarter. Receipts decreased by 6% in April to June 2022 (to 7,800), compared to the same period in 2021. The tribunal disposed of 7,800 appeals in Q1 2022/23, a decrease of 5% when compared to Q1 2021/22. There were 3,700 Mental Health cases outstanding at the end of June 2022, a decrease of 4% compared to the same period in 2021.

The mean age of cases at clearance for the Mental Health section 2, Mental Health Restricted Patients, and the Mental Health Non-Restricted Patients case types has remained consistent for the same period in the last couple of years at 1 week, 11 weeks and 6 weeks respectively.

Nitrates Vulnerable Zones (NVZ)

From April 2016, the Tribunal hears appeals against the designation of NVZs by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The Tribunal is quadrennial and hears appeals in relation to NVZ notices issued once every four years to landowners by DEFRA. The Nitrates Vulnerable Zones appeals are now live again and are reporting figures. In Q1 2022/23, there were 0 receipts and 13 disposals for the Nitrates Vulnerable Zones tribunal. At the end of June 2022, there were 22 cases outstanding. These figures are significantly lower than those seen in when the tribunal was made live four years ago, with receipts 100% lower, disposals 46% lower, and caseload outstanding 68% lower.

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9. Further information

Rounding convention

Figures greater than 10,000 are rounded to the nearest 1,000, those between 1,000 and 10,000 are rounded to the nearest 100 and those between 100 to 1,000 are rounded to the nearest 10. Less than 100 are given as the actual number.

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.

• The quality statement published with this guide sets out our policies for producing quality statistical outputs for the information we provide to maintain our users’ understanding and trust.

• A set of overview tables, covering each section of this bulletin.

• A set of CSV files including data on two of the three large tribunals (SSCS and Immigration and Asylum) and an overall receipts and disposals CSV, covering all tribunal types.

• Additional releases this quarter:

  • Update to the statistical notice on Immigration and Asylum (I&A) Detained Immigration Appeals (DIA) to include data to Q1 2022/23.

Future publications

Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we welcome user feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency and methodology. Please send any comments you have on this publication including suggestions for further developments or reductions in content.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice or HMCTS press office:

Annabelle Kime - email: Annabelle.Kime@justice.gov.uk

Other enquiries and feedback on these statistics should be directed to the Data and Evidence as a Service division of the Ministry of Justice:

Rita Kumi-Ampofo or Matteo Chiesa - email: CAJS@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 8 December 2022 (URL: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics)

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For any feedback on the layout or content of this publication or requests for alternative formats, please contact CAJS@justice.gov.uk

1. 2020/21 has been used as a baseline as the previous year (2021/22) data is not available. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. The interim totals for the overall volumes of tribunal receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding exclude the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and Employment Appeal Tribunal for which the data is currently not available. See the main tables S_2, S_3 and S_4 for more information. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

3. Outstanding caseload is based on a snapshot in time based on the last day of each quarter. ↩

4. Official statistics overview: Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩

5. The Q1 2021/22 data for the Employment Tribunal (ET) is unavailable as it has not been possible to provide the full results from both databases during the case management migration period of March to May 2021 on a consistent basis. ↩