The Employment Tribunal National User Group minutes for 15 April 2024 are now available. This second summary focuses on the tribunal regions. See yesterday's bulletin for the headline points for tribunal users nationally.
- London East: The backlog in cases is decreasing slowly, currently at 1,900 outstanding single cases. To help address this, longer cases will not be automatically listed at a PH, but will be listed for hearings only once the directions have been (largely) complied with.
- London Central: The backlog has dropped dramatically, currently at 5,000 outstanding cases. Ongoing problems with London Central phone lines are being looked at. The new premises for London Central, in Newgate Street, is likely to be ready in Spring 2025.
- London South: London South continues to face challenges listing cases, but five new salaried judges will help hear the outstanding cases. Recruitment of administrative staff will also help with the challenges that London South has been experiencing over dealing with correspondence.
- South East: The backlog has not been reducing, largely because of a lack of judges at Watford. This is being addressed with five new judges at Watford. Watford is aware of significant problems with its response to correspondence, and is working to address this.
- Midlands West: The correspondence backlog is coming down. Any users for the Birmingham tribunal (which is on the 14th/15th floor of the building) who have a disability should tell the office in advance, and arrangements can normally be made to hear the case in the nearby Civil Justice Centre.
Acas reported that Early Conciliation is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, and ongoing digitisation of systems should help Acas allocate conciliators and deal with cases faster. Work is continuing to increase active participation by both Claimants and Respondents within the early conciliation system.
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