Tribunal Service deals with 600,000 cases in first year

The Government's Tribunal Service dealt with almost 600,000 cases in its first full year, its annual report revealed today (24 July).

Of these, more than 100,000 were employment claims and appeals, while 254,000 were appeals in relation to social security and child support and a further 166,000 were appealing asylum and immigration rulings.

The report claims that waiting times for hearings in these areas were shorter than before the Tribunal Service came into being in April 2006.

The Tribunal Service also oversees 23 smaller tribunals, all of which saw improvements in waiting times and the number of cases dealt with, according to the report.

Peter Handcock, the tribunal services' chief executive, said the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) agency was committed to delivering a real transformation in tribunals without compromising the existing service on which people depend.

"We've introduced a new leadership and management structure to integrate all of our business and we've developed a new business model that will transform our service over the next five years," explained Handcock.

The MoJ set up the tribunal services while it was still the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The government department's aim was to unify the administration of the tribunals system.