Number of open cases continues to grow as system struggles to keep pace with increase in claims
16 December 2025
The backlog of open employment tribunals has surpassed half a million, government figures show, prompting warnings from employment lawyers that these mounting delays could undermine justice for claimants and increase costs for employers.
There were 515,000 open claims across single and multiple cases at the end of the second quarter of 2025, according to the latest tribunal statistics published by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.
Between July and September this year, there were 52,000 active tribunal cases, representing a 33 per cent increase on the same period the previous year.
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The tribunal backlog is likely to continue growing, with incoming claims outnumbering resolutions. In the second quarter of 2025, employment tribunals received 26,000 new claims, yet only managed to dispose of 10,000 cases.
Rob McKellar, legal services director at Peninsula, said the figures showed the system was under severe strain.
“With the current backlog of more than half a million claims and some regions listing cases for 2028, it’s clear that pressure on the tribunal system is higher than ever before,” he added.
Liz Stevens, professional...
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