Employment tribunal

Summary

The request sought financial data on payments to Employment and Equality Tribunal members and average case costs since 2019. The General Registry disclosed total payments by financial year but refused to provide average or highest case costs due to the substantial compilation required.

Key Facts

• Total payments to tribunal members are reported by financial year (April to March) rather than calendar year.
• The authority refused to calculate average or highest case costs citing the practical refusal route under S11(3)(b).
• Payments to Chairs and Deputies significantly exceed those to Lay Members across all reported periods.
• For the 2021-2022 financial year, 83 cases resulted in total payments of £158,327.83.
• The average cost per case for the 2021-2022 period was calculated as £1,907.56.

Data Disclosed

• £25,449.33
• £2,289.50
• £141,713.45
• £9,535.30
• £113,198.28
• £4,569.50
• £145,833.59
• £13,886.50
• £47,167.13
• £6,585.03
• £158,327.83
• £159,720.09
• £1,907.56
• 83 cases
• 27 cases
• January 2019
• April 2021 to March 2022
• July 4th 2022

Exemptions Cited

• S11(3)(b) - Practical refusal route (substantial compilation or collation of information)

Original Request

1. Amounts paid to tribunal panel members of the employment and equality tribunal since January 2019 apportioned between (a) chairpersons and deputies and (b) lay members including travel allowances and attendance allowances respectively. The information requested should be supplied without reference to any names of tribunal members 2. By reference to the amounts paid to lay members and the chairs of the tribunal, what is the average cost of a case before the tribunal for each of the calendar years 2019 to date? 3. Similarly for each of the calendar years 2019 to date, what is the highest single cost case before the tribunal? 4. Are the amounts paid to the chairpersons and lay members of the tribunal subject to Isle of Man income tax?

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

M.####

General Registry Oik-Recortyssee Interim Chief Registrar
Colin Cowley

Isle of Man Courts of Justice Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3AR

Telephone: (01624) 685979 Email: DPO-GenReg@gov.im

Our ref: 2486358 15 July 2022

Dear M #####

We write further to your request which was received on 7 June 2022 and which states:

"1. Amounts paid to tribunal panel members of the employment and equality tribunal since January 2019 apportioned between (a) chairpersons and deputies and (b) lay members including travel allowances and attendance allowances respectively. The information requested should be supplied without reference to any names of tribunal members

1. By reference to the amounts paid to lay members and the chairs of the tribunal, what is the average cost of a case before the tribunal for each of the calendar years 2019 to date?

2. Similarly for each of the calendar years 2019 to date, what is the highest single cost case before the tribunal?

3. Are the amounts paid to the chairpersons and lay members of the tribunal subject to Isle of Man income tax?"

While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, below we are supplying in part (Questions 2 and 3) where we rely on the practical refusal route S11(3)(b); complying with the request for information would require the public authority (in this case the General Registry) to do one or more of the matters mentioned in section 8(3) (things a public authority is not required to do by the Act); namely your request for information would require the General Registry to undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds which the General Registry is not required to do under the Act.

In a bid to offer advice and assistance in accordance with Part 4 of the Code of Practice please note that the formal payment system, maintained by Treasury, provides a ready means of confirming the amounts paid to each tribunal Chair, Deputy or Member against the financial code from which each payment is drawn, but does not for each payment identify the particular tribunal case(s) involved. As a consequence the breakdowns requested are not readily available, i.e. either in terms of overall expenditure against a case, or average case costs.

Expenditure is shown against a financial year, i.e. April to March and not a calendar year. In addition, a case may run over several financial years, e.g. a complaint to the tribunal may be received in December 2019 but due to complexity (and other matters) may run through 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years.

Question 1.

Amounts paid to tribunal panel members of the employment and equality tribunal since January 2019 apportioned between (a) chairpersons and deputies and (b) lay members including travel allowances and attendance allowances respectively. The information requested should be supplied without reference to any names of tribunal members.

Answer:- The following amounts have been paid under the provisions of the Payment of Members’ Expenses Act 1989, and the respective Attendance Allowance and Travelling Allowance Orders made by Treasury, in respect of the Employment and Equality Tribunal, for the periods as indicated:

January to March 2019

(a) Chairpersons and Deputies - £25,449.33 (b) Lay Members - £2,289.50

April 2019 to March 2020

(a) Chairpersons and Deputies - £141,713.45 (b) Lay Members - £9,535.30

April 2020 to March 2021

(a) Chairpersons and Deputies - £113,198.28 (b) Lay Members - £4,569.50

April 2021 to March 2022

(a) Chairpersons and Deputies - £145,833.59 (b) Lay Members - £13,886.50

April 2022 to July 4th 2022

(a) Chairpersons and Deputies - £47,167.13 (b) Lay Members - £6,585.03

Question 2.

By reference to the amounts paid to lay members and the chairs of the tribunal, what is the average cost of a case before the tribunal for each of the calendar years 2019 to date?

Answer:- For the latest full financial year, i.e. from April 2021 to March 2022, records show that during that period:

(a) Payments were made to Chairs and lay members of the Tribunal in respect of a total of 83 cases, amounting to £158,327.83.

This figure varies insignificantly from the combined figure shown for the period above (£159,720.09) due to the use of two separate sources of data and time differences between claims being received/processed and payments actually being made. This provides an average cost per case of £1,907.56.

(b) Included within the 83 cases are 27 cases which included some element of actual attendance by Chairs/tribunal members, e.g. a hearing/meeting of some description. It is possible that there have been discussions with/between the Chair and members prior to the hearing and the matter has then settled before the hearing itself commences.

The payments relating to these cases, which is included in £158,327.83 above, totals £138,820.10. This provides an average cost per case of £5,141.49 in respect of those 27 cases.

For the information not supplied here we rely on the practical refusal route S11(3)(b); complying with the request for information would require the public authority to do one or more of the matters mentioned in section 8(3) (things a public authority is not required to do by the Act); namely (c) your request for information would require the General Registry to undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds which the General Registry is not required to do under the Act.

Question 3.

Similarly for each of the calendar years 2019 to date, what is the highest single cost case before the tribunal?

Answer:- For the latest full financial year, i.e. from April 2021 to March 2022, our searches indicate that during that period that the highest expenditure relating to a single case was £41,237.27.

For the information not supplied here we rely on the practical refusal route S11(3)(b); complying with the request for information would require the public authority to do one or more of the matters mentioned in section 8(3) (things a public authority is not required to do by the Act); namely (c) your request for information would require the General Registry to undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds which the General Registry is not required to do under the Act.

Question 4.

Are the amounts paid to the chairpersons and lay members of the tribunal subject to Isle of Man income tax?

Answer:- It is understood that under the provisions of the Payment of Members’ Expenses Act 1989, payments of Attendance Allowance and Travelling Allowance made to Chairpersons and Members of the Employment and Equality Tribunal in connection with their attendance at a meeting of the Tribunal are exempt from Income Tax, but that payments made to Chairpersons for time taken in (i) preparing for a meeting or hearing and (ii) report writing in relation to a meeting or hearing are subject to Income Tax.

You may wish to make further enquiries of the Income Tax Division in relation to this matter to ensure that the aforementioned information supplied is correct. Their email address is incometax@itd.treasury.gov.im. Telephone number: 685400.

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I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

FOI Co-ordinator