Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 5 November 2025.
Neil O'Brien
Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many employment tribunal claims have been lodged against his Department in each of the last five years by (a) unfair dismissal and (b) claims under the Equality Act 2010.
Jake Richards
Assistant Whip, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
The proportion of Employment Tribunals claims which include Unfair Dismissal as a reason for the claim is 25.1%, and 62.5% of Employment Tribunals lodged against the Department are brought under the Equality Act 2010. 3.9% of cases lodged against the Department cite both Unfair Dismissal and claims under the Equality Act 2010.
Employment Tribunals lodged against the Department for Unfair Dismissal
01 Oct – 31 Dec 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 02 Jan – 28 Oct 2025 | Total |
0 | 17 | 44 | 66 | 56 | 61 | 244 |
Employment Tribunals lodged against the Department under the Equality Act 2010
*A breakdown of protected characteristics where Employment Tribunals have been brought has been included. Please note, Employment Tribunal claims often include multiple reasons when lodging a claim e.g. race discrimination and disability discrimination etc. This means that, total Employment Tribunals lodged against the department under the Equality Act 2010 will not reflect the total claims under the different protected characteristics.
01 Oct – 31 Dec 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 01 Jan – 28 Oct 2025 | Total | |
Age | 3 | 13 | 10 | 26 | 17 | 20 | 89 |
Disability | 4 | 78 | 85 | 110 | 104 | 103 | 484 |
Gender Reassignment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Marriage & Civil Partnership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Pregnancy & Maternity | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 19 |
Sex | 1 | 10 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 23 | 85 |
Sexual Orientation | 1 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 27 |
Total Employment Tribunals Brought Under the Equality Act 2010 | 9 | 18 | 127 | 145 | 153 | 155 | 607 |
Employment Tribunals lodged under both Unfair Dismissal and a claim under the Equality Act 2010 against the Department
*Figures below are included in the previous tables.
01 Oct – 31 Dec 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 01 Jan – 28 Oct 2025 |
0 | 7 | 25 | 45 | 33 | 38 |
The Ministry of Justice headcount is circa 82,000 in total.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
