News

11 March 2011

People often wonder if the cost of tens of thousands of tribunals isn’t more than the cost of paying out benefits in the first place.  The answer is a very clear no – tribunals are cheap.

Jonathan Djanogly, parliamentary under secretary of state for justice, was asked this week what the average cost to the public purse of a case heard at an employment and support allowance appeal tribunal was.

His response was that:

“The average cost of processing a social security appeal is £282.

“This figure is calculated by dividing the total expenditure (including overheads) in 2009-10 by the total number of cases disposed of in that year. Benefit-specific calculations are not provided because of the high degree of apportionment of costs which would be required.”

So, there you have it. Tribunals really are cheap justice.