Charges for employment tribunal (ET) cases were introduced in July 2013 and have led to a 90 per cent fall in case numbers for some types of case (May 2015 Legal Action 3). For unfair dismissal cases, a fee of £250 is paid to issue the case and a further charge of £950 is incurred if the case proceeds to a hearing.

Chris Grayling, the former lord chancellor, introduced big hikes to court fees in civil proceedings in March 2015. Applicants now have to pay up to £10,000 to issue civil proceedings. While lower claim values attract fixed fees (eg £35 for claims not exceeding £300), fees for claims for sums above £10,000 but not exceeding £200,000 are calculated on the basis of 5 per cent of the sum claimed (with claims for over £200,000 or unlimited amounts attracting fees of £10,000). The fee hikes represent up to a six-fold increase for some cases.

The committee is interested in views on whether the introduction of the fees for ET cases has affected access to justice and the numbers of cases brought. It is also concerned about whether the hike in court fees has had an impact on the competitiveness of the legal services market in England and Wales.

Written submissions must be made to the committee by the end of September.