The number of age discrimination tribunal cases has now overtaken the number of cases involving race discrimination, latest statistics have shown.

The annual tribunal statistics for the year ending 31 March 2011, released by the Tribunals Service, show that 6,800 age claims were lodged in 2010-11, up from 5,200 in the previous year and up from 3,800 in 2008/9. The increase mean that age is now responsible for more tribunals than race discrimination (5,000 cases) although sex discrimination (18,300 cases) is still by far the most common.

Overall, the number of employment tribunals dropped in 2010-11, with 218,100 cases lodged. This was a fall of 8 per cent on last year, although it still represents a 44 per cent increase from 2008-9.

“Age-related claims have almost doubled in the last three years - everybody has an age so anyone can potentially formulate an age discrimination claim,” said Adrian Crawford, employment partner at law firm Kingsley Napley. “This may explain why there are already so many claims even before we have felt the impact of the abolition of the default retirement age, which is likely to lead to a huge increase in age discrimination claims."

The figures also showed that the Tribunal Service has a growing backlog of claims, which may provide more ammunition for the government in its review of employment law.

“Worryingly, although fewer claims have been accepted than the previous year, the number of claims disposed of still has not kept pace, so the outstanding caseload has continued to rise from 628,800 in 2009-10 to 751,300 in 2010-11, an increase of around 20 per cent,” said Crawford. “The pattern is even more stark when compared with the previous year: in 2008-9 there were only 462,500 cases outstanding, meaning that over two years there has been a 62 per cent increase in the number of outstanding claims.”

The government’s current consultation on tribunal reform includes proposals to take witness statements ‘as read’ in hearings and for employment judges to hear some cases alone, both measures which would help reduce the backlog.