Lobbyists including MPs, solicitors and Public Concern at Work, a charity promoting open justice are trying to quash Government plans to keep details of Employment Tribunals (ETs) a secret.

Last week, Employment Relations Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, accepted union protests that the register of Tribunal details was being misused, causing the Government to introduce new regulations.

Claims suggest that the misuse of ET data includes third parties exploiting claimants.

Conservative MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, Richard Shepherd, who championed the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act, has laid an early day motion calling for the Government to honour a commitment by Department of Trade and Industry minister Nigel Griffiths in February to debate the proposal in the House of Commons.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Shepherd who is arguing to keep the register open said: “They did this ludicrous thing of putting people’s addresses in and it’s now being used as an excuse to get rid of it. It’s outrageous.

“The greater principle is the right to know. The register demonstrates that they [the Tribunals] are open and fair by being public. It’s only through secrecy that wrongdoings go unobserved.”

Quentin Colborn, director of HR Consultancy, QC People Management Ltd (specialists in employment relations), speaking exclusively to HRZone commented:

“Whilst Tribunal applicants should be free from being pursued by the likes of contingency fee third parties, most will already have representation in place to submit an initial Tribunal application. It should be a matter of public record those employers who are frequently taken to Tribunal and likewise details of the individual applicant.”